The soldiers had to work up a sweat against the young but inexperienced Pakistan Machine Tool Factory (PMTF), participating for the first time in the 24-team tournament.
The new entrants showed their resilience by equalising and then surprised their formidable rivals by gaining 2-1 ascendancy in the second half at People’s Sports Complex.
But Imran’s heroics rescued the defending champions when he was on target once in the first period and finished off the game with three second half spectacular goals.
After 39 minutes of mediocre play, the game burst into life after Imran stepped imperiously on to the scoring stage and headed home a Zahid Hussain cross from the right.
Undeterred, PMTF retaliated in the second half and put the match on an even keel via Mohammad Musa who battled his way past two Army defenders before hammering in the equaliser.
The goal from the opposition could not shake Army out of their slumber as they conceded another in the 69th minute. Ghulam Mustafa capitalised on a mix-up between the Army defenders and goalkeeper Falak Sher to put PMTF 2-1 ahead.
Mustafa’s goal served as a wake-up call and the soldiers finally woke up to level 2-2 in the 77th minute. Imran again spared Army’s blushes and fired home a Mohammad Khan pass past PMTF goalkeeper Mukhtar Ahmad.
Army threw down the gauntlet to their opposition as two goals between four minutes from Imran did the damage and sealed the fate of the match.
The high-stepping Imran, who was causing problems for PMTF with his probing runs, was well supported by his teammates Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Irfan.
Shaukat triggered a 84th-minute right side move and shot a swinging cross for Imran who completed his treble with a glancing header that crashed into the net past Mukhtar.
Imran capped the victory with another barely four minutes later when he connected a right side Irfan cross.
Mohammad Basharat saved Pakistan Navy from sinking against Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) by con-juring up two goals in a 2-1 triumph.
But it was SSGC who opened the scoring in the opening third minute of the game which knocked the life out of sailors. Taj Mohammad penetrated the Navy defences to bang home a perfect pass from Mohammad Jawaid.
Navy heaved a sigh of relief when Basharat combined with Fida Hussain to get the equaliser in the 11th minute.
Basharat once again dismantled the SSGC defence with his weaving run and his towering shot went above the SSGC keeper Zaman Ghani on 25 minutes. His another try was, however blocked by Zaman in the 35th minute.
SSGC attacked through lanky Mohammad Ismail who fluffed at least three promising openings after the break.
It was in the 67th minute when SSGC wasted a golden opportunity when Ismail powered in a header from within the penalty box to see custodian Asif Naveed producing a stupendous save.
SSGC’s Muslim Ahmad could have scored but was timely tackled by Mohammad Shafique Jr in the dying seconds of the match.
Meanwhile, the tournament will be re-scheduled as, according to the organizers, there will be no matches Wednesday due to a Rangers darbar being held at the venue.
Competition committee chairman Ghulam Abbas Baloch said the draw would be revised as Pakistan Police was expected to back out owing to financial problems.
Thursday’s fixtures:
PIA v PWD at 11.45am; HBL v City District Government Karachi at 1.45pm; Khan Research Laboratories v NBP at 3.45pm.