Patron’s Trophy Grade-II begins today

KARACHI: Patron’s Trophy Grade-II cricket tournament will begin at different venues of the country on Sunday (today).

On the opening day, twelve matches will be held. As many as 24 outfits would be competing for a single first-class cricket seat. The winners of the event will qualify for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy which begins in September this year.

The winners will replace Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) who have been demoted following their pathetic performance in the top tier competitions last season.

The teams have been bracketed in four groups with the leading team in each group progressing to the semi-finals which would be played from April 2-4 at Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad and Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

The final would be conducted from April 7-10 at a yet to be decided venue.

Groups:

Group A: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Maiden Traders, Candyland, Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Pak Saudi, Civial Aviation Authority (CAA); Group B: Army, Capital Development Authority (CDA), Customs, IMEX, ZTBL, POL; Group C: Port Qasim Authority, Humak Engineering, Income Tax, Higher Education Commission (HEC), Rahat and Shuja Impex, Pakistan Talevision; Group D: K-Electric, Ghani Glass, NADRA, Brighto Paints, Railways, Omar Associates

Today’s fixtures: SBP v Maiden Traders at UBL Sports Complex Karachi, Candyland v KPT at SBP Ground, Karachi, Pak Saudi v CDA at NBP Sports Complex, Karachi; Group B: Army v CDA at Army Ground Rawalpindi, Customs v IMEX at Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi, ZTBL v POL at Diamond Ground Islamabad, Group C: PQA v Humak Engineering at Iqbal Stadium, Income Tax v HEC at Rana Naved Academy Sheikhupura, Rahat and Shuja Impex v PTV at Jinnah Stadium Gujranwala; Group D: K-Electric v Ghani XI at LCCA ground Lahore, NADRA v Brighto Paints at Jinnah Stadium Sialkot, Railways v Omar Associates at Railways Stadium in Lahore.