Multan and Islamabad make the Silver League final

Karachi Urban beat Rawalpindi by seven wickets on the final day of their Quaid-e-Azam Cricket Championship at Karachi to reach the top of the Gold League points table.

Needing 110 runs for a win, Karachi Urban lost three wickets to reach the target in 26 overs. Agha Sabir, the Karachi Urban opener, made 44 and then Saeed Bin Nasir, who made 107 in Karachi Urban's first-innings score of 506, finished it off with an unbeaten 29 off 30 balls.

Rawalpindi, resuming at their overnight score of 63 for 2, were dismissed for 264 in their second innings. Awais Zia and Sohail Tanvir frustrated the Karachi Urban bowlers for some time with a 121-run stand for the seventh wicket after Rawalpindi had slumped to 127 for 6. Tanvir made 78 off 93 with 13 fours while Zia made 43.

Tahir Khan, Karachi Urban's offbreak bowler, followed his 5 for 112 in the first innings by getting 4 for 90 in 30 overs to finish with a match-haul of 9 for 202. Left-arm spinner Azam Hussain, a left-arm spinner, claimed 3 for 50 after taking 4 for 94 in the first.

With their third win in four matches, Karachi Urban have raised their points tally to 24. Rawalpindi have slipped to the third spot behind defending champions Sialkot.

Starting February 7 Karachi Urban will play Sialkot in their sixth round match at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot while Rawalpindi will play Lahore Shalimar at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Defending champions Sialkot made a lunge towards the top of the table after they beat Lahore Shalimar by nine wickets at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Lahore Shalimar will be fighting to avoid relegation when they play Rawalpindi next.

Lahore Shalimar, following on overnight at 198 for 3, were 16 runs behind Sialkot. They lost there last seven wickets for 59 runs with Mansoor Amjad, the 19-year old legbreak bowler who has been signed by Leicestershire for the 2007 season, taking 5 for 35 and Sarfraz Ahmed, a left-arm fast-medium bowler, taking 3 for 61.

Sialkot scored the 44 needed to win in 10.1 overs losing one wicket in the process.

Gaining the full nine points for the first time from their three wins in four matches, Sialkot now have a total of 21 points. They are now second behind Karachi Urban and pushing Rawalpindi to third place.

Silver League
Quetta managed their only win of the tournament after they defeated Hyderabad by two wickets on the final day of their Silver League match at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad set Quetta a target of 229 after being bowled out for 325 in their second innings.

Umar Javed, Quetta's No. 3 batsman, made an unbeaten 90, just missing out on his maiden first-class century, from 180 balls and hitting nine fours. He added 62 for the fifth wicket with Naseer Khan who made 36.

Hyderabad still finish above Quetta in the Silver League table with an identical record of one win, three defeats and a draw from five matches with nine points.

Abbottabad lost out on a place in the final after Lahore Ravi defeated them by 58 runs day at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground.

Lahore Ravi made 339 in their second innings after having conceded a first-innings lead of 152. Setting Abbottabad a target of 188, Lahore Ravi went on to bowl them out for 129 in 62 overs..

Nasir Jalil, Abbottabad's No. 9 batsman, top-scored for them with 28. Mohammad Bilal was the next highest with 26. Imran Ali got 4 for 54 to complete a match haul of 8 of 118 while Wahab Riaz followed his first innings 4 for 77 with 3 for 33 in 20 overs.

Multan and Islamabad will now meet in the Silver League final after their match at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad ended in a draw with only 38 overs of play were possible due to inclement weather conditions.

Multan were set a target of 644 and they ended the day at 127 for 5 - 512 runs short.

Since Abbottabad were beaten by the Lahore Ravi and couldn't add to their total of 12 points Multan retained their 21 and stayed at second position behind Islamabad. Having gained 36 from their first four matches, Islamabad earned three from the draw with Multan and ended with a total of 39.

Multan were demoted from the Gold League after finishing at the bottom of the table last season. They are looking to return to the Gold League if they win the Silver League final to be played from February 7 to 11 at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.