Pakistan University Grants Commission (PUGC) beat Pakistan Education Board (PEB) by seven wickets in the only decisive encounter of the third round of Patron's Trophy (Grade II) competition, played at the Punjab University New Campus ground, Lahore.

Batting first on a lively pitch after winning the toss, PEB could muster only 195 in their first innings, despite a brave effort by Mohammad Safdar (73) at the opening slot.

For PUGC, Abdul Rauf and Mamoon Khan bagged three wickets each, whereas Jibran and Imran got two and one wickets, respectively.

Thanks to Irfan Bhatti's 120, PUGC got a massive 312 for six when they came out to bat in their first innings. Irfan was supported in his efforts by skipper, Ahmed Khan, who got 59.

After conceding a first innings lead of 117, the PEB batsmen failed to lift themselves up in the second innings as well. Helped by 65 from the middle order batsman, Haroon Iftikhar, they managed 205 in their second innings. Farooq and Safdar, the two openers, contributed with 30 and 39, respectively.

PUGC, requiring 89 to win, romped home for the loss of three wickets in just 20 overs. Their opening batsman Rizwan Ahmed remained not out on 33. This was followed by 20 extras in the total, which helped the winners a lot to comfortably overhaul the target.

The clash between Pakistan Army and Service Industries at LCA ground, Lahore turned out to be a big scoring affair. Batting first on a placid track, Service Industries, helped by 105 by Maqsood and 54 by Rizwan, made 270 in their first innings. After conceding a first innings lead of 10 runs, they declared their second innings at 250 for 9.

Service Industries had 39 overs at their disposal in which to force a win, and their bowlers did an excellent job by taking 8 Army wickets in this brief period. The game could have gone either way had their been a few more overs left in the match, as Pakistan Army ended their second innings only 34 runs short of the target with two wickets still intact.

The third encounter was played between Public Works Department (PWD) and Sui Gas at the Saga Ground, Sialkot, and was marked by a magnificent 152 not out by Bazid Khan, the middle order batsman of PWD. Aided by Bilal Asad's 93, he helped his side to post a formidable 339 in their first innings.

Sui Gas replied with 254, with the opening batsman Ali Hussain carrying the bat with a responsible knock of 87.

After making 262 in their second innings, Service Industries set an improbable target of 348 to get in about 30 overs.

Sui Gas played out the remaining time safely. They were 94 for four when the umpires decided to call it day.

The next round of the eight-team competition will start from 11th of March.

© CricInfo