LAHORE: Peshawar registered a 189-run victory over Multan at the Imran Khan Stadium in Peshawar in the penultimate round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy on Wednesday.
Peshawar’s triumph was shaped almost entirely by the brilliance of their captain, Sajid Khan, who delivered yet another match-winning spell to complete his second consecutive 10-wicket match haul of the tournament.
Sajid’s figures of 6-39 on the final day dismantled Multan for a miserable 92 all out, sealing the visitors’ defeat by a huge margin and keeping Peshawar firmly alive in the title hunt. With just one round left, the points table now shows a fierce contest at the top, where Sialkot (149 points), Karachi Blues (138), Faisalabad (132) and Peshawar (132) remain locked in a four-way battle for the coveted final berth.
The veteran off-spinner has been in irresistible form this season. Against Lahore Whites in the previous round, he finished with 10 wickets; against Multan, he repeated the feat with figures of 4-29 and 6-39, taking his tally of match hauls of ten wickets in his career to six.
Multan, starting the day at 2-1 and needing 280 more for victory, collapsed despite a fighting 39 off 111 balls from Imran Butt. None of the other batters crossed double figures as Sajid and Mohammad Irfan (3-10) tore through their batting order. The defeat condemns Multan—currently ninth on the table—to a relegation battle against bottom-placed Abbottabad in their final match.
At Rawalpindi’s Shoaib Akhtar Stadium, Lahore Whites secured a five-wicket win over Bahawalpur, marking their second victory of the season. Chasing 136, they resumed at 58-4 and rode on a calm, composed knock from Player of the Match Hussain Talat, who remained unbeaten on 49 to guide his team home.
alat, fresh off hitting Pakistan’s winning runs in the third ODI against Sri Lanka, continued his rich form—adding to his first-innings half-century. Partnerships with Tayyab Tahir (32) and later Qasim Akram ensured Lahore Whites climbed to sixth position heading into their final fixture against FATA.
The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final will be staged from November 29 at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, where only the two most strong sides will compete for Pakistan’s most prestigious domestic cricket title.
