Patron's Trophy, the second most premier tournament of Pakistan's domestic arena, has started with nothing less than a bang with all the four matches (of four-day duration each) of the first round yielding results well before their closing time.

The matches between WAPDA and Allied Bank Limited (ABL), played at Lahore, and between Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), played at Faisalabad, ended within three days. The third match played between Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Pakistan Customs at the National Stadium, Karachi ended before lunch on the fourth day, whereas the fourth match between Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and National Bank Limited (NBL) ended just after lunch on the last day.

As can be judged from the duration of these encounters, all of the matches turned out to be low scoring affairs with none of the eight teams managing to go past the three hundred run-mark. The highest score of 278 was achieved by HBL in their winning campaign against Customs at the National Stadium, Karachi. ADBP enjoys the unique distinction of winning the contest despite scoring the lowest total (119) of the first round in their match against PIA at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.

The match played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore saw ABL skittle out for a paltry 132 in their first innings against WAPDA. They went on to lose the match by 4 wickets despite a gallant effort by their bowlers had reduced the opposition to 88 for six after setting them a victory target of 105. The NBP-KRL encounter taking place at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex, Karachi was won comfortably by the Bank. Chasing 233 to win in the second innings, the National Bank romped home with 8 wickets to spare, thanks to an unbeaten third-wicket partnership of 125 between Shahid Anwar (104*) and Akhtar Sarfraz (54*).

With this innings, Shahid Anwar became the only batsman to make a century in the first round, although we also saw two scores of ninety-plus – 95 by Faisal Afridi (KRL) and 91 not out by Rafatullah Mohmand (WAPDA).

Kamran Hussain, the left-handed pace man from WAPDA, remained the most successful bowler in the first round. He took six wickets for 53 in the ABL's first innings and ended with figures of three for 65 in the second, thus, helping his side win within three days. His teammate Kashif Raza also shone in the match as he took eight wickets in both innings. Shabbir Ahmed, the right-handed pace man and an international player, took six wickets for NBP in their first innings against KRL. Fazl-e-Akbar, the right-handed medium pacer hailing from Peshawar who has also played test cricket for Pakistan, made early inroads in PIA's second innings, taking five wickets for meagre 54 runs.

ADBP, WAPDA, NBP and HBL, having won their respective clashes, go into the second round with 12 points each in their bag. The second round of the tournament gets underway at different centres of the country from 26th of February.

© CricInfo