Group A proved to be a rather straight forward affair with Multan dominataing all comers before them an winning 5 games out of 5. The Multan bowling department was well lead by skipper Abdur Rauf, ably supported by all rounder and veteran Mohammad Hafeez and former pace prodigy Mohammad Irshad. Multan’s batting was led well by some intelligent knocks by Mohammad Hafeez who was also well backed up by the lesser known Kashif Naveed and wicketkeeper batsman Gulraiz Sadaf. A group that really failed to sparkle and all in all was quite a weak group.

 

In Group B it was a much tighter affair with the Lahore Lions moving into the semi finals only on net run rate as they and the Faisalabad Wolves ended on 12 points apiece. Ultimately Faisalabad’s defeat to Islamabad proved to be costly, as both Faisalabad and Lahore finished with 3 wins and 1 defeat in the group. All rounder Sohail Ahmed proving very effective for Lahore in what was regarded as the weakest of the 4 groups.

 

Group C proved to be a much tighter affair than Group B as favourites PIA moved into the semi finals despite losing their final group match to an Abdul Razzaq powered ZTBL. However this group was hampered by the weather with 2 matches being called off due to bad weather. This group was a strong group with a number of current and former Pakistan players including Yasir Hameed, Faisal Iqbal, Khurram Manzoor, Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik representing PIA, whilst the likes of Sohail Tanvir showed good form for KRL. What must have pleased Pakistan fans the most though was Abdul Razzaq’s form for ZTBL as he showed glimpses of the “old” Razzaq with both bat and ball. PIA certainly look like a well balanced side and will take some beating.

 

Group D was on paper the strongest group of the 4 with big guns NBP, Habib Bank and Sui Gas all placed in this group. This group as predicted went to the wire and it was National Bank who squeezed through on net run rate as both NBP and Sui Gas finished with identical win/loss records. Main contributors for the NBP cause were the impressive Mohammed Aamer and Salman Butt who so far must be in for a shout for the man of the tournament award. Habib Bank flattered to deceive although they had players of the calibre of Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Afridi, Imran Farhat and Humayun Farhat in their ranks.

 

So onto the semi finals which will be played tomorrow and feature Lahore versus NBP and PIA versus Multan. On paper I would expect a PIA versus NBP final, but you can’t write off Multan or Lahore both of whom have risen to the challenge so far. Players to watch out for I would say would have to be Salman Butt and Mohammad Aamer of NBP and PIA’s Shoaib Malik, Khurram Manzoor and Anwar Ali.