LAHORE, Jan 22: Defending champions Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) were in sight of their first victory in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after dominating the third’s play against Lahore Shalimar at the LCCA Ground on Thursday.

Replying to Lahore Shalimar’s 207, SNGPL made 288 to gain a first-innings lead of 81. Paceman Mohammad Naved captured five for 86. By close of play, Lahore Shalimar were struggling at 115 for four in the second innings.

Faisalabad, meanwhile, were forced to follow after making a paltry 105 in response to Multan’s first-innings total of 332 in Okara. Paceman Abdur Rauf nudged the national selectors once again by taking four for 41.

Imran Ali (84) and Mohammad Salman (55) then added 110 for the unbroken second-wicket stand as Faisalabad reached 187-1 in the second innings.

An unbeaten 104 by Bilal Khilji helped Wapda to 244-5 in the second innings against ZTBL at the Sheikhupura Stadium. ZTBL, however, took a 43-run lead on the first innings.

Meanwhile, National Bank regained top spot in Group ‘A’ after scoring a massive innings and 310-run win over Pakistan Customs at the NBP Sports Complex in Karachi. Upcoming paceman Mohammad Talha finished with match haul of 10 for 119 after taking 5-75 in Customs’ second innings of 187. Former Test batsman Zahoor Elahi hit a defiant unbeaten knock f 102.

Faisal Iqbal, the Pakistan batsman, equalled his highest first-class score by making an undefeated 200 for PIA against SSGC at the Quaid-i-Azam in Karachi. The PIA captain, who batted for seven hours and 19 minutes, struck 18 boundaries and two sixes during his 338-ball innings as his side piled up 487 for six declared in reply to SSGC’s 278.

Scores on Thursday (day three of four):

Pool ‘A’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore:

LAHORE SHALIMAR 207 in 96.5 overs (Mohammad Saeed 59 not out) and 115-4 in 44.3 overs; SNGPL 288 in 96.1 overs (Umar Akmal 70, Khurram Shahzad 57, Azhar Shafiq 55; Mohammad Naved 5-86).

At Sheikhupura Stadium:

WAPDA 199 in 60.5 overs (Azhar Attari 4-47) and 244-5 in 83 overs (Bilal Khilji 103 not out, Nawaz Sardar 51); ZTBL 242 in 100.3 overs (Afaq Raheem 82, Junaid Nadir 60; Mustafa Iqbal 4-39).

AT NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: National Bank beat Pakistan Customs by an innings and 310 runs.

PAKISTAN CUSTOMS 130 in 45.1 overs (Rameez Aziz 52; Mohammad Talha 5-44) and 187 in 40.2 overs (Zahoor Elahi 102 not out; Mohammad Talha 5-75, Mohammad Aamir 4-48); NATIONAL BANK 627 in 110 overs (Fawad Alam 296 not out, Nasir Jamshed 105, Qaiser Abbas 52).

At DHA Stadium, Karachi:

HABIB BANK 176 in 51.2 overs (Ahmed Shahzad 50; Misbah Khan 5-49) and 63-3 in 21.4 overs; KARACHI WHITES 498-8 declared in 159 overs (Asim Kamal 125, Ali Asad 108, Tanvir Ahmed 75).

At Quaid-i-Azam Park, Karachi:

SSGC 278 in 106.4 overs (Imran Abbas 90) and 14-1 in 7 overs; PIA 487-6 declared (Faisal Iqbal 200 not out, Sarfraz Ahmed 82, Fahad Iqbal 75).

Pool ‘B’:

At Gymkhana Club Ground, Okara:

MULTAN 332-9 declared in 102.2 overs (Naved Yasin 92, Majid Majeed 75, Usman Tariq 75; Zahoor Khan 5-100); FAISALABAD 105 in 32.4 overs (Sajjad Hussain 5-20, Abdur Rauf 4-51) and 187-1 in 64.1 overs (Imran Ali 84 not out, Mohammad Salman 55 not out).At Lahore Country Club, Muridke:

QUETTA 256 in 100.3 overs (Mohammad Aslam 52) and 41-3 in 14.5 overs; LAHORE RAVI 279 in 104.3 overs (Ashraf Ali 51; Nazar Hussain 4-73).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Abbottabad beat Karachi Blues by 10 wickets.

KARACHI BLUES 149 in 46.3 overs (Rashid Mansoor 6-76) and 154 in 43.2 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 55; Armaghan Elahi 6-42, Rashid Mansoor 4-94); ABBOTTABAD 294- in 93 overs (Riaz Kail 87, Fawad Khan 62; Abdul Ameer 5-55, Tabish Khan 4-99) and 10-0 in 1.1 overs.

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad:

RAWALPINDI 297 in 83.3 overs (Babar Naeem 79, Naveed Qureshi 74, Fawad Hussain 51; Naved Arif 6-63) and 239-8 declared in 75.4 overs (Awais Zia 86, Naveed Qureshi 58); SIALKOT 155 in 49.3 overs (Haris Sohail 56; Mohammad Rameez 4-45) and 53-0 in 9.1 overs.

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (day two):

HYDERABAD 292 in 93.1 overs (Azeem Ghumman 100; Imran Khan 4-53); PESHAWAR 197-3 in 70 overs (Adil Amin 93).