KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) needed just 47 deliveries on Tuesday to seal their place in next week’s Gold League final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship when they trounced Port Qasim Authority (PQA) by 135 runs at the NBP Sports Complex.

On the last day of the preliminary-round matches, United Bank Limited (UBL) and Peshawar Panthers also recorded victories over Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and Multan Tigers, respectively.

But the interest surrounded the game between NBP and PQA with the winners qualifying for the Dec 22-26 title-decider against table-toppers Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).

NBP were the dominant side throughout three days of play despite starting the fixture three points behind PQA. On Tuesday, PQA resumed at a hopelessly-placed tally of 289-8 with the mammoth target of 438 miles away on a pitch that saw the three NBP spinners reaped rich harvest by sharing all 20 wickets.

Slow left-armer Mohammad Asghar grabbed the remaining two wickets to fall on Tuesday to finish with four for 117 in 39.5 overs as PQA were all out for 302.

But Asghar was outshined by Mohammad Nawaz. The occasional left-armer ended up grabbing match figures of 11 for 93, including a career-best seven for 31 in the first innings. The rest of the wickets were taken by Adnan Rasool, the off-spinner who was reported for suspect bowling action not long ago.

NBP’s sixth win earned them nine points to put them above PQA into second spot with 65 points, seven behind SNGPL, while PQA ended the first-class season with 59 points.

All-rounder Ali Zahid claimed his third haul of five-for and fellow paceman Adil Raza took 4-83 as UBL completed a 72-run win against ZTBL at the UBL Sports Complex.

Resuming at 83-4 in pursuit of 284-run target, ZTBL quickly lost Shahid Yousuf, who failed to add to his overnight score of 23, and ex-Pakistan batsman Yasir Hameed for a four-ball duck.

However, all-rounder Zohaib Khan, who had opened the innings, mounted a one-man fightback by carrying his Monday’s score of 23 to a defiant 98 before he was last out after striking 16 boundaries and one six during his 184-ball knock.

Stand-in captain Rao Iftikhar contributed 32 while sharing a ninth-wicket partnership of 65 with Zohaib when became Ali’s fifth victim. Ali, who took 5-61 in 16 overs, had match figures of eight for 93.

The Panthers, like NBP, sealed a swift victory when they annihilated the Tigers by an innings and 75 runs at the Multan Cricket Stadium. The Tigers, who were 208-8 after following on, could add only seven runs in 37 balls before being dismissed for 21.

Abdul Rehman Muzammil, the Tigers’ leading run-getter in the championship672 runs, was out for a 143-ball 82 (14 boundaries).

Paceman Taj Wali captured five wickets for 78 to sign off with match bag of eight for 116. His new-ball partner Azizullah was more successful with 10 for 99, including career-best seven for 52 in the first innings. The duo shared 84 wickets between them Taj taking 43 in nine an Azizullah 41 in 10.

The Tigers’ latest debacle was ninth in 11 matches with the remaining two drawn. If the format remains the same for next season, the Tigers will be joined in the Silver League event by ZTBL. Their places in the Gold League would be taken up by Silver League champions Habib Bank and Hyderabad Hawks who were the top-ranked regional side in the second-tier competition this season.

Scores and results on Tuesday (final day of four):

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: National Bank beat Port Qasim Authority by 135 runs.

NATIONAL BANK 249 in 72.1 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 72, Bilal Qureshi 62, Qaiser Abbas 41, Bilal Munir 25; Tabish Nawab 5-65, Sohail Khan 3-61) and 279 in 62.4 overs (Qaiser Abbas 111, Kamran Akmal 36, Adnan Rasool 36, Akbar-ur-Rehman 31; Tabish Nawab 5-156, Shahzaib Hasan 2-9, Kamran Younis 2-30); PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 91 in 38.1 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 46; Mohammad Nawaz 7-31, Mohammad Asghar 2-49) and 302 in 114.5 overs (Daniyal Ahsan 102, Umar Amin 81; Mohammad Nawaz 4-62, Mohammad Asghar 4-117, Adnan Rasool 2-69).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: United Bank beat ZTBL by 72 runs.

UNITED BANK 254 in 83.2 overs (Ammar Hasan 90, Naved Sarwar 47, Ali Asad 43; Kashif Daud 7-30, Haseeb-ur-Rehman 2-20) and 214 in 80.4 overs (Ali Zahid 55, Umair Khan 43, Ahsan Ali 28; Karamat Ali 4-48, Haseeb-ur-Rehman 3-19, Sajjad Hussain 2-45); ZTBL 185 in 73.2 overs (Haseeb-ur-Rehman 45, Ammar Mahmood 35; Rumman Raees Khan 4-49, Ali Zahid 3-32) and 211 in 59.1 overs (Zohaib Khan 98, Rao Iftikhar 32; Ali Zahid 5-61, Adil Raza 4-83).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Peshawar Panthers beat Multan Tigers by an innings and 75 runs.

PESHAWAR PANTHERS 403 in 114.3 overs (Aimal Khan 113 not out, Akbar Badshah 76, Mehran Ibrahim 63; Majid Ali 6-92, Mohammad Asif 2-109); MULTAN TIGERS 113-8 in 35.4 overs (Kashif Naved 45, Gulraiz Sadaf 43; Azizullah 7-52, Taj Wali 3-38) and 215 in 67.1 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 82, Ahmed Rasheed 28, Mohammad Ashfaq 27; Taj Wali 5-78, Azizullah 3-47).

Final standings

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, drawn, points): SNGPL 11 8 1 2 72 National Bank 11 6 1 4 65
Port Qasim 11 6 1 4 59
Wapda 11 5 2 4 45
Karachi Dolphins 11 4 4 3 44 United Bank 11 4 3 4 44 Islamabad Leopards 11 4 2 5 42 Rawalpindi Rams 11 4 4 3 36 Peshawar Panthers 11 2 7 2 25 Lahore Lions 11 2 8 1 21 ZTBL 11 2 5 4 19
Multan Tigers 11 0 9 2 3

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2014