Pakistan International Airlines, boosted by the presence of test stalwarts Wasim Akram and Moin Khan, overcame Pakistan Customs by 4 wickets in a rain curtailed 35-a-side encounter of the fourth round of the One-day tournament (departments), played at Sheikhupura Stadium.

Although both former captains could not give a performances that's always expected of them, yet their mere presence in the playing eleven proved a great morale booster for PIA.

Asif Mujtaba, the captain of PIA, won the toss and elected to field first, considering perhaps that the wet outfield and moisture in the pitch would help seamers early on.

However, this decision started looking fatal when Ali Naqvi, a former test player, compiled 152 for the second wicket with Azhar Shafique in just about 23 overs, thus, setting pace for a fighting total for his side.

Naqvi, who has been in magnificent the whole of this season, hammered all bowlers with spite, not even sparing a seasoned Wasim, to score an unbeaten 117 off 97 balls, which contained 9 fours and 3 sixes. Azhar made 56 off 79 balls, hitting one four and a six.

Scoring the required 230 at an average of 6.57 was never going to be easy, especially when PIA lost their first wicket with only 24 on the board. Yet, Ghulam Ali, with his power-laden shots to all parts of the ground, made the target immensely simple. He scored 82 (10 fours, 2 sixes) off just 55 balls, adding 97 for the second wicket with Yasir Hameed (32 off 36 balls, 4 fours) in around 11 overs to take the game completely out of Customs' grasp.

PIA reached the target in the 33rd over, with Wasim Akram contributing 19 off as many balls and Moin Khan hammering 26 off 19.

A magnificent second-wicket partnership of 149 between Saeed Bin Nasir and Mohammad Wasim eased Khan Research Laboratories to an 8-wicket win over Allied Bank in another 4th-round match.

After adding 89 for the first wicket with Saeed Anwar Jnr (28 off 47 balls, 6 fours), Saeed went on to build another big partnership with the in-form Wasim, while remaining unbeaten on 108 (127 balls, 11 fours). Wasim, a former test player, contributed with a fine 79 (91 ball, 8 fours) to help his side reach the target of 249 in 43.4 overs.

Earlier, KRL bowlers did well to contain ABL to 248 for 7 in their allotted fifty overs, after an ominous-looking 89 by Aamer Hanif had provided them a sound platform to pile up runs. However, all other batsmen, with the exception of Taimur Khan (44 off 50 balls, 1 four, 1 six), could not build up their innings.

For the winners, Saeed Anwar Jnr claimed three wickets for 50, whereas Jaffir Nazir and Mohammad Sarfraz got one each for, respectively, 37 and 47.

In the third match of this round, Wapda clinched a narrow 2-wicket victory over National Bank at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala.

Requiring 187 to win, Wapda made an impressive start, with their openers getting 65 for the first wicket. However, NBP bowlers struck back by claiming three wickets without the addition to the score, and another just 20 runs later.

At this point, Rafatullah Mohmand (51 off 100 balls, 4 fours) joined with Zahid Umar (18 off 33, 2 fours) to add 43 valuable runs for the 5th wicket, bringing Wapda very much back into the contest. In the end, it was an unbeaten 34-run partnership between Sarfraz Ahmed and Shafique Ahmed, which led Wapda to victory in the 50th over, after their 8th wicket had fallen at 166.

The fourth match of the round, between Habib Bank and Agricultural Bank was washed out due to overnight rain and subsequent wet ground conditions.

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