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The focus in the last round of league matches in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship will be on Peshawar's Arbab Niaz Stadium from Monday.

For both Peshawar and Sheikhupura it's a do-or-die affair to qualify for next month's all-important final from Group-II. With 60 points apiece under their belts, these two evenly-matched teams will be desperate to get the better of the other.

Peshawar, of course, have the huge advantage of playing at home. But Sheikhupura, the only side in the 18-team competition to maintain an unblemished record, are no easy pushovers.

Meanwhile, Karachi Whites, already through to the March 1-5 final from Group-I after a comprehensive win over Faisalabad Friday, are keen to gain some useful match practice against Sargodha at KCCA Stadium.

At the other end of the table relegation battle rages on. Hyderabad are certain to be demoted into Grade-II next season irrespective of the result of their Group-I fixture against Rest of Sindh but the picture in Group-II is still not clear.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, in their endeavour to promote the game in the remote areas of the country, will continue the experiment of fielding Rest XIs in Grade-I tournament next season.

Islamabad, lying at bottom of Group-II, are the other side in danger of being relegated. They will be anxious to beat Sialkot in the match at Rawalpindi's KRL Stadium and at the same time expect Rest of NWFP to complete an improbable double over Lahore's other team.

Lahore Whites, therefore, will be taking nothing for granted against NWFP, who caused the biggest upset when they scored a sensational one wicket victory over last season's champions Lahore Blues last Sunday.

Ninth round schedule (Feb 18-21):

*Karachi Whites v Sargodha at KCCA Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Zamir Haider and Iftikhar Malik. Match referee: Fahimuddin Alvi).

*Karachi Blues v Bahawalpur at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Waqar A. Mughal and Iqbal Butt. Match referee: Munawwar Agha).

*Gujranwala v Faisalabad at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Athar Zaidi. Match referee: Sultan Rana).

*Hyderabad v Rest of Sindh at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (Umpires: Afzaal Ahmed and Islam Khan. Match referee: Taslim Arif).

*Peshawar v Sheikhupura at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: M. Nazir Junior and Sadiq Mohammad. Match referee: Ali Zia).

*Lahore Blues v Rawalpindi at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (Umpires: Ehtesham-ul-Haq and Riazuddin. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed).

*Lahore Whites v Rest of NWFP at LCCA Ground, Lahore (Umpires: Shakeel Khan and Z.I.Pasha. Match referee: Azhar Khan).

*Islamabad v Sialkot at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Mian Aslam and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Javed Akhtar).

© Dawn