KARACHI: Peshawar scored a creditable 78-run win over KRL while departmental teams HBL, NBP and SSGLC all secured victories on the last day of the opening four-day fixtures of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Tuesday.

Multan, meanwhile, denied PTV victory by securing a draw on their return to the first-class arena. Karachi Whites and ZTBL — who also returned to topflight action after several seasons — had won inside three days on Monday against Wapda and Lahore Blues, respectively

Holders SNGPL not only drew with Lahore Whites at the LCCA Ground in Lahore but also saw the regional team take three points for obtaining a first-innings lead 90 runs.

No less than 18 wickets crashed at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi. Peshawar were all out for 122 after having lost their last eight wickets for 62 runs after resuming their overnight second innings at 47-2.

KRL, needing a modest 177, were bowled out cheaply for just 98 in 42.1 overs with left-arm paceman Taj Wali continuing from where he had left off in the first innings. He bagged 4-31 in 12 overs to finish with match haul of nine for 44 as Peshawar pocketed nine points.

Discarded Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal opened his HBL account in style as the temperamental right-hander smashed a robust half-century while enabling his new team to a seven-wicket triumph against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital.

Umar blasted 87 from 68 balls with the aid of 13 fours and three sixes as he and opener Salman Afridi (39) put on 122 after HBL were asked to chase a moderate tally of 137.

Earlier, Islamabad added a further 78 to their Monday’s score of 65-3 before being all out for 143.

NBP were the biggest winners as they completed an innings and 57-run defeat of Fata at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad.

Fata, who trailed on the first innings by a big margin of 187 runs, were dismissed after resuming the day 43-2.

Former Pakistan paceman Sohail Khan captured six wickets for 57 runs in 20.5 overs to help SSGCL easily rout Rawalpindi by 147 runs at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. Resuming at 84-3, Rawalpindi were all out for 224 in their second innings.

Khalilullah was Multan’s hero against PTV at the Multan Cricket Stadium with a resolute innings of 97 (185 balls, 13 boundaries) in a stay of 248 minutes while inspiring the home team to 295-9 after they had began day four at 73-1 in pursuit of a tall 352-run target.

Ex-Pakistan slow left-armer Raza snared five wickets for 81 runs in 37 overs.

On Thursday the first round of fixtures in the Quaid-i-Azam One-day Cup will be played between the same teams who competed in the opening games of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy.

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

Pool ‘A’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Match drawn.

SNGPL 251 in 109.5 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 69, Naeemuddin 56, Asad Shafiq 22; Babar Rehman 4-65, Mohammad Irfan 4-84) and 116-2 in 42 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 52 not out, Asad Shafiq 32 not out); LAHORE WHITES 341 in 145 overs (Usman Salahuddin 153 not out, Ali Zaryab 38, Mohammad Waheed 36, Nauman Anwar 30; Bilawal Bhatti 4-84, Rahat Ali 2-77).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Peshawar beat KRL by 78 runs.

PESHAWAR 278 in 99 overs (Akbar Badshah 114 not out, Israrullah 54; Nauman Ali 6-62, Sadaf Hussain 2-61) and 122 in 64.4 overs (Akbar Badshah 33; Nauman Ali 6-52, Ali Shafiq 4-40); KRL 224 in 103 overs (Jaahid Ali 52,Abdur Rehman Muzammil 52, Azeem Ghumman 31; Taj Wali 5-24, Sajid Khan 2-61) and 98 in 42.1 overs (Azeem Ghumman 28; Taj Wali 4-31, Zahid Mahmood 2-10, Nasir Ahmed 2-20, Sajid Khan 2-22).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: HBL beat Islamabad by seven wickets.

ISLAMABAD 348 in 89.3 overs (Rohail Nazir 130, Shehzad Azam Rana 70 not out, Sarmad Bhatti 59, Zohaib Ahmed 45; Umar Gul 3-34, Abdur Rehman 3-93, Amad Butt 2-53) and 143 in 54.2 overs (Sarmad Bhatti 27 not out; Amad Butt 3-35, Agha Salman 2-17, Umar Gul 2-27, Khurram Shahzad 2-28); HBL 355 in 112.4 overs (Ramiz Aziz 87, Abid Ali 83, Saad Khan 44, Salman Afridi 32; Mohammad Nadeem 5-90, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-76, Mohammad Arham 2-91) and 137-3 in 24.3 overs (Umar Akmal 87 not out, Salman Afridi 39; Ahmed Safi 2-33).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: NBP beat Fata by an innings and 47 runs.

FATA 247 in 98 overs (Afaq Raheem 103, Nisar Afridi 57; Mir Hamza 6-42, Atif Jabbar 3-65) and 130 in 56 overs (Mohammad Asghar 3-19, Bilal Asif 3-28, Atif Jabbar 2-33); NBP 434-7 declared in 115.4 overs (Kamran Ghulam 101 not out, Danish Aziz 84, Rameez Raja 57, Akbar-ur-Rehman 47, Mohammad Asghar 41; Adnan Ghaus 3-123).

Pool ‘B’:

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Match drawn.

PTV 281 in 105.4 overs (Umair Khan 68, Saud Shakeel 42, Mohammad Yasin 41; Mohammad Irfan 5-37, Ahsan Baig 2-60) and 236-5 declared in 59 overs (Saud Shakeel 108 not out, Saeed Bin Nasir 37, Ali Khan 35, Umair Khan 34; Ahsan Baig 2-59); MULTAN 166 in 73.5 overs (Waqar Hussain 43; Aamir Jamal 3-28, Ali Khan 2-15, Mohammad Hasnain 2-32) and 295-9 in 116 overs (Khalilullah 97, Imran Rafiq 67, Naved Yasin 43 not out, Usman Liaquat 39; Raza Hasan 5-81, Aamir Jamal 2-74).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: SSGCL beat Rawalpindi by 147 runs.

SSGCL 349 in 104.5 overs (Umar Amin 154, Sami Aslam 100, Adil Amin 38; Saad Altaf 6-88, Rizwan Akbar 2-77) and 175-3 declared in 36 overs (Sami Aslam 100 not out, Awais Zia 30); RAWALPINDI 153 in 60.3 overs (Naved Malik 58; Kashif Bhatti 4-17, Aamir Yamin 3-35, Ahmed Jamal 3-40) and 224 in 79.5 overs (Haseeb Azam 70, Mukhtar Ahmed 66, Umar Waheed 32; Sohail Khan 6-57, Kashif Bhatti 3-43).

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2018