CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

Karachi, Jan 1: The beleaguered Karachi Blues face a tough battle to avoid relegation when the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Grade-I Cricket Championship resumes after a 37-day break from tomorrow (Tuesday).

Karachi Blues, currently entrenched at the bottom of the table with no points, face Islamabad in the four-day encounter here at the KCCA Stadium. To retain their place in the top league for next season, Karachi Blues must win, at least, two of their remaining three fixtures with maximum points.

However, Karachi Blues, winners of the prestigious national championship in the past, do have the added advantage of playing their remaining games in the city - against Sargodha and Rawalpindi - before the league rounds are over.

Islamabad, who are in 10th place, are still not guaranteed next season's Grade-I spot because they have 15 points. Sheikhupura are the other side in the 12-team competition who also have relegation worries. They are in 11th spot with just nine points.

At the other end of the table, Karachi Whites, led by Test reject Asif Mujtaba, are almost assured of their spot in the final, having virtually topped the points table from the start of the championship last October.

The runway leaders, who take on Rawalpindi at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, are considerably strengthened by the return of young Test leg-spinner Danish Prabha Shankar Kaneria and a fit-again rookie paceman Mohammad Sami.

Lahore Blues, 12 points behind Karachi Whites, are at home to third-placed Faisalabad at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

The championship has been given a belated competitiveness edge by the availability of the current national stars who were previously missing because of international commitments.

Ninth round's fixtures:

Karachi Blues v Islamabad at KCCA Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: M. Akbar Khan and Iftikhar Malik. Match referee: Anwar Khan).

Rawalpindi v Karachi Whites at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Sajjad Asghar and Asad Rauf. Match referee: Farrukh Zaman).

Lahore Blues v Faisalabad at LCCA Ground, Lahore (Umpires: Salim Badar and Feroz Butt. Match referee: Mahmood Rasheed).

Gujranwala v Lahore Whites at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala (Umpires: Sadiq Mohammad and Riazuddin. Match referee: Taslim Arif).

Sargodha v Peshawar at Sports Stadium, Sargodha (Umpires: Mohammad Nazir Junior and Kamal Merchant. Match referee: Naeem Ahmed).

Sheikhupura v Bahawalpur at Sheikhupura Stadium, Sheikhupura (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed).

© The Dawn