Teams enter Q Trophy fifth round without key players

KARACHI: Some teams will miss the services of their key players in the crucial fifth round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy because of their engagement in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The fifth round begins at different venues of the country on Monday (today).
National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) will miss their skipper Kamran Akmal and Test opener Nasir Jamshed when they face WAPDA in their Group B game at Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.
NBP have virtually made it to the Super Eight stage with 33 points which they have secured because of three huge wins.
“Yes, we have almost made it to the Super Eight stage,” an official of NBP told ‘The News’ from Sialkot on Sunday.
In another game of the group, Karachi Whites will lock horns with Rawalpindi at Pindi Stadium.
Karachi Whites still have a chance to qualify for the Super Eight stage.
“Yes, there is some hope. We will try out best,” Karachi Whites’ coach Tauseef Ahmed said.
“It will be a real test for batsmen as conditions here are different. It’s cold and there is also grass on the pitch. We will go with the same squad that played the game against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL),” the former Test spinner said.
Karachi Whites have nine points which they have secured by virtue of taking lead in their three drawn encounters against WAPDA, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and KRL. Karachi suffered a huge loss against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in their third round clash here at the National Stadium.
Rawalpindi have six points after four rounds.
Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) will meet Group A leaders United Bank Limited (UBL) at Marghzar Ground in Islamabad.
SSGC, who trail third in the group with 14 points, will miss their international pacers Mohammad Amir and Sohail Khan because of their BPL engagement.
“No doubt they will be missed but we have a strong back-up. We will decide who should replace the two after inspecting the pitch tomorrow,” SSGC manager Saeed Asif said.
UBL, who lead with 29 points, will have the support of Pakistan’s most accomplished batsman Younis Khan, who will play his first game for the side after his transfer from HBL recently.
Port Qasim Authority (PQA), who are at the fourth spot in Group A with ten points, will face second-placed Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.
Skipper Khalid Latif last week kept PQA alive with a match-saving 134 against Peshawar. He batted for all three sessions before giving a 34-run target to Peshawar in 13 overs. The hosts were 10-1 in two overs when bad light forced the end of the game at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.
SNGPL will miss Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal. Umar is part of Pakistan’s T20 squad for the T20 series against England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Misbah, who played against Lahore Blues at Lahore last week, has proceeded to Dhaka to join his BPL side Rangpur Riders.
Misbah hit a spectacular 39-ball 61 with four sixes and three fours to guide Rangpur Riders to a two-wicket victory over Chittagong Vikings in a nail-biter on Sunday.
The losers had Pakistan’s Test pacer Mohammad Amir, who produced his career-best figures of 4-30.
Pakistan’s one-day skipper Azhar Ali is expected to play his first game for SNGPL after his return from the UAE where he was part of Pakistan’s squad for Test and One-day series against England.
HBL will be pitted against KRL at National Ground in Islamabad. They will miss Pakistan’s T20 captain Shahid Afridi, who will lead the country in the three-match T20 series against England in the UAE this week.
Afridi was part of HBL in their last game which they won by an innings and 56 runs against Lahore Whites at LCCA Ground in Lahore.
Imran Farhat-led HBL trail third in Group B with 13 points. Their initial two matches were hit by rain.
In other outings, Islamabad will meet Hyderabad at Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital, while Peshawar will meet Lahore Blues at the LCCA Ground Lahore.
HBL’s opener Fakhar Zaman leads the batting chart with 391 runs. He is followed by Asif Zakir (SSGC, 357), Umair Khan (UBL, 331), Zain Abbas (KRL, 324), Zohaib Khan (Peshawar, 320), Fawad Alam (NBP, 317), Abid Ali (Islamabad, 306), Imran Butt (SNGPL, 304) and Azeem Ghumman (Hyderabad, 304).