Khan Research Laboratories piled up a mammoth 355 for 4, the highest so far of the ongoing One-day tournament, to beat Pakistan Customs by 45 runs in an absorbing second-round encounter, taking place at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

Playing first on a perfect batting strip, KRL were boosted by a 197-run third wicket partnership between Mohammad Wasim and Misbah-ul-Haq. Wasim, who has always been considered a test player, not suited to the rigours of limited overs cricket, hit 12 fours in his enterprising knock of 129, made off the same number of deliveries. Misbah made 104 off 100 balls, which contained 10 fours and three sixes.

Customs, winners of the recently concluded Patron's Trophy (Grade I) tournament, did go down in the match but not before putting up a tough fight. The main architect in their run-chase efforts was skipper Ali Naqvi, who played valiantly for his 106 off 98 balls. However, no other batsman could get a big score despite having a good start.

For the winners, Naeem Akhtar took three for 50 and Shakeel Ahmed Snr bagged 3 for 44 in ten overs.

In the second match of this round, National Bank (NBP) dumped Habib Bank (HBL) by 6 wickets in a low scoring encounter at Sheikhupura.

Put into bat, HBL were in trouble right from the start, losing their first wicket in the very first over of the innings. There was slight respite as Taufeeq Umar (25 off 37 balls) and Hasan Raza (15 off 28 balls) added 29 for the third wicket. However, once both had gone back to the pavilion by the 15th over, the remaining batsmen could put up any resistance against some accurate NBP bowling. They lost their last 6 wickets with the addition of just 41 runs, getting all out for a meager 110 in 30.4 overs.

Shabbir Ahmed and Imran Javed bowled with ferocious pace for NBP, claiming three and four wickets each for 31 and 41, respectively. Mohammad Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed were also among wickets, taking one each for 25 and 9 runs, respectively.

NBP knocked off the required runs in 30.5 overs, losing just 4 wickets in the process. After losing two early wickets, Shahid Anwar (41 off 62 balls) and Qaisar Abbas (25 off 56 balls) added 71 for the third wicket to ensure a comprehensive victory for their side.

In the third match, Agricultural Bank (ADBP) downed Allied Bank (ABL) by 24 runs in a high scoring encounter at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala.

The ABL batsman put up a good fight while chasing 266, but they were only hampered by some fine off break bowling by Inam-ul-Haq who took five for 44 runs.

Earlier, it was a fine display of lusty hitting by Ijaz Mahmood, which enabled ADBP to post an imposing 265 on the board. Ijaz played a hurricane knock of 83 not out (4 fours and 9 sixes) off just 44 balls, which helped his side reach a total which looked out of reach before the start of the last ten overs. Apart from him, Nadeem Hussain the wicket keeper/batsman also played well for his 52 off 62 balls, which contained 6 boundaries.

In the last match and probably the most interesting one, Wapda downed Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) by 4 wickets after overhauling a daunting 269 with 14 balls to spare.

The highlight of PIA innings was a 158-run 5th wicket partnership between Mahmood Hamid and Yasir Hameed. Getting together at 20 for 4 by the 6th over, they grafted their innings, with caution at first, and then went to secure some boundaries as well.

Yasir was first to go after contributing 74 off 102, hitting 6 boundaries in the process. Mahmood Hamid, on the other hand, employed a more aggressive approach getting 135 off 130 balls, while hitting 12 fours and 3 sixes.

After the departure of these two, no other worthwhile partnership was built, as PIA batsmen gave away their wickets in search of quick runs. They were all out for 269 in the 49th over.

Kamran Hussain bowled well for Wapda taking 4 for 41 in 9 overs. Waqas grabbed two wickets, but he was a bit expensive, giving away 66 runs in his 9 overs.

For Wapda, Rizwan Malik top scored with 80, providing a tremendous boost to his team's effort to chase the target. Adil Nisar, the skipper, played a cameo of 41 off 21, whereas Zahid Umar contributed with a fine 43. The wicket keeper/batsman added 73 for the 6th wicket in about 12 overs with Kamran Hussain (34) to knock off the required runs well before time.

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