Yamin double-ton powers Multan to innings win

Aamer Yamin's double-hundred in the first innings helped Multan comprehensively defeat Quetta by an innings and six runs. Yamin blasted 22 fours and three sixes during his knock of 225, and was well-supported by important contributions of 50 and 68 from Maqbool Ahmed and Haziq Habibullah respectively, that propelled the team to a mammoth 423, 179 runs more than Quetta's meager first-innings total of 244.

Ata-ur-Rehman and Naushad Irshad had both scored fifties for Quetta in their first innings, but Habibullah and Mohammad Rameez picked up nine wickets between them to bundle them out in 93 overs. Quetta did not fare much better in the second innings either, as apart from a third-wicket partnership of 73 between Badar Ali and Taimur Ali, none of the other batsmen lasted long. Rameez and Habibullah once again ran through their line-up to bowl them out for 173 inside 75 overs and seal the win.

Rameez ended the match with figures of 8 for 154.

An incisive bowling performance from Mohammad Irfan, who finished with match-figures of 7 for 68, helped set up an easy run-chase for Lahore Shalimar, who beat Faisalabad by seven wickets.

Irfan picked up five wickets in the second innings to rattle Faisalabad's middle order and skittle them out for 130. Needing just 125 for victory, Lahore completed the win in 33 overs, thanks to a 74 from Imran Butt, that included 10 fours.

Lahore had earlier posted 226 in their first innings to establish a six-run lead, thanks to Arsalan Arshad's 64, and his second-wicket partnership of 51 with Waqas Saleem. Naseer Akram had clawed Faisalabad back into the game by picking up six wickets in the innings, but Irfan contributed with the bat as well, scoring 48 by coming in at No.8 to add a late flourish.

A combined bowling performance helped Rawalpindi beat Abbottabad comfortably by eight wickets at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Abbottabad were bundled out for 192 and were faced with a first-innings deficit of 213. A century by Rehan Afridi led an improved batting performance in the second but they could only muster a lead of 61, which was easily chased down by Rawalpindi on the final day.

Put in to bat, Abbottabad got off to a poor start, losing half their side for 84. The lower order resisted to push the score to 192, but the innings lasted just 48.1 overs. Seamers Haseeb Azam and Akhtar Ayub took three wickets apiece. The Rawalpindi top order were stronger in comparison, with half-centuries by Awais Zia, Naved Malik and Muzammil Nizam. Malik made a quick 57 off 51 balls to get the side off to a good start before Zia and Nizam built on the foundation with a stand of 121 for the fourth wicket. Zia made 78 while Nizam scored 57. A couple of 40s by the lower order pushed the score to 405. Aziz-ur-Rehman, the right-arm seamer, finished with 6 for 85. Abbottabad lost early wickets to Azam and Nasir Malik and were facing an innings defeat at 166 for 8 at one stage. Afridi counter-attacked with an unbeaten 104 off 137 balls with 16 fours and was involved in a ninth-wicket stand of 83 to hold up Rawalpindi. Azam and Nasir shared seven wickets between them to bowl out Abbottabad for 274. Rawalpindi then chased down 62 with ease and secured their position in the top of the table.

Sialkot took a first-innings lead in a drawn match against Peshawar at Jinnah Stadium. Sialkot, put in to bat, were led by half-centuries by Adnan Zaheer and Faisal Khan and a century from the captain Manzoor Amjad. Zaheer scored 51 off 140 balls while Faisal scored 50 off 84 balls. Amjad made an unbeaten 113 to guide Sialkot to 316. Peshawar in response scored 270, led by Sajjad Ahmed's 59. Adil Amin and Jamaluddin narrowly missed their half-centuries, as Peshawar fell 46 short of matching Sialkot's score. Hasan Ali finished with 4 for 85.

Sialkot ended the third day on a strong 77 for 0. Majid Jahangir and Naved Sarwar made half-centuries on the final day. Jahangir scored 86 while Sarwar fell six short of a century. The left-arm spinner Sajjad Ahmed (not to be confused with his exact namesake), took 6 for 84 to bowl out Sialkot for 276.