Habib Bank, National Bank and Allied Bank earned convincing victories against Agricultural Bank, Wapda and Khan Research Laboratories, respectively, in the fourth round of the Patron's Trophy (Grade I) tournament, which ended yesterday at various venues in the Punjab province.

The PIA-Customs match turned out to be the only drawn encounter of this round owing to the light drizzle in Rawalpindi, which started its effect on the afternoon of the last day rendering the continuation of play impossible. The match was evenly poised at this stage, with Customs 119/4 on their way to a victory target of 227. However, they just managed to squeeze three points as a result of a three-run first innings lead, and now end up with 13 points in their bag.

The match played at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad between National Bank (NBP) and Wapda was arguably the most absorbing encounter of this round.

Imran Nazir, discarded for the tour of New Zealand, played his way back into form by hitting a sparkling 111 off only 117 balls (17 fours and two sixes), helping NBP to reach 271 in their first innings. Kashif Raza, the Wapda pace man, bowled well for his side, claiming 6 for 61 in 21.3 overs.

Having reached 42 for the loss of just one wicket in their first innings, Wapda looked well set to post a competent score on the board. However, destiny had something else in store for them. Their remaining nine batsmen lasted around 17 more overs, the whole team going down with only 80 runs on the board, with six of their batsmen having ducks, including 0* by Sarfraz Ahmed.

Shabbir Ahmed and Aleem Moosa, both pace men, played havoc with the Wapda batsmen, taking five and four wickets each for 25 and 23, respectively.

Wapda could not have a worse start to their second innings after following on. They were reduced to 4/2 at one stage before Tariq Aziz (93), Maqsood Akbar (59), and Hasan Adnan (37), playing responsibly, steered their team out of impending disaster. However, their happy days were over as soon as Aleem Moosa came for his new spell. He bowled with fire and venom to claim 7 for 39, limiting the opposition (which had another four ducks in its line up) to a very sorry state at the end of their innings.

NBP openers – Imran Nazir (33 off 25 balls) and Sajid Ali (13 off 12 balls) – had no trouble in polishing off the required target of 49 to win the match. They took just five overs to complete the task, thus, ensuring that the match did not go into the fourth day.

The second encounter, taking place at Khan Research Laboratories Ground, Rawalpindi, saw Habib Bank (HBL), the tournament leaders so far, thrash Agricultural Development Bank (ADBP) by seven points to take their points tally to 34.

Put into bat by the opposition, ADBP batsmen had some good time in the middle, as they posted a formidable 322 on the board, which contained a fine century (115) by Faisal Naved and 79 by the skipper, Zahoor Elahi.

Shahid Nazir and Sajid Shah, both veteran pace men, grabbed four wickets each, whereas Akram Raza bagged two wickets with his off breaks.

HBL replied with 285, with none of their batsmen taking his personal score past fifty – the highest being 47 made by the number eleven batsmen, Shahid Nazir. He was followed by Akram Raza who got 46. These two added 86 for the last wicket after being reduced to 199 for 9 at one stage. Mubashir Nazir remained the most successful bowler for ADBP, taking 5 for 84 runs.

Apparently under the illusion of a first innings advantage, the ADBP batsmen could not offer a commendable show in the second innings. Lasting just about 28 overs in the second innings, they were all out for 102. Kabir Khan, the left-handed pace man, returned excellent figures of five for 56. He was well supported by Shahid Nazir and Sajid Shah who claimed 3 and 2 wickets each.

Taufeeq Umar and Atiq-uz-Zaman played unbeaten knocks of 55 and 24, respectively, in HBL's second innings to ensure that the eventual honours went to their team. Losing three wickets for 93, they guided their side to the victory target of 140 by the 46th over the innings, thus, gaining 9 points from the match.

In the third decisive encounter of this round, Allied Bank (ABL) beat Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) by 186 runs to earn a maximum of 12 points and raise themselves to the third position in the overall standings after the fourth round.

Helped by an opening stand of 203 between Mohammad Nawaz (109) and Mohammad Usman (81), ABL mustered 358 in their first innings before restricting the opposition to 264. They then declared their second innings closed at 257 for 4 after Aaley Haider (62), Taimur Khan (69 not out), and Rashid Latif (65 not out) had made good use of some wayward bowling by KRL.

Chasing 352 in the last innings was never going to be an easy task, more so when we consider the bowling strength possessed by ABL. Spurred on by the early breakthroughs provided by Aamir Nazir (4 for 66), the four-pronged ABL attack involving Aaqib Javed, Tanvir Ahmed and Kashif Mahmood, employed a very nagging line and length to make life extremely miserable for the KRL batsmen.

Losing seven of their top batsmen for just 69 on the board, KRL had a slight respite when the last two wickets added 96 to total; but that was nothing more than salvaging an already lost cause. They lost their nine wickets for 165 and that was the end of the match, as Sarfraz Ahmed, their number 11 batsman, did not come out to bat due to injury.

The fifth round of the tournament will start from the 21st of this month.

© CricInfo