KARACHI: Slapped with a ban plus heavy fine for his infamous Mickey Arthur spat, troubled Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal will sit out United Bank Limited (UBL)’s next three fixtures in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship.

Umar’s ban starts with Tuesday’s Group ‘B’ clash at the LCCA Ground in Lahore where UBL face a buoyant Lahore Whites side that whipped Pakistan Television (PTV) by 273 runs in the opening round last week.

UBL currently top the Group ‘B’ standings with 10 points following their victory by innings over Karachi Whites on a UBL Sports Complex pitch where discarded Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan grabbed 11 wickets apart from scoring a feisty half-century.

Rawalpindi, who were the only other regional team to begin the new first-class season in the right direction with a 105-run defeat of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), entertain Habib Bank Limited (HBL), the 335-run winners against Fata, at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) are hoping to build on their crushing 360-run success against Islamabad when they travel to Abbottabad to play Peshawar, who were trounced by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) by 154 runs.

SNGPL, meanwhile, are keen to emulate SSGC’s feat by extending Islamabad’s misery at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital.

Defending champions Wapda are eyeing a second straight success when they take on Faisalabad at the latter’s home territory of Iqbal Stadium after starting their campaign with a 120-run victory versus Lahore Blues.

After sealing a six-wicket win against Faisalabad in round one, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) will have the momentum on their side as they face Lahore Blues at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

In the battle of the losers, Karachi Whites host PTV here at the NBP Sports Complex, while Fata meet KRL at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

In the meantime, PCB’s decision to use the so-called ‘Duke’ balls seems to have backfired with teams and umpires perturbed by the substandard quality of them.

According to sources, the balls are reportedly manufactured in the country but are stamped as ‘Made in England’. The quality of these balls is so poor that the first-round fixtures saw umpires changing them frequently.

The sources further stated that ‘Duke’ balls are sold to teams at subsidized price of Rs7,500 each whereas the actual cost, judging the quality, is not more than Rs1,500 at the most. The ‘original’ Duke balls naturally cost much more which the PCB hierarchy is not willing to sanction.

Second-round schedule (Oct 3-6):

Group ‘A’: Faisalabad vs Wapda (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad); Lahore Blues vs NBP (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi); Islamabad vs SNGPL (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad), Islamabad); Peshawar vs SSGC (Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad).

Group ‘B’: Karachi Whites vs PTV (NBP Sports Complex, Karachi); Lahore Whites vs UBL (LCCA Ground, Lahore); Fata vs KRL (Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot); Rawalpindi vs HBL (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi).

Current standings

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, drawn, points):

Group ‘A’

SSGC 1 1 0 0 9

SNGPL 1 1 0 0 9

Wapda 1 1 0 0 9

NBP 1 1 0 0 9

Faisalabad 1 0 1 0 0

Lahore Blues 1 0 1 0 0

Peshawar 1 0 1 0 0

Islamabad 1 0 1 0 0

Group ‘B’

UBL 1 1 0 0 10

HBL 1 1 0 0 9

Lahore Whites 1 1 0 0 9

Rawalpindi 1 1 0 0 9

KRL 1 0 1 0 0

PTV 1 0 1 0 0

Fata 1 0 1 0 0

Karachi Whites 1 0 1 0 0

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2017