Sialkot beat Peshawar in a two-wicket thriller

Sialkot beat Peshawar by two wickets inside three days chasing 221 after they had conceded a first-innings lead of 50 on the third day of their fourth-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship Gold League match at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

Resuming on their overnight score of 137 for 8 Peshawar only added 33 more. Sialkot's bowling hero was Tahir Mughal who took 5 for 65 and finished with a match haul of 10 for 121.

Sialkot got off to a sound start with 63 from the opening pair but Waqar Ahmed, the left-arm seamer, with 4 for 29, and Peshawar's other bowlers appeared to have swung the initiative their way when Sialkot were at 162 for 7 needing 59 more. Mohammad Ayub, however, scored a fighting unbeaten 55 off 99 balls. The unbroken ninth-wicket stand between Ayub and Asim Butt was worth 61 and proved to be match-winning in the end.

Peshawar will now meet last season's runners-up Faisalabad at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad in their fifth-round match from February 1. Sialkot, who took only six points from this win, will host Lahore Shalimar on the same day.

Karachi Harbour set Lahore Shalimar a target of 383 after declaring their second innings at 242 for 6 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Having already piled up a first-innings lead of 140, Karachi Harbour pushed towards victory as Khalid Latif, the opener, made 103 and added 124 with Naumanullah for the fifth wicket.

This was Latif's second first-class century and his 103 came off 201 balls while Naumanullah made 64 off 102 balls. Sarfraz Ahmed, the wicketkeeper, followed his 75 in the first-innings with an unbeaten 36 that came off 52 balls with four fours.

Junaid Zia, Lahore Shalimar's right-arm medium-fast bowler, took 4 for 69 to match his first-innings figures of 4 for 82. At stumps Lahore Shalimar were at 44 for no loss with 339 more needed on the final day.

Despite a 50-run stand for the last wicket Faisalabad conceded a first-innings lead of 51 to Rawalpindi who then extended their lead to 328 by the end of day three of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship match at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

Misbah-ul-Haq, unbeaten on 93, added 31 for Faisalabad's tenth wicket with Asad Ali who stayed with Haq for nearly an hour making only four.

Babar Naeem, the Rawalpindi opener, who had made 55 in the first innings, top-scored in the second innings with 75 while Mohammad Wasim, the Rawalpindi captain, followed his first innings 62 with a score of 57. Saeed Ajmal and Asad Ali took three wickets each for Faisalabad while Ahmed Hayat took two. At stumps Rawalpindi were at 277 for 8 with Sohail Tanvir and Yasim Murtaza at the crease.

Lahore Ravi won by an innings and 53 runs after they bowled out Quetta for 107 inside 48 overs on the third day of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship Silver League match at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground.

Quetta didn't put up a fight at all, following on 260 runs behind after being bowled oyt for 248 in the first innings. Their second innings began on an encouraging note with a second wicket stand of 69 between Shoaib Khan and Umar Javed. But then they lost the last nine wickets for 30 runs.

Wasim Khan, Kashif Siddiq and Waqas Ahmed took three wickets each. Khan, a right-arm fast-medium bowler, ended with a match haul of 7 for 89 while Siddiq got 5 for 12 with his legbreak bowling.

While Quetta will next play in Hyderabad, Lahore Ravi will host Abbottabad in the fifth round starting February 1.

Trying to remain in contention for the Silver League final, and a possible return to the Gold League, Multan were 71 for 3 chasing a target of 321 against Abbottabad at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Multan seemed to have the game in their grasp when the first five Abbottabad wickets fell for 101 but the last five then added another 121 more to give them a total of 222.

Zafar Janoon and Nasir Jalil added a crucial 50 runs for the eighth wicket. Jalil remained unbeaten on 39 off 75 balls. Abdur Rauf, Multan's right-arm medium-fast bowler, took 6 for 66 and Mohammad Irshad took 2 for 39. Multan lost three wickets for 71 when stumps were called and need another 250 to win.