KARACHI: Current Group ‘C’ leaders Islamabad braced themselves for tense struggle on the last of the league round after Karachi Whites put themselves in pole position to win a possible slot for the triangular phase of the PCB U-19 Inter-region National Cricket Championship.

At stumps at the Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala on Saturday, the boys from federal capital had reached 30-1 after Karachi Whites set them a challenging target of 286 heading into Sunday’s third and final day.

Slow left-armer Mohammad Tariq picked up four wickets for 19 runs as Islamabad, resuming at 70-5, capitulated for 110 to give Karachi Whites a handy 40-run advantage on the first innings.

Karachi Whites then rode on fine knocks from skipper Ram Rani (82, 14 boundaries) and Mohammad Taha (71, four fours) before closing their second innings at 245-6 in 43 overs.

In another must-win clash at the Sports Complex in Mardan, Baha­walpur earned a precious 48-run lead by posting 183 in response to Group ‘B’ rivals Abbottabad’s first-innings tally of 135 with opener Ali Imran scoring 80. Left-arm speedster Hamza Khan claimed five wickets for 46 runs.

Abbottabad then moved to 166-5 in their second innings at draw of stumps.

Quetta, who are also in the running for the next stage, were in strife at 41-3 in their pursuit for a tricky 217-run target against Faisalabad at the Bohranwali Ground in Faisalabad.

The day, however, belonged to slow left-armer Mohammad Ajmal, who followed up his six for 17 in the first innings by capturing another rich haul of 5-76 as the hosts were bowled out for 264 in the second innings.

Close of play scores on Saturday (day two of three):

Fifth-round:

Group ‘A’:

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi; KARACHI BLUES 277 in 76.4 overs (Ashar Qureshi 106, Imran Shah 76, Haider Ali 28; Nasir Nawaz 4-43, Farhan Shafiq 3-54) and 90-4 in 37 overs (Obaisullah Khan 31 not out; Munir Riaz 2-29); RAWALPINDI 140 in 71 overs (Mohammad Jagir 56, Farhan Shafiq 26, Mohammad Salar 25; Kahaf Patel 5-51, Ali Umar 2-25, Ashar Qureshi 2-27).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: FATA 171 in 60.1 overs (Mohammad Naeem 44, Mohammad Khayyam 40, Naik Afridi 30; Hammad Islam 6-43, Najam Naseer 2-18, Faisal Akbar 2-18) and 249-6 declared in 46.2 overs (Naik Afridi 87, Mohammad Khayyam 87, Shahenshah Afridi 34; Usman Fazil 3-39, Hammad Islam 2-82); AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 125 in 65.2 overs (Badar Mukhtar 28; Umar Khan 3-25, Hamza Khan 3-31, Samad Riaz 2-26) and 40-2 in 11 overs.

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: PESHAWAR 240 in 63 overs (Waqar Ahmed 88, Saqib Jamil 58, Mohsin Khan 32; Nauman Akbar 4-43, Raza-ul-Hasan 3-44) and 110-1 in 27 overs (Waqar Ahmed 52 not out, Mohsin Khan 33 not out); HYDERABAD 311 in 82.4 overs (Mohammad Suleman 80, Saud Jaffri 50 not out, Saad Khan 48, Uzair Jaffri 28, Nauman Akbar 26; Mohammad Ilyas 3-56).

Group ‘B’:

At Bohranwali Ground, Faisalabad: FAISALABAD 120 in 42.4 overs (Awais Zafar 28; Mohammad Ajmal 6-17) and 264 in 86.4 overs (Mohammad Awais 83, Awais Zafar 64, Mohammad Irfan 53; Mohammad Ajmal 5-76, Mohammad Junaid 2-68); QUETTA 168 in 48.3 overs (Mohammad Junaid 38; Salman Shafqat 5-48, Talha Umar 2-14) and 41-3 in 18.1 overs (Salman Shafqat 2-5).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE BLUES 256 in 80 overs (Zohaib Amanat 102 not out, Uzair Nazir 75; Aamir Ali 7-79, Nasir Ali 2-102); LARKANA 100-4 in 31 overs (Sajjad Ali 52; Umair Abbas 2-25, Ameer Hamza 2-38).

At Sports Complex, Mardan: ABBOTTABAD 135 in 59.1 overs (Hamza Khan 31, Basit 30; Mohammad Junaid 4-39, Abdur Rehman 2-19, Nauman Ahmed 2-27, Naveed Malik 2-28) and 166-5 in 66 overs (Khayyam Khan 62 not out, Mohammad Arif 36; Naveed Malik 2-29, Mohammad Junaid 2-83); BAHAWALPUR 183 in 67.3 overs (Ali Imran 80; Hamza Khan 5-46, Mohammad Asad 2-43).

Group ‘C’:

At Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala: KARACHI WHITES 150 in 48 overs (Sufyan Khan 48, Syed Amin 27, Mohammad Tariq 26; Zain-ul-Abedin 5-35, Danish Javed 3-10) and 245-6 declared in 43 overs (Ram Ravi 82, Mohammad Taha 71, Sufyan Khan 34 not out; Zain-ul-Abedin 4-94); ISLAMABAD 110 in 66.2 overs (Hasan Nasir 30, Haroon Wahid 28; Mohammad Tariq 4-19, Mohammad Makki 3-29) and 30-1 in 10 overs.

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: DERA MURAD JAMALI 353 in 74.4 overs (Aaqib Junaid 166, Mohammad 39, Mohammad Shahid 35, Usama Razzaq 32, Abdul Haq 32; Mohammad Jahangir 5-108, Asjar Ashfaq 3-84) and 107-4 in 36 overs (Mohammad 43 not out); MULTAN 255 in 71.1 overs (Mudassar Gilani 90, Faraz Khan 48, Mohammad Alamgir 44, Asjar Ashfaq 26; Mohammad Shahid 5-70, Saeed Ahmed 4-59).

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: SIALKOT 271 in 80.3 overs (Abdullah Shafiq 97, Momin Waqar 70, Aashir Mahmood 33; Fahad Munir 3-45, Danish Butt 3-63, Mohammad Naeem 3-69) and 49-2 in 17 overs; LAHORE WHITES 330-5 in 83 overs (Ramis Mustafa 81, Fahad Munir 76, Faisal Ali 58, Saad Ali Rafai 57 not out; Asad Ali 3-82).

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2017