Seamers put Islamabad on top

Seamers Fakhar Hussain and Nasrullah Khan bowled Islamabad to a commanding position against Sialkot at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Fakhar finished with figures of 6 for 46, and Nasrullah took four wickets as Sialkot were skittled out for 131 in response to the hosts' 319. Nasrullah did all the early damage, as Sialkot collapsd to 25 for 5. Majid Jahangir provided the only resistance with his unbeaten 56. Sialkot's best partnership was for the last wicket; 33 runs between Jahangir and Prince Abbas. Following on, Sialkot were in trouble at the end of the day at 51 for 4, still trailing Islamabad by 137 runs with Rauf Akbar picking up three of the four wickets to fall.

A century by Imran Farhat kept Habib Bank Ltd in their match against National Bank of Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, but NBP will still fancy themselves to chase the 153 they were set to win. If it were not for Farhat's 101 and his 102-run ninth-wicket partnership with legspinner Danish Kaneria, who made 48, HBL wouldn't have even made it into the third day. Their next highest scorer was wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat with 15 and only three other batsmen reached double figures.

When Farhat came to the wicket, HBL were 47 for 5, still 27 runs behind NBP. Running out of partners, Farhat had to score quickly, and he hit 17 fours to reach 101 off 108 balls before he was dismissed. NBP's openers had to play out seven overs at the end of the day and came out unscathed, at 8 for 0.

Multan were headed for their tenth straight defeat by the end of the second day of their match against Karachi Blues at the National Stadium in Karachi. At stumps on the second day, they were leading Karachi by five runs with just two wickets in hand. Karachi didn't add too many to their overnight total of 194 for 5. Asad Baig went on to get a century, but seamer Abdur Rauf cleaned up the tail to finish with 4 for 94 as Karachi were bowled out for 265. Multan, who were bowled out for 65 in their first innings, were more solid in their second, reaching 164 for 3 with Ghulam Fareed (95) and Imranullah Aslam (54) adding 97 for the fourth wicket. However, they suffered a collapse after that, losing five wickets for 41 runs to end the day on 205 for 8. Seamer Tabish Khan, who took five wickets in Multan's first innings, got four more in the second.

Rawalpindi need another 121 to beat Faisalabad at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, after Sadaf Hussain picked up his second five-wicket haul of the game. Sadaf blew through Faisalabad's top order like a tornado, reducing them to 17 for 4, but even though no other batsmen made more than 14, Adbul Rauf found enough support to make 72, taking his side to 132 and giving them something to defend. Sadaf finished with figures of 6 for 40 in the innings, and 11 for 104 in the match, his second career 10-wicket haul.

Rawalpindi had eked out a seven-run first-innings lead after their last wicket pair of Haseeb Azam, who made 60, and Mohammad Ayaz, who remained not out on 10, added a potentially match-turning 60 runs. Ahmed Hayat picked up the last two wickets to fall, to end up with 5 for 50. They were 5 for 1 in their second innings, having lost Naved Malik for one to Ahmed. A win could mean Rawalpindi move up to second in the points table.

Water and Power Development Authority took control of their game against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground after extending their lead to 224 with seven second-innings wicket in hand. Kashif Raza and Sarfraz Ahmed combined to take nine wickets and skittle SNGPL for 141, with only Ali Raza standing firm in making 54 not out as eight batsmen were dismissed for single-digit scores. Nawaz Sardar led the way with an unbeaten 59 in WAPDA's second innings, as they reached 138 for 3 at the close of play.

A fine allround bowling display gave Pakistan International Airlines a 49-run first innings lead over Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Five bowlers shared the 10 wickets to fall, with Aizaz Cheema's 3 for 57 the best figures of the bunch, while three other bowlers took two wickets each. Five of the batsmen got starts as well, but none of them were able to convert them to big scores. Shahid Yousuf was the top scorer with 49 and Sohail Tanveer and Kamran Naeem made 44 and 43 respectively, adding 76 for the seventh wicket to rescue ZTBL from a precarious 118 for 6 and limit PIA's lead.