Knock-out stage begins from 22nd

The second phase of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship will now commence from Wednesday (Jan 22) instead of Monday (Jan 20) with the eight pre-quarterfinals matches starting at various centres.

Likewise, the quarterfinals will now be played from Jan 28, instead of Jan 26, according to Cricket Management Committee (CMC) which met at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday evening with its chairman Iqbal Qasim presiding.

The dates of semifinals and the final have also been changed. Now the semifinals will take place from Feb 3 with Feb 5 being declared rest day because of Kashmir Day. Originally, the semifinals were scheduled to commence from Feb 1.

The five-day final will be played from Feb 17 at Gaddafi Stadium. Previously it was slated to begin from Feb 6.

CMC, in a sensible move, has also made widespread alterations in the original list of venues to avoid incomplete matches owing to fog which virtually played havoc with preliminary round ties in Punjab.

For example, now the Group-I winners will face the Group-II runners-up in the round of last 16 at National Stadium, Karachi instead of Gaddafi Stadium. In all, five matches of the knock-out stage will be played at different venues than previously announced centres.

The first four teams of each of the four groups have qualified for the last 16 round.

The schedule of matches is as follows:

Pre-quarterfinals (Jan 22-25):

Match 1: National Bank v Habib Bank at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Salim Badar and Athar Zaidi. Match referee: Mahmood Rasheed).

Match 2: Pakistan Customs v Wapda at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Aleem Dar and Nadeem Ghauri. Match referee: Khateeb Rizwan).

Match 3: Allied Bank v KRL at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Shakeel Khan and Riazuddin. Match referee: Munawwar Agha).

Match 4: PIA v Bahawalpur at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Mohammad Nazir Junior and Mian Aslam. Match referee: Khalid Niazi).

Match 5: Faisalabad v Sialkot at Bahawalpur Stadium, Bahawalpur (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Saadat Ali).

Match 6: Lahore Whites v Sargodha at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Zafar Iqbal Pasha and Ehtesham-ul-Haq. Match referee: Ishtiaq Ahmed).

Match 7: Pak PWD v ZTBL at Aga Khan Gymkhana Ground, Karachi (Umpires: Afzaal Ahmed and Islam Khan. Match referee: Sadiq Mohammad).

Match 8: Rawalpindi v Multan at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan (Umpires: Asad Rauf and Zamir Haider. Match referee: Pervez Akhtar).

Quarterfinals (Jan 28-31):

First match: Winners of Match 1 v Winners of Match 3 at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Islam Khan and Athar Zaidi. Match referee: Ilyas Khan).

Second match: Winners of Match 2 v Winners of Match 4 at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Iftikhar Malik and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Abdul Sami Khan).

Third match: Winners of Match 5 v Winners of Match 7 at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Afzaal Ahmed and Riazuddin. Match referee: Fahimuddin Alvi).

Fourth match: Winners of Match 6 v Winners of Match 8 at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Iqbal Butt. Match referee: Farrukh Zaman).

Semifinals (Feb 3-7):

First semifinal: Winners of first match v Winners of third match at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Salim Badar and Shakeel Khan. Match referee: Anwar Khan).

Second semifinal: Winners of second match v Winners of fourth match at Mian Aslam and Athar Zaidi. Match referee: Azhar Khan).

Final (Feb 17-21): At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (Umpires: Riazuddin and Asad Rauf. Match referee: Ehteshamuddin).

Final Points Table

(At the conclusion of the league phase.

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

Group-I

National Bank 5 2 0 3 24

Wapda 5 1 0 4 21

Faisalabad 5 1 1 3 15

Sargodha 5 1 1 3 15

Servis Industries 5 0 2 3 3

Lahore Blues 5 0 1 4 0

Group-II

Allied Bank 5 4 0 1 51

Bahawalpur 5 2 1 2 26

Pak PWD 5 1 0 4 18

Multan 5 1 2 2 12

Karachi Whites 5 0 1 4 9

Dadu 5 0 4 1 0

Group-III

Pakistan Customs 5 1 0 4 18

Habib Bank 5 1 0 4 12

Lahore Whites 5 1 0 4 12

Sialkot 5 0 1 4 6

Sheikhupura 5 0 1 4 3

Gujranwala 5 0 1 4 3

Group-IV

PIA 5 4 0 1 48

KRL 5 3 0 2 42

Rawalpindi 5 2 2 1 24

ZTBL 5 1 2 2 15

Karachi Blues 5 1 3 1 12

Peshawar 5 0 4 1 3

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