The third round of the Patron's Trophy (Grade I) competition witnessed thumping victories for Pakistan Customs, Habib Bank, and Agricultural Bank, whereas the encounter between Allied Bank and Pakistan International Airlines ended in a draw after overnight rain in Rawalpindi rendered the pitch wet on the fourth morning.

In the first match of this round played at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Habib Bank (HBL) clinched an incredible 56-run win over Khan Research Laboratories despite being bundled out for a paltry 114 in their second innings.

Put into bat by Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), HBL found themselves in deep trouble at 6 for 61on the morning of the first day. They were lifted from this position by a 63-run seventh wicket partnership between Sajid Shah (78 not out) and the wicket keeper, Atiq-uz-Zaman (29). Sajid has another useful partnership of 55 for the last wicket with Kabir Khan (23) to post a respectable 222 on the board.

KRL, in their turn, failed to cope with some fine bowling by HBL, as they were skittered out for 147 in their first innings, thus, conceding a lead of 75 runs on a wicket which had considerable help for pace bowlers. Sajid Shah, boosted by a fine performance with the bat, proved the most successful bowler as well, taking three wickets for 10 runs in 5.3 overs. Kabir Khan, Shahid Nazir, and Asadullah Butt grabbed two wickets each.

The HBL batsmen, seemingly under the illusion of first innings advantage, took the matters lightly when they came out to bat in their second innings. They went for rash shots against some accurate bowling from Yasir Arafat and company, thus, losing wickets at regular intervals to be eventually bundled out for 114 runs.

The right-handed medium pacer, Yasir, proved to be their main destroyer, returning remarkable figures of six wickets for only nine runs in 9.5 overs.

Requiring 190 to win with ample time at their disposal, the KRL batsmen failed to capitalise on an excellent effort by Yasir Arafat, which had seen them coming back into the match after conceding a first innings deficit. They were comfortably placed at 62 for three at one stage, only to be seen sliding to 111/6, a position from which they did never recover.

Sajid Shah, yet again, remained the most successful bowler for his team, grabbing three for 33. Shahid Nazir also got three wickets for 47 runs. Kabir Khan and Akram Raza took two wickets apiece.

In the second match of this round, Pakistan Customs beat National Bank by nine wickets at the Sheikhupura Stadium, Sheikhupura.

Put into bat by Customs, NBP were all out in their first innings for 209, which contained a well made 60 by Naumanullah and 26 by the wicket keeper batsman Kamran Akmal.

Customs replied with 281, after being reduced to 56/5 in the early part of their innings. Naved Latif, with his score of 95, proved the main architect in this total, sharing useful partnerships with Aamer Iqbal (32) and Azam Khan (28) low down the order.

The NBP batsmen failed to gather their act together in the second innings as well. Faced by a fiery Nadeem Iqbal, the lanky right-handed pace man who grabbed seven wickets for 53, they had little to offer in terms of runs, as their wickets kept tumbling like nine pins. They were all out for 116 in the end, giving a modest target for the opposition to win the match.

Customs got the required 45 runs for the loss of just one wicket with their skipper, Ali Naqvi, remaining unbeaten on the personal score of 24.

The third match of the third round was played between Agricultural Development Bank (ADBP) and Wapda at the KRL ground, Rawalpindi, and like the above mentioned two matches, it ended within three days. ADBP won this match by seven wickets, with the real honours in this victory going to the right-handed pace man, Iftikhar Anjum who bagged 11 wickets in the match.

After restricting Wapda to 228 in their first innings, ADBP responded with 293 after being reduced to 80 for five at one stage. The skipper, Mansoor Rana, played a responsible knock at this stage. He hit a superb 117, while adding 100 for the 6th wicket with Inam-ul-Haq (62) to take his side to safety.

Waqas Ahmed, the stocky right-handed pace man, took six wickets for 87 runs, as he ripped through the ADBP top order.

Wapda batsmen failed completely to deliver goods the second time around. They were sent packing for 130 in their second innings, as Iftikar unleashed an exhibition of devastating fast bowling. He finished with five for 58, after capturing six wickets in the first innings.

ADBP lost three wickets on their way to the victory target of 66 runs. Faisal Naved made 26, whereas Imran Abbas remained not out on 18, as their team romped home in only 16 overs.

The fourth match of the round played between Allied Bank (ABL) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, turned out to be the only drawn encounter of the this round.

After gaining a first innings lead of 112 runs, ABL declared their second innings at 247/5, only to see the overnight rain rendering the play impossible on the last day.

The match witnessed a number of good performances from the batsmen of both sides. Rashid Latif, the former captain of Pakistan team, top scored in ABL's first innings with 72, whereas Aaley Haider got 66 to help his side reach 304 in their first innings. Rashid remained not out in the second innings at the personal score of 52. However, the top honours went to Wajahatullah Wasti, who scored an unbeaten 105 to take his side to 247 in their second innings.

Asif Mujtaba, the captain of PIA, fought a lone battle with a valiant 90 not out in his team's first innings total of 192. They were not required to bat in the second innings after the interruption of rain on the fourth morning.

The fourth round of the competition will get under way from the 16th of March 2001.

© CricInfo