KARACHI, Feb 11: Hyderabad and Islamabad are battling to avoid relegation with just two rounds to go in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship.

Hyderabad are now almost to play in the non-first-class Grade-II event next season since they have yet to register a single point in Group-I with five losses in five matches.

Islamabad, on the other hand, are also struggling to get off the bottom spot in Group-II. But unlike Hyderabad, the team from the capital of Pakistan scored their first points with a thrilling one-wicket victory over Rest of Punjab last week.

However, the most remarkable result in the previous round was achieved by Rest of NWFP, who shocked Lahore Blues by one wicket Sunday to badly dent the champions’ hopes of defending their crown.

At the other end of the table, Karachi Whites and Sheikhupura are well-placed to make March 1-5 final since they top their respective groups at the start of the eighth round of matches, beginning Tuesday.

Karachi Whites meet a resurgent Faisalabad here at National Stadium while Sheikhupura are at home to Islamabad. Sheikhupura will also keeping a close watch on the events at Arbab Niaz Stadium where Peshawar and Lahore Blues face other in the game of the latest round.

Lahore Blues must beat Peshawar to remain in contention. Peshawar, who clinched their sole title in 1998-99, also need a victory after going to Sialkot Sunday.

Eighth round schedule (Feb 12-15):

*Karachi Whites b Faisalabad at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Zamir Haider and Iqbal Butt. Match referee: Abdul Sami Khan).

*Karachi Blues v Hyderabad at KCCA Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Athar Zaidi and Iftikhar Malik. Match referee: Taslim Arif).

*Gujranwala v Rest of Balochistan at Lahore Country Club, Muridke (Umpires: M. Nazir Junior and Ehtesham-ul-Haq. Match referee: Sultan Rana).

*Sargodha v Bahawalpur at Sports Stadium, Sargodha (Umpires: Ijaz Ahmed and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Azhar Khan).

*Sheikhupura v Islamabad at Sheikhupura Stadium (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Z.I. Pasha. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed).

*Peshawar v Lahore Blues at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Waqar A. Mughal and Masroor Ali. Match referee: Khateeb Rizwan).

*Rest of Punjab v Sialkot at Gymkhana Cricket Ground, Okara (Umpires: Islam Khan and Feroz Butt. Match referee: Ali Zia).

*Lahore Whites v Rawalpindi at LCCA Ground, Lahore (Umpires: Afzaal Ahmed and Riazuddin. Match referee: Azmat Rana).

Standings

(Tabulate under played, won, lost, drawn, abandoned, points):

Group-I

Karachi Whites 6 4 1 1 0 51

Faisalabad 6 3 0 3 0 39

Bahawalpur 6 3 1 2 0 39

Gujranwala 6 3 2 1 0 39

Karachi Blues 6 2 1 3 0 30

Sargodha 6 2 1 3 0 27

Balochistan 7 1 2 4 0 9

Rest of Sindh 7 0 5 2 0 3

Hyderabad 6 0 5 1 0 0

Group-II

Sheikhupura 6 4 0 2 0 51

Peshawar 6 4 1 0 1 48

Lahore Blues 6 3 1 2 0 39

Sialkot 6 2 1 3 0 30

Rawalpindi 6 2 1 2 1 24

Rest of NWFP 7 1 4 2 0 15

Rest of Punjab 7 1 3 3 0 15

Lahore Whites 6 1 4 1 0 12

Islamabad 6 1 4 1 0 9