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Port Qasim relegated from QEA Trophy

Six department teams and two regional teams - Lahore Blues and Karachi Whites - qualified for the Quaid-E-Azam trophy Super eight round starting on December 14

File photo: Despite having international cricketers like Khurram Manzoor, Port Qasim Authority were relegated from grade one cricket to grade two  •  AFP

File photo: Despite having international cricketers like Khurram Manzoor, Port Qasim Authority were relegated from grade one cricket to grade two  •  AFP

Six department teams and two regional teams - Lahore Blues and Karachi Whites - qualified for the Quaid-E-Azam trophy Super eight round starting on December 14.
Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited topped Group A, while Port Qasim Authority (PQA), Islamabad, Hyderabad and Peshawar region, despite not having lost a single match in the season, have been relegated. National Bank of Pakistan lead the progression from group B.
Port Qasim have managed only one win in seven matches. Not only have they failed to qualify, but they are now relegated from grade one to grade two. If the QEA format remains intact, they will have to finish top in grade two tournaments and then have to qualify for the Trophy.This despite having international players like Khurram Manzoor, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Talha and former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif as coach.
Port Qasim's fate was sealed when they could only manage a draw in their final game against Sui Southern Gas Corporation in Islamabad. They finished sixth with 11 points - the poorest record among the eight department teams - and is the only one that has been demoted.
Hyderabad, a regional side from Sindh, were demoted from Quaid-e-Azam Trophy after they finished at the bottom of Group B. They ended up winless after seven games, and lost five of them. Lahore Whites were also winless, but avoided relegation by losing one less game than Hyderabad.
Federally Administered Tribal Areas may have finished bottom, if not for their first-ever win in first-class cricket, over Karachi Blues. FATA will not make it to the Super eight, but will continue playing grade one cricket.