KARACHI, Jan 17: The second phase of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship will now commence from Wednesday (Jan 22) instead of Monday (Jan 20) with the eight pre-quarterfinals matches starting at various centres.

Likewise, the quarterfinals will now be played from Jan 28, instead of Jan 26, according to Cricket Management Committee (CMC) which met at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday evening with its chairman Iqbal Qasim presiding.

The dates of semifinals and the final have also been changed. Now the semifinals will take place from Feb 3 with Feb 5 being declared rest day because of Kashmir Day. Originally, the semifinals were scheduled to commence from Feb 1.

The five-day final will be played from Feb 17 at Gaddafi Stadium. Previously it was slated to begin from Feb 6.

CMC, in a sensible move, has also made widespread alterations in the original list of venues to avoid incomplete matches owing to fog which virtually played havoc with preliminary round ties in Punjab.

For example, now the Group-I winners will face the Group-II runners-up in the round of last 16 at National Stadium, Karachi instead of Gaddafi Stadium. In all, five matches of the knock-out stage will be played at different venues than previously announced centres.

The first four teams of each of the four groups have qualified for the last 16 round.

The schedule of matches is as follows:

Pre-quarterfinals (Jan 22-25):