Pakistan Army trounced Pakistan Education Board by nine wickets to stay in contention for the final of the Patron's Trophy Grade II competition. In another match Service Industries beat Pakistan University Grants Commission by 129 runs to rise to the fourth position in point's table at the end of the sixth round.

The third match of the round played between Public Works Department and Pakistan Air Force ended in a draw after rain played havoc in the Sialkot on the second day of the match, as a result of which play was not possible on the third day as well.

The encounter between Army and Pakistan Education Board (PEB) was played at the LCA Ground, Lahore and saw PEB scoring 223 in their first innings. Mohammad Safdar and Mohammad Farooq played well for their side getting 77 and 46, respectively. Zubair Watto of the Army claimed five wickets for 63.

Army replied with a paltry 148 in their first innings with four of their players going into the twenties yet failing to capitalize on them. For PEB, Mushtaq Afridi and Aftab Ahmed bowled well taking three wickets apiece, whereas Mohammad Farooq and Akbar Ali claimed two wickets each.

After having a good start of 33 in their second innings the middle and late order of the PEB just collapsed under the pressure applied by the Army bowlers. Only Qasir Majeed (48) and Yasir Arafat (35) were the two batsmen who could last their innings out for a respectable period of time. The PEB were all out for 147, thus, giving their opposition a target of 223 to win the match.

Army went in search of their target in a highly professional manner. They lost just one wicket, that of Captain Mansoor for 35, before overhauling the target in the 47th over. Sheraz Khalid (99 not out) and Hashim Iqbal (63) shared a partnership of 178 runs to steer their side to victory.

In the second match of this round, Service Industries made good use of a grassy pitch at the Punjab University New Campus Ground, Lahore to restrict Pakistan University Grants Commission (PUGC) to 122 in their first innings before posting 166 in their turn.

Wasim Khan and Rizwan Ahmed were their main wicket-takers, grabbing 4 each for 39 and 40, respectively.

Service Industries made 178 in their second innings, which contained top score of 40 not out by Nafees Ahmed and 30 by Saqib Maqsood.

Mamood Khan was the pick of the bowlers for PUGC taking 8 for 47 in 20.1 overs.

Requiring 223 to win, the PUGC batsmen fell into immediate trouble, losing two wickets for just 13. This was a position from which they never recovered despite a valiant effort by their skipper Rashid Riaz (32) and Abdur Rauf (19) in the middle order. They were eventually out for 93 with Rizwan Ahmed taking six wickets for 36 runs.

The last round of the competition will commence from the 23rd of this month.

© CricInfo