The seventh round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy saw Sindh bag their third win of the season as they rolled over Southern Punjab by 202 runs. Sindh’s previous two victories have been achieved by a 10-wicket margin.
The last round’s win has further consolidated Sindh’s position in the points table. They currently sit at the second spot and are just seven points away from top-ranked Northern. With only three more league matches remaining, Sindh now have a solid chance of securing a berth in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final for the first time since the revamp of the domestic structure ahead of the 2019-20 season.
Captained by Saud Shakeel, Sindh play Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who continue to have a poor season after winning the last two titles and languish as the bottom- ranked side with four losses in seven matches, at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in the eighth round.
Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa faced off in the fourth round with the former recording their first win of the season and that is when their campaign kicked off. Sindh will be eager to ensure that the result of their second meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the same as the first one.
In the other two matches of the round, Northern play Central Punjab at the LCCA Ground in Lahore and Southern Punjab travel up north to face off Baluchistan at the beautiful Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.
Northern are the only other team this season to have bagged three wins. Their last two matches have ended in draws and if recent history is any indicator, their upcoming match promises to end with the two sides sharing points as Central Punjab’s all seven matches have been draws.
Southern Punjab are ranked fifth in the points table as their seven matches have produced two defeats and five draws. They are up against Baluchistan, who have won and lost two each. While Southern Punjab suffered a defeat in their most recent match and their previous two matches ended as draws, Baluchistan have had a mixed bag of results – a draw in the most recent, a win in the second last, and a defeat in the match before.
