KARACHI, May 25: Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) will look to make it third time lucky when they square off against a National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) side looking to end a two-decade wait for a major trophy in the final of the National Challenge Cup in Bahawalpur on Sunday.

KESC, the losing finalists in the last two editions, come into the showpiece match having prevailed in a nerve-shredding penalty shootout against Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the semi-final on Friday night.

And although they haven’t dazzled in their run-in to the final as in their last two campaigns, they have exhibited a sense of maturity this time around in winning crucial matches.

“We’ve played beautiful football in the last two editions but this time around we’ve focused more on results,” KESC Sports and Marketing head Zabe Khan told Dawn on the eve of the final on Saturday.

Zabe watched nervously from the sidelines at the Dring Football Stadium as his side won 5-4 on penalties, with goalkeeper Jahangir their hero, against a spirited PAF side after the match had ended goalless at the end of extra-time.

The two teams ended 4-4 at the end of their five stipulated penalties, meaning the game went into sudden death.

After Omar Farooq missed, Jahangir saved a penalty from PAF captain Mohammad Mujahid to take it into another round of penalties.

KESC’s Moosa then saw his penalty saved by Mujahid, who had taken over the gloves from regular goalkeeper Amir Khan and Jahangir kept his side in the match with another stunning save.

Defender Aurangzeb scored before Jahangir’s third straight save put KESC into the final.

“It was tense and it was very close,” Zabe said of the shootout. “Jahangir was simply brilliant in goal after PAF had the better chances in normal time.”

Looking ahead to the title-decider, Zabe said: “We really want to win it this time and the players are motivated especially after a tough match on Friday and we are optimistic about our chances.”

KESC captain Mohammad Essa remains a doubtful starter for the final but the playmaker says he is willing to come on if his side needs him during the final.

“My injury hasn’t healed but if the need be, I can come on in the last quarter of an hour,” Essa told Dawn. “We’ve planned well on how we’ll approach the game and although NBP are deserving finalists, we believe we have what it takes to win the final.”

NBP head coach Nasir Ismail, meanwhile, believes the pressure will be on KESC to end their recent heartbreak in the competition.

“KESC have played in two finals in the last two years so they’ll be hoping to break that jinx,” Nasir told Dawn on Saturday. “It won’t be an easy match for us but we’ll try our best to go on and win it especially with my players so motivated.”

Nasir’s young team has earned praise for their performances in the competition and a victory for them would help them win their second Challenge Cup title following their victory in the event in 1993.

“The players are ready for what is the biggest match in their careers so far,” Nasir said. “We’ll adopt a similar strategy to what we’ve used in our previous matches to try and score an early goal and then rely on counter-attacks.”

Both KESC and NBP are hoping that the problems that have marred the competition so far do not affect the final of Pakistan’s premier cup event.

Frequent power disruptions have led to floodlights going off and led to games being stopped, most notably in Friday’s semi-final between KESC and PAF.

“It has been a disaster,” Zabe said. “There have been no proper arrangements to ensure smooth running of the matches.

“Bahawalpur shouldn’t really have hosted this tournament with the climate here not much conducive for football. The Pakistan Football Federation should’ve looked at this when they awarded them the tournament.”

Nasir agreed. “They should arrange for a high-power generator for the final so that there are no outages and the PFF should ensure that,” he said.

However, both Zabe and Nasir complimented the standard of refereeing in the event. “The refereeing has been top class,” Zabe said.

Nasir meanwhile praised the PFF for sending referees from the country for FIFA training programmes.

“Since they’ve started sending them for training, the referees have returned after solid international exposure and that has led to better officiating here in Bahawalpur,” he said.