ABL chase 3rd straight triumph

Allied Bank Limited (ABL) are the only side in the 24-team Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship to maintain a clean sheet after two rounds of matches.

The bankers will begin their quest for a third straight victory on Thursday when they take on defending champions Karachi Whites here at the National Stadium.

Karachi Whites, no doubt depleted by loss of key players to departments, are already feeling the going extremely tough. They have so far collected just three points against Bahawalpur in the first round.

The Karachiites now have the huge challenge of stopping ABL in their tracks as former Test off-spinner Arshad Khan is in the midst of a great spell. He claimed a haul of 15 wickets against Bahawalpur at the end of last year.

National Bank, meanwhile, must make up for that uncomfortable two-wicket win over Faisalabad with a convincing performance when they meet Group-I leaders Wapda in Muridke in the pick of third round fixtures.

Group-I: National Bank v Wapda at Lahore Country Club, Muridke (Umpires: Aleem Dar and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Abdul Sami); Lahore Blues v Servis Industries at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (Umpires: Riazuddin and M. Akbar Khan. Match referee: Azhar Khan); Faisalabad v Sargodha at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (Umpires: Islam Khan and Waqar A. Mughal. Match referee: Mahmood Rasheed).

Group-II: Karachi Whites v Allied Bank at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Iftikhar Malik and Zamir Haider. Match referee: Sadiq Mohammad); Bahawalpur v Dadu at Bahawalpur Stadium, Bahawalpur. Umpires: Masroor Ali and M.H. Dars. Match referee: Farooq Shera); Multan v Pak PWD at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Javed Iqbal. Match referee: Taslim Arif).

Group-III: Lahore Whites v Habib Bank at LCCA Ground, Lahore (Umpires: Salim Badar and Ehtesham-ul-Haq. Match referee: Mohammad Anees); Gujranwala v Pakistan Customs at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala (Umpires: Ijaz Ahmed and Tasaddeq Jamal. Match referee: Sultan Rana); Sheikhupura v Sialkot at Sheikhupura Stadium, Sheikhupura (Umpires: Junaid Ghafoor and Tariq Cheema. Match referee: Naeem Ahmed).

Group-IV: ZTBL v PIA at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Sajjad Asghar and Nadeem Ghauri. Match referee: Ehteshamuddin); KRL v Karachi Blues at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Zafar Iqbal Pasha and Kaukab Butt. Match referee: Saadat Ali); Peshawar v Rawalpindi at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Afzaal Ahmed and Mohammad Nazir Junior. Match referee: Ishtiaq Ahmed).

Points Table

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, drawn, points):

Group-I

Wapda 2 1 0 1 15

Sargodha 2 1 0 1 15

National Bank 2 1 0 1 12

Faisalabad 2 0 1 1 3

Lahore Blues 2 0 0 2 0

Servis Industries 2 0 2 0 0

Group-II

Allied Bank 2 2 0 0 24

Pak PWD 2 1 0 1 15

Multan 2 1 1 0 12

Karachi Whites 2 0 0 2 3

Dadu 2 0 2 0 0

Bahawalpur 2 0 1 1 -1

Group-III

Pakistan Customs 2 1 0 1 15

Lahore Whites 2 1 0 1 12

Habib Bank 2 1 0 1 9

Sheikhupura 2 0 1 1 3

Gujranwala 2 0 1 1 3

Sialkot 2 0 1 1 0

Group-IV

Rawalpindi 2 1 0 1 12

PIA 2 1 0 1 12

KRL 2 0 0 2 6

ZTBL 2 0 0 2 3

Peshawar 2 0 1 1 3

Karachi Blues 2 0 1 1 0

Note: Bahawalpur were docked one point for non-submission of captain's report on umpires.