A round-up of the fourth day’s play of the ninth round of matches in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

Cricinfo staff16-Feb-2009Group ALeft-arm spinner Zohaib Khan took 5 for 72 and medium-pacer Junaid Nadir picked up 4 for 8 to lead Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited to a comfortable ten-wicket win against Pakistan Customs in Sheikhupura. Pakistan Customs began the final day trailing by 132 with eight wickets in hand. Their search for a draw suffered several setbacks as Zohaib prevented the growth of middle-order partnerships and Junaid snuffed out the tail. Pakistan Customs lost their last wicket on 237, immediately after avoiding defeat by an innings. Iftikhar Anjum knocked off the one run that ZTBL needed to win off the first ball of their second innings.Khan Research Laboratories ended the final day on 258 for 8, 17 runs ahead of Habib Bank Limited in a drawn contest in Rawalpindi. Resuming the final day on 16 for 0, KRL lost three quick wickets to slump to 36 for 3 before they were rescued by captain Mohammad Wasim’s 91. The lower middle-order also made useful contributions to help KRL earn first-innings points.Thirteen wickets fell on the fourth day of the drawn match between Water and Power Development Authority and Sui Southern Gas Corporation in Muridke. Beginning the day on 50 for 3, Sui Southern Gas Corporation lost seven wickets for 129 runs and conceded a lead of 281. Naved-ul-Hasan was the pick of WAPDA’s bowlers, taking 5 for 37, while Nawaz Sardar took 4 for 33. WAPDA collapsed to 98 for 6 in their second innings but the game had meandered to a draw by then.Group BFaisalabad and Abbottabad played out a tame draw in Sargodha after no play was possible on the first two days. Resuming on the final morning at 85 for 1, Faisalabad continued to bat on, with opener Zeeshan Asif leading the effort with a century. He remained unbeaten on 142 as Faisalabad declared on 297 for 4. Abbottabad batted for eight overs and lost Iftikhar Mahmood before close.A rapid century from Zeeshan Mushtaq gave Islamabad the first-innings lead in their drawn match against Karachi Blues at the Diamond Club Ground. Islamabad’s openers, Raheel Majeed and Umair Khan, gave their team a solid start after Karachi had declared on their overnight score of 249 for 9. Majeed scored 40 off only 48 balls while Umair’s 80 took 112. Zeeshan, the 19-year-old batsman, came in at No. 3 and maintained the momentum, scoring his second first-class century in quick time. He scored 121 off 134 balls and Islamabad declared at 300 for 3 in only 62 overs. Karachi lost three wickets against the new ball in their second innings and were 34 for 3 when the game was called off.Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar picked up a career best of 7 for 98 in Lahore Ravi’s first innings as their match against Multan was drawn at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Lahore began the fourth day on 196 for 3 and received useful contributions from Ashraf Ali, who made 80, and Junaid Zia, who scored an unbeaten 46. Zulfiqar chipped away and helped dismiss Lahore for 361. Multan scored 79 for 2 off 16 overs in their second innings before the match ended.Sialkot picked up 14 Peshawar wickets on the final day at the Arab Niaz Stadium to secure an innings-and-20-run win. The day began with Peshawar on 120 for 6 in their first innings in response to Sialkot’s 369. Left-arm spinner Nayyer Abbas and Bilawal Bhatti chipped away at the lowe -order and helped dismiss Peshawar for 178. Abbas’ 5 for 53 was instrumental in securing a lead of 191. Sialkot’s new-ball bowler Naved Arif was the star of the second innings. He picked up 6 for 73, slicing through Peshawar’s top order as they collapsed for 171. Only two batsmen got into double figures – Mahfooz Sabri (89) and Nauman Habib (50) – but Arif got rid of them both.

National Bnk 8 5 0 0 3 048 Khan RL 8 4 00 4 0 39 Sui Gas 8 4 1 0 3 036 PIA 8 3 20 3 0 33 Habib Bank 8 3 1 0 4 027 Zarai TBL 8 2 10 5 0 24 Sui Sthn Gas 9 0 4 0 5 012 WAPDA 8 1 00 7 0 12 Karachi Whites 9 0 4 0 5 06 Lahore Shalimar 8 0 40 4 0 6 Pakistan Customs 8 0 5 0 3 00

Sialkot 8 5 1 02 0 51 Rawalpindi 95 0 0 4 0 45 Islamabad 8 3 1 04 0 36 Abbottabad 83 1 0 4 0 27 Faisalabad 8 2 0 06 0 21 Multan 82 2 0 4 0 18 Peshawar 8 2 3 03 0 18 Karachi Blues 81 3 0 4 0 15 Lahore Ravi 8 0 0 08 0 15 Hyd (Pakstn) 80 4 0 4 0 3 Quetta 9 0 8 01 0 0