Quaid-e-Azam Trophy: Rain washes out day as race to final heats up

Weather strikes again to disrupt proceedings in Quaid Trophy.

KARACHI: The remaining two Super-Eight second-round matches scheduled to be played on the fourth day in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament were washed out by rain, resulting in draws with no points being awarded to any team.

In Group A, Sialkot had taken the lead at the end of day three with 377 for eight, as Islamabad replied with 303 runs at the Diamond Ground. However, with no play possible yesterday, the match ended in a draw and no points were awarded.

Sialkot now have six points from two matches and will take on group leaders Rawalpindi, who have 12 points. Sialkot need to defeat them to move into the finals even if they concede a first-innings lead as it will still give them six points to go through. Both teams will gain victories in this case, but Rawalpindi will have one loss in their column while both of Sialkot’s matches would have been drawn.

In group B, Hyderabad and Lahore Ravi’s high-scoring clash too was blown out by rain. No play meant that both teams, who are rooted at the bottom of the group, failed to open their accounts. The result ended their chances of going into the final.

Karachi Blues are favourites to go into the final from their group as they have 18 points, followed by Lahore Shalimar, who have nine.

Shalimar are required to win their last Super-Eight match against Hyderabad outright while hoping that Lahore Ravi defeat the Blues. This would result in the team with the better run rate to move into the finale. However a Blues’ win will end Ravi’s chances of making it to the final.

Among the bottom-placed teams, Samiullah Niazi took eight wickets in the match to guide Faisalabad to an eight-wicket win against Abbottabad at the Mirpur Stadium.

Abbottabad started the day on 305 for eight in their second-innings after being forced to follow on and could only add a single run to their overnight total. Rameez Ahmed made 131, while Niazi, who took a five-for in first-innings, bagged three scalps.

In reply, Rawalpindi easily chased down the target, making 60 for two in 9.5 overs to take nine points.

Meanwhile, Bahawalpur-Quetta’s match ended in a draw at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Set a target of 384, Quetta gave a positive reply making 241 for six before the match ended. Ata-ur-Rehman made an unbeaten 68 while Taimoor ali (59) and Bismillah Khan (52) played important hands as well.

Bahawalpur took three points for taking first-inning lead.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.