Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins today

16-team tournament to feature 11 day-night matches

KARACHI: Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class cricket tournament, kicks off today at different stadiums of Pakistan with a considerable number of matches scheduled to be played on the day-night format.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to include 11 day-night matches in the tournament, out of which seven will be played in pool matches, three in the Super Eight stage and the last day being kept for the five-day final. In the competition’s last edition, only the final was played in day-night conditions.

According to the PCB, the day-night matches will be played with pink kookaburra balls.

The 16 participating teams include Lahore Blues, Wapda, Peshawar, HBL, Islamabad, SSGC, Karachi Blues and the last year’s runners-up United Bank Limited UBL in Pool A.

Pool B comprises of defending champions SNGPL, Karachi Whites, PIA, Rawalpindi, KRL, Fata, Lahore Whites and NBP.

The draw has been formulated in such a manner that each team will play one day-night in each round.

The group stages will last till November 15, after which the top four teams from each group will move into the Super Eight stage that will be held from November 22 to December 6. Thereafter, one team from each pool will move into the five-day day-night final to be held at the National Stadium in Karachi from December 10-14.

At the end of the tournament, the regional team finishing last will be relegated to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Grade-II 2017-18, while the departmental side at the bottom will be demoted to the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II 2017-18.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2016.             

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