The first round of the Patron's Trophy (Grade II) ended with only one out of a total of three matches reaching a result as rain and subsequent bad weather seriously affected the two matches played at Lahore.

The match between Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and Pakistan University Grants Commission (PUGC) played at the University Old Campus was completely washed out due to the heavy downpour in the city, whereas the Pakistan Army-Public Works Department encounter at the LCA ground had only 86 overs of play possible during the three days.

Put into bat by Pakistan Army, the young team of Public Works Department mustered 254 in their first innings, which included fifties by Zahid Ghauri (52), Bilal Asad (56), and Bazid Khan (51). Athar Javed Hashmi proved the main destroyer for Pakistan Army getting six wickets for 52 runs in 23 overs. He was ably supported by Sheraz Khalid, taking three wickets for 43.

Pakistan Army had just 14 overs at their disposal when their batsmen came out to bat. They gathered 51 for the loss of one wicket before bad weather rendered the continuation of play impossible.

The match played at SAGA Cricket ground in Sialkot between Sui Gas and Pakistan Education Board turned out to be a low scoring game as none of the two teams could reach the 200-run mark in either of the two innings.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Pakistan Education Board (PEB) could make just 146 in their first innings after their batsmen found it hard to cope with some fine bowling by the opposition. Only Haroon Iftikhar and Qaisar Iqbal made a worthwhile contribution with the bat, getting 40 and 26, respectively.

Sui Gas, in reply, got 186 thanks to the useful innings by Mohammad Hafeez (33), Sohail Idrees (38) and Fareed Butt (34).

After conceding a first innings deficit of 40, the PEB batsmen were expected to play with a bit more application in the second innings. However, that was not to be, as seven of their batsmen failed to get into the double figures. Mohammad Farooq top scored with 45 in his team's total of 139.

Requiring 100 to win, Sui Gas romped home for the loss of only one wicket. Ali Hussain (55) and Sohail Idrees (29) shared an unbeaten partnership of 56 for the second wicket to see their side safely through.

The second round of the tournament will commence from the 25th of February 2001.

© CricInfo