PLAY in the Bottom Six Teams final of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship between Bahawalpur and Faisalabad at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan was disrupted by rain as only 55.4 were bowled on the third day of the five-day fixture.

Faisalabad, six runs behind on the first innings, progressed from 12-0 to reach 203-4 in their second innings with Khurram Shehzad (42 off 87 balls, three fours) and Zeeshan Butt (16) at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.

After losing Moazzam Hayat early on, Faisalabad made steady progress as Mohammad Shahid and Ali Waqas both made identical scores of 55. Asif Ali, the other opener, made 22.

Shahid, who was more enterprising than Ali Waqas, negotiated 75 balls and adorned his 98-ball knock with 11 boundaries before falling to leg-spinner Imranullah Aslam.

The left-handed Ali was caught at the wicket by Waqas Khan after striking eight fours during his 99-ball innings which lasted 143 minutes.

Imranullah with figures of two for 35 in 12 overs was the most successful Bahawalpur bowler with pace duo of Ansar Javed and Kamran Hussain chipping in with one wicket apiece.

This match is still wide open with Faisalabad now having a lead of 197 runs.

Scoreboard FAISALABAD (1st Innings) 273 (Mohammad Salman 69, Ali Waqas 41; Imranullah Aslam 5-83, Ataullah 2-76). BAHAWALPUR (1st Innings) 279 (Bilal Khilji 131, Faisal Mubashir 33; Samiullah Khan Niazi 5-73, Bilal Butt 2-44). FAISALABAD (2nd Innings, overnight 12-0): Asif Ali c Ansar b Imranullah    22 Moazzam Hayat c Waqas b Ansar    6 M. Shahid c Ansar b Imranullah    55 Ali Waqas c Waqas b Kamran    55 Khurram Shehzad not out    42 Zeeshan Butt not out    16 EXTRAS (B-4, W-1, NB-2)    7 TOTAL (for four wkts, 59.4 overs)    203 FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-62, 3-101, 4-177. BOWLING (to-date): Ataullah 19.4-2-76-0 (2nb); Ansar Javed 10-1-47-1; Kamran Hussain 13-4-31-1; Bilal Khilji 1-0-1-0; Imranullah Aslam 12-1-35-2; Faisal Elahi 4-0-9-0.