LAHORE, Dec 4: A defiant unbeaten knock of 55 by Captain Hasan Raza at the Multan Stadium on Tuesday, helped Habib Bank Limited (HBL) earn a close two-wicket win against Multan to maintain their top position in pool ‘A’ of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy championship.

Chasing an easy victory target of 132, the bankers resumed their second innings in a commanding position of seven for no loss. But left-arm paceman Rahat Ali (4-31) and Ansar Javed (4-49) posed a constant threat for them, before romping home for the loss of eight wickets in 41.5 overs. Had it not been for Hasan’s 95-ball knock, laced with two fours and several sixes, HBL would have lost the game along with the top spot, which would then have been grabbed by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

A seven-wicket haul by paceman Tahir Mughal guided NBP to an impressive 214-run win against Customs at the NBP Sports Complex, Karachi. With 48 points, NBP are now placed second.

Given a target of 410 to win, Customs were all out for 195 after resuming at 52-2 to taste big defeat. Only wicketkeeper batsman Bilal Shifait (63) showed some resistance in front of Tahir, who finished with seven for 59.

As expected, pool ‘B’ leaders Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) earned three points in the first innings as their match against Lahore Shalimar ended in a draw at the Gaddafi Stadium, despite a devastating bowling spell of seven wickets for 103 by Fazle Akbar.

Having earned a first innings lead of 128 after bowling out the spirited Lahore Shalimar in the first innings at 436, PIA while replying with 564, set a high target of 374 for their opponents, after declaring at 245-2 in the second knock. But Lahore Shalimar could not resume the second innings due to bad light till time ran out and the umpires had to call off the match.

Sabtain Raza of Lahore Shalimar, batting at 9th position, contributed a useful unbeaten 85 off 80 balls, which included 14 fours and one six as his team earned a big first innings total. In the second knock, PIA were served well by opener Khurram Manzoor (108) and Kamran Sajid (103 not out) to pile up 245-1 before declaring.

There was no change in the top leaders of both the groups as the remaining seven matches ended in draw.

Summarised scores:

Gaddafi Stadium

Draw.

PIA (1st innings) 564. and 245-2 (Khurram Manzoor 108, Kamran Sajid 103 not out). LAHORE SHALIMAR (1st innings) 436 (Sabtain Raza 85 not out, Suleman Khan 82, Ali Raza 65, Ahmed Butt 45; Fazle Akbar 7-103).

Multan Stadium, Multan

HBL win by two wickets.

MULTAN (1st innings) 220. And 196. HBL (1st innings) 285. And 132-8 (Hasan Raza 55 not out; Ansar Javed 4-49, Ahmed Raza 4-31).

KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi

Draw.

KRL (1st innings) 403-7 declared. KARACHI BLUES (1st innings) 218-9 (Shadab Kabir 54, Mohammad Masroor 56). And 244-5 after follow-on (Shadab Kabir 64, Faraz Patel 69 not out).

Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad

Draw.

HYDERABAD (1st innings) 339. And 290-5 declared. (Faisal Athar 92, Rizwan Ahmed 41). WAPDA (1st innings) 172. And 360 (Ahmed said 80, Kashif Rasheed 71, Zulqarnain Haider 51 not out).

Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala

Draw.

SSGC (1st innings) 269. And 320-4 (Asif Zakir 170). Sialkot (1st innings) 287.

Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar

Draw.

PESHAWAR (1st innings) 307. QUETTA (1st innings) 143. And after follow-on 360-9 (Hamid Ullah 79, Sami Ullah 99, Nazar Hussain 38 not out; Rahat Ullah 4-104).

Abbottabad Stadium

Draw.

SNGPL (1st innings) 317-5 declared. (Yasir Arafat 100, Umar Akmal 97, Azhar Shafique 44; Noor-ul-Amin 4-124). ABBOTTABAD (1st innings) 355-2 (Adnan Raees 118 not out, Wajid Ali 115 not out, Fahad Khan 90).

Mirpur Stadium, AJK

Draw.

ZTBL (1st innings) 326-9 declared. And 3 for no loss. RAWALPINDI (1st innings) 242 (Usman Saeed 73, Osama Shahroon 55; Mohammad Khalil 4-76).

Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Draw.

FAISALABAD (1st innings) 499. And 100-3 (Mohammad Salman 49 not out). KARACHI WHITES (1st innings) 451 (Asad Shafiq 223, Khalid Latif 55, Javed Mansoor 50, Tanvir Ahmed 42; Ahmed Hayat 4-102).

NBP Sports Complex, Karachi.

NBP win by 214 runs.

NBP (1st innings) 265. And 386-3 decld. CUSTOMS (1st innings) 242. And 195 (Bilal Shifiat 63; Tahir Mughal 7-59).