LAHORE: Lahore Whites, Peshawar and Sialkot were confirmed as the sides to feature in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy’s triangular stage after the tournament’s group stage ended with the completion of the fifth-round matches on Friday.

The three teams finished as the toppers of their respective groups and will feature against each other in the triangular stage, which starts in Abbotabad with the Peshawar-Sialkot clash on Nov 25. Lahore Whites will take on Peshawar from Dec 1 before playing Sialkot from Dec 27.

The Quaid Trophy final will be played from Jan 2, with the venue for the decider yet to be announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

While Lahore Whites had ended their group stage with an eight-wicket win over Larkana a day earlier, Peshawar and Sialkot beat Rawalpindi and Karachi Blues respectively on the fourth and final day of the round.

Peshawar pacers Maaz Sadaqat and Niaz Khan shared six wickets between them equally to help the team edge Rawalpindi by 26 runs at the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium in the garrison city and qualify for the triangular stage.

Maaz and Niaz’s exploits and two wickets by Pakistan Test spinner Sajid Khan were enough to limit Rawalpindi to 214 in their pursuit of 241 runs, with Umar Amin’s 65-run effort going in vain for the home side.

Sialkot, meanwhile, beat Karachi Blues by eight wickets at Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, chasing down a 99-run target after Test pacer Mohammad Ali’s five-wicket haul had helped them bundle out the Blues for 224.

Elsewhere, Faisalabad beat Islamabad by 247 runs at the National Ground in the capital, taking only 17 balls to take Islamabad’s three remaining wickets as Asad Raza and Shehzad Gul picked up four each across the innings.

At the Diamond Cricket Ground, Abbottabad beat Hyderabad by 249 runs as Hyderabad were bundled out for 95 in their pursuit of 345 as Aftab Ahmed picked 5-3.

Bahawalpur romped to a 198-run win over Kar­achi Whites who were dismissed for a mere 102 in pursuit of 301 runs. Bahawalpur’s Meh­ran Sanwal snapped 5-22.

Published in Dawn, November 23th, 2024