Date-stamped : 06 Mar97 - 06:16 28 February 1997 Jaded NBP face UBL in do-or-die match by Samiul Hasan KARACHI, Feb. 27: A tired, jaded and worn out National Bank take on a charged-up and fresh United Bank in a do-or-die match in the 16th Nationa l One-day Championship second round match at the latter`s ground on Friday. National Bank, the two-time winners, have been playing this de- manding cricket since Wednesday last and tomorrow it will be their sixth match in 10 days. On the contrary, United Bank, who won the tournament in 1988, will come into the match refuelled after three-day a rest. Moreover, they have played only two matches in the last eight days which can be the deciding fac- tor in this match. Tomorrow, it will be their third match in 10 days. National Bank are desperately in need of a win to keep their chances for qualifying to the semi-finals from the Karachi zone. They have two wins (over ADBP and Bangladesh) while United Bank have a cent percent record w ith victories over Bangladesh and ADBP. If National Bank manage to pull a victory, they will have six points from four matches and it will then come down to the final match of the league between United Bank and PIA at the Defence Stadium for the determination of two qualifiers. PIA are all but through to the semi-finals. Nevertheless, they need to improve their run-rate against Bangladesh on Friday at the National Stadi um as they are trailing behind National Bank (5.00) and United Bank (4.94) w ith 4.74. The run-rate will come into effect if National Bank defeats Unit- ed Bank o n Friday and United Bank upset PIA on Sunday. United Bank, it may be mentio ned here, will be a different team alto- gether on Sunday with the inclusion of Salim Elahi, Basit Ali, Azhar Mahmood, Mohammad Husain, Wasim Yousufi and Inzamamul Haq (the first five back from Dhaka and Inzamam regaining fitness). "I don`t believe in losing this game and winning the next. The level at which you are playing, you have to win every match," United Bank skipper Tauseef Ahmad said, adding: "PIA is a very difficult team and I don`t want to make Sunday as the deciding day. "No doubt we will get five players, but that may disturb the combination of the team which has yet t o lose a game." The former Test spinner admitted that National Bank had the dis- advantage of playing their sixth match in 10 days but said things may also be difficul t in his tent. "We will be playing third match in 10 days with a very britt le batting. I would have loved to play straight matches when the batsmen wer e scoring runs. These gaps sometimes may disturb the concentration and momentum of the batsmen," Tauseef stated. National Bank skipper Shahid Anwar said he was little bothered by the fac t that Friday`s match will be their sixth in 10 days. "Professional cricket ers are bound to perform under any circum- stances. We rested strike-bowler Ath ar Laiq while Naeem Ashraf also bowled very little on Wednesday as bulk of t he bowling was done by the spinners. "At this moment, I am quite optimistic of my team`s chances. The match against Bangladesh has helped Tahir Shah and Saeed Azad regain their form and confidence. These two players can make a huge difference between our team and the oppo- sition," Anwar stated. INZAMAM NOT TO PLAY: Inzamamul Haq, according to sources, has left Karach i and will not be playing for United Bank on Friday. "He may not even play on Sunday as he has left the city," sources commented. Inzamam has still not fully recovered from the knee injury which is troubling him when he runs. "He is not even 50 percent fit," sources adde d. Teams NBP (from): Sajid Ali, Tahir Shah, Shahid Anwar (captain), Ameer Akbar, Saeed Azad, Mohammad Javed, Wasim Arif, Zafar Iqbal, Athar Laiq, Naeem Tayyab, Salman Fazal, Naeem Khan, Tariq Mohammad, Shakeel Sajjad, Naeem Ashraf. UBL (announced): Mohammad Ramazan, Javed Sami, Mansoor Akhtar, Aamir Bash ir, Iqbal Imam, Saifullah, Mushtaq Ahmad, Tauseef Ah- mad (captain), Waqar Youn is, Ali Gohar, Umer Rasheed. UMPIRES: Feroze Butt and Saqib Qureshi. Source :: The Dawn (http://www.xiber.com/dawn) Contributed by Vishwa ( vg@cricinfo.com )