Mudassar bowls Karachi Whites to victory

Taufeef Umar's unbeaten 154 carried Habib Bank to 384 for 9, setting Khan Research Laboratories a target of 477, and by stumps in Karachi they had taken four wickets. Umar resumed the day on 90 and went on to his 12th first-class century, aided by 47 down the order from Umar Gul. Mohammad Irfan took seven wickets but KRL's failure to dislodge Umar hurt. Saeed Anwar jnr's unbeaten 64 before the close gave KRL some hope, but Abdur Rehman (2 for 29) and Danish Kaneria will prove a handful on day four.

The right-arm fast bowler Ali Mudassar, on his first-class debut, picked up 6 for 61 to bowl Karachi Whites to a 253-run win against Pakistan Customs at the Southend Club Cricket Stadium. Karachi extended their lead to 341 after which Mudassar took over. After his new-ball partner Tabish Khan nipped out the openers, Mudassar sliced through the order to cap a memorable debut. With this win Karachi are No.2 on the points table.

From 128 for 4 at stumps on day two, Water and Power Development Authority hit back strongly on day three in Lahore. The WAPDA captain Aamer Sajjad moved on from an overnight 70 to 139 and Bilal Kilji's unbeaten 141 helped the score to 381 for 9. It was a superb comeback from WAPDA, now lead National Bank of Pakistan by 188 runs.

A fourth first-class century from Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir carried Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited to 308 for 7 at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Tanvir's 98-ball effort contained 19 fours and he added a wicket as Lahore Shalimar, set a target of 408, finished the day on 166 for 3 in 47 overs. Abid Ali was not out on 81, carrying Lahore's hopes into the last day.

Pakistan International Airlines continued to boss Sui Southern Gas Corporation at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex. Najaf Shah took 6 for 39 to help bowl SSGC out for 153, after which Khurram Manzoor hit another century to help PIA to 277 for 5, at which point the innings was declared. Set 445, SSGC slipped to 59 for 2.

Hyderabad put in a better effort with the bat in the second innings, but it wasn't enough to save them from an innings defeat against Rawalpindi in Islamabad. Hyderabad began the day on 97 for 2, still 338 runs adrift after following on. But their middle order, like in the first innings, yet again failed to step up to the challenge. Their captain Faisal Athar resisted with 70 and earned some support down the order from Nasrullah Memon (45) but the task of saving the game proved simply too difficult. Medium-pacer Rashid Latif (4 for 78) and left-arm spinner Yasim Murtaza (3 for 37) ran through the Hyderabad line-up to seal victory by an innings and 190 runs, with a day to spare.

The second day had ended on even terms, but there was only one winner on the third as Peshawar thumped Quetta by ten wickets at the National Ground. Quetta began the day with a first-innings deficit of just six runs but proved no match to the pace of Imran Khan, who returned career-best figures of 6 for 29. Left-arm medium pacer Nasir Ahmed chipped in with three wickets, as Quetta were bowled out for 62, with only two of their batsmen reaching double-figures. Peshwar, needed just 57 for victory, romped home by ten wickets, openers Mohammad Fayaz (29 not out) and Fawad Ali (22 not out) seeing them through.

Karachi Blues reached an excellent position to force a win against Abbottabad at the Abbottabad Stadium. The hosts began the day on 211 for 5, still 124 runs adrift of Karachi's first-innings score. But Karachi took little time to skittle them out, allowing them to just add 27 more to their overnight score. The last five wickets fell for just 19, as fast bowlers Tanvir Ahmed (5 for 86) and Mohammad Sami (4 for 65) gave the lower order little opportunity to resist. By stumps on the third day, Karachi had extended their lead to 252; they reached 155 for 3 with overnight batsmen Asad Shafiq and Asim Kamal hitting half-centuries.

Multan finished day three with the advantage but they would have wanted to do better against Faisalabad at the Iqbal Stadium. They were resting in a good position at 152 for 1, with a lead of 201, but lost their way soon after. Opener Ghulam Fareed (88) and Rameez Alam (51) had set up their innings nicely, but Faisalabad, led by seamer Zulqarnain's 3 for 68, hit back. At one point, Multan lost eight wickets for 101 before the last-wicket pair, supported by Rizwan Haider's 48, helped extend the target to 337. Multan finished the day on a high, though, with Abdur Rauf trapping opener Zeeshan Asif in front; at stumps, Faisalabad were 22 for 1.

It was a slow day in Muridke, as Sialkot batted patiently against Lahore Ravi to finish the day with a deficit of 93 on the first innings with three wickets in hand. Sialkot began the day second-best, but were boosted by a determined performance by their middle order. Ayaz Tassawar made a snail-paced half-century and was bettered, in terms of balls faced, by Nayyer Abbas who remained unbeaten on 41 in 155 deliveries. Sialkot's captain Mohammad Ayub had also chipped in with 34, as his team reached 235 for 7 at stumps. Ahmed Butt, the wicketkeeper, supported Abbas in an unfinished stand of 43 by crawling to 14 in 79 balls. Junaid Zia, the Lahore captain, grabbed three wickets but if proceedings continue the same way, the match looks likely to end as a dull draw.