Habib Bank surpassed Khan research Laboratories by 13 runs in a thrilling third-round encounter of the One-day tournament (departments). This was the only completed match of this round, as the other three matches were rendered impossible due to persistent rains in the Punjab province.

Put into bat first on a seemingly fast track at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Habib Bank were lifted by the ex-test stalwart Ijaz Ahmed's brilliant 103 off the same number of balls. Opening the batting for his side, Ijaz lost his partner Saleem Elahi, another test player, with only 1 on the board.

He added 80 for the second wicket with Taufeeq Umer (26 off 62 balls) to steer his side out of danger, and then went on to add another 85 for the 3rd wicket with Farhan Adil (34 off 41 balls, 1 six), setting the pace for a big score.

After negotiating some tight opening spells from KRL bowler, Ijaz unleashed some powerful strokes immediately after reaching his fifty. He hit 10 lovely boundaries and 2 huge sixes during his stay at the crease before holing out to Asif Mahmood off Saeed Anwar Jnr. Habib Bank's score at this stage was 208 in the 39th over, and they looked well set to post something big on the board.

However, that was not to be, as all the remaining batsmen failed miserably to apply themselves to the task, giving their wickets away apparently in a lot of hurry. They were eventually all out in the 50th over for 261, with only Hasan Raza and Asadullah Butt showing some tenacity with 28 (29 balls, 1 four) and 29 (35 balls), respectively.

The right-arm pace man Jaffer Nazir was the most successful bowler for the bankers, grabbing 3 for 52 in 8.3 overs. Naeem Akhtar, Saeed Anwar Jnr and Pervez Aziz bagged two wickets each for 32 (9 overs), 51 (10 overs) and 48 (9 overs), respectively.

The KRL batsmen, led by experience Mohammad Wasim, were expected to put to a great fight, especially after getting a mammoth 355 against Pakistan Customs in only the previous round.

However, they found themselves in dire straits right from the beginnings, losing two wickets for just 14 on the board. The situation didn't improve even after that as Asif Mahmood (10 off 20 balls, 1 four) and Mohammad Wasim (22 off 34 balls, 3 fours) gave their wickets away off highly ambitious shots.

Thereafter, it was all Misbah-ul-Haq, the lanky right-hander, with his exquisite shots to all parts of the ground. He added 57 for the 5th wicket with Naseer Ahmed (26 off 41 balls, 4 fours) and 56 for the 7th with Naeem Akhtar (30 off 41 ball, 1 four and 1 six) to take his side really close to victory.

However, with little more help coming from the other end, the stylish middle order batsman, just could not force a win, even after getting a magnificent 103 off 118 balls, which contained 6 fours and 3 sixes.

He was the last man out on the first ball of the 50th over, still 13 runs short of the Habib Bank score.

Akram Raza, the experience off spinner, grabbed 4 wickets for 34, inflicting real damage to KRL's run-chasing efforts. Danish Kaneria and Kabir Khan took two wickets each for 37 and 53, respectively.

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