Mohammad Haroon gave a magnificent all-round performance, inspiring Sheikhupura to beat Gujranwala by seven wickets in a high-scoring Pool B match played at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala.

Haroon, the leg break bowler, grabbed 4 wickets for 35 runs, helping his side restrict the opposition to 248 in their allotted overs, before smashing an unbeaten 64 (71 balls), studded with 5 fours and 3 sixes, taking his side to victory with seven wickets and eight balls to spare.

Apart from Haroon, Majid Majeed and Qaiser Abbas also played well for the winners, getting 58 (73 ball, 5 fours, 2 sixes) and 59 (70 balls, 3 fours), whereas Mohammad Azam contributed with 34 off 54 balls (4 fours).

In the second Pool B match, played at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad surpassed Sargodha by 3 wickets in a low scoring encounter.

Batting first after winning the toss, Sargodha could manage only 173 before their last batsman was dismissed in the 49th over. Abid Hussain top scored for his side with 51 off 108 balls, whereas wicket keeper Waqar Ahmed contributed with an unbeaten 33 off 42 balls.

Naeem Ashraf and Saeed Ajmal bagged three wickets each for 34 and 28, respectively, whereas Ijaz Mahmood got 2 for 41.

Faisalabad romped home in the 48th over, with Mohammad Sabir top scoring with 48 (62 ball, 5 fours) and Imran Younis contributing 33 (42 balls, 4 fours, 1 six).

Jibran Khan bowled well for Sargodha getting three wickets for 28 in his ten overs, while Mohammad Sarfraz, Mohammad Shafiq and Sami Khan got one wicket each.

In the third match of this round, played at Lahore Cricket Association Ground, Karachi Blues trounced Lahore Blues by 6 wickets, after restricting the home team to a meager 198 in the allotted fifty overs.

Asked to bat first on a grassy track, Lahore Blues got to a fine start, with their openers posting 33 on the board in about 7 overs. However, disaster struck when they lost three wickets with the addition of only 5 runs, reducing the hosts to 38 for three by the 8th over, a position from which they did never quite recover. Only Mohammad Ashraf Ali, with a fine 67 off 110, could offer any resistance against opposition's attack.

For Karachi, Rajesh, Ramesh, Rizwan Qureshi, Mansoor Khan and Rizwan Saeed bowled well, getting 2 wickets each. Harris Ayaz bagged one wicket for 27 runs.

Karachi Blues had not a confident start to their innings, losing Tariq Haroon for naught with only 8 on the board. But then a second-wicket partnership of 73 between Zahid Ghouri (77 off 67 balls) and Atif Ali Zaidi (37 off 37 balls) completely turned the tables. Thereafter, it was just a matter of time when Karachi overhauled the required in the 41st over, with Mansoor Baig and Bilal Murtaza remaining not out on 42 (67 balls) and 16 (40 balls), respectively.

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