The Twenty20 Cup comes to Nottingham on Saturday for finals day at Trent Bridge. For the hosts, Nottinghamshire, it will be their first experience of the electric atmosphere of finals day – and, facing thethreat of relegation in the County Championship, their motivation cannot be hindered.”This is our first appearance at finals day but I don’t see that as a disadvantage,” said Stephen Fleming, Nottinghamshire’s captain, wholast year took his side to their first Championship title since 1987. “It would be great to win a trophy for the club because not only would it add to the silverware but it would help bring new fans to Trent Bridge. I can’t wait for finals day.”But it is Surrey who start favourites, and Nottinghamshire face them in the second semi-final of the day, before which Essex and Leicestershire go head-to-head at 11.30am.Surrey’s season has gradually improved and, as the shadows begin tolengthen on 2006, the horrors of 2005 have been quickly forgotten. Perhaps instrumental to their success – not to mention creating a revitalised, happier squad – has been the return of Mark Butcher, the captain, who missed most of last season through injury. Indeed Butcher, in an interview with last week, revealed Surrey’s return of confidence can be put down to a restoration of the “old arrogance” which brought them so much success in the late 1990s. Surrey also took the inaugural Twenty20 Cup title in 2003.The most explosive example of their cocksureness comes from James Benning, their bristlingly aggressive opener who has injected suchfever and pace into Surrey’s innings. On four occasions he has passed 50 and his 326 runs have come at the superb strike-rate of 161.4. “I’m sure I will be nervous come next Saturday,” he told Cricinfo. “It is our fourth final, I’ve been at all four. I can’t wait to get there. We’ve worked so hard to pull it out of the hat and we’ve performed so well. We are going to give ourselves every opportunity to get to the final and bring the trophy back to the Oval, where it should be.”

While Surrey have puffed out their chests with greater confidence this season, Essex, too, have strutted like peacocks. “We believe when we walk out onto the pitch we’re going to win the game,” James Foster, the Essex wicketkeeper said. “When you get on a roll and win matches it turns into a habit and that has happened with Twenty20.”Foster was instrumental in Essex’s quarter-final win over Yorkshire when, coming to the wicket at 73 for 5, he put on 76 with Ryan ten Doeschate to take his side through to finals day. But it is DarrenGough, twinkletoes himself, who has arguably been the key to Essex ‘s Twenty20 campaign. Bowling at the death, his and Andy Bichel’s late wickets and starving of the runs have helped Essex strangle opponents on more than one occasion. For all his claims in various magazines and newspapers this summer that England would be daft to ignore him any longer, it appears the selectors do acknowledge his worth: yesterday he was called up for the provisional squad of 30 for the Champions Trophy in October.While Gough is Essex’s cheerleader, Darren Maddy is Leicestershire’s – albeit without so much of a Samba. Maddy, 32, is the world’s highest run-scorer in the format, not to mention a match-winner and, while Leicestershire’s Championship form has been less than satisfactory – with just two victories this season – they continue to excel in Twenty20 cricket. “We have always had a good one-day team,” Maddy explained, “butprobably under-achieved and somehow Twenty20 has suited the way weplay. We’ve got some very good game plans and we’ve been very lucky at Leicester that we’ve had some fantastic support.”The day kicks off with the first semi-final at 11.30, followed by the second between Surrey and Nottinghamshire. The final starts at 19.15.

Steve Harmison has been ruled out of Durham’s final Championship fixture of the season, against Yorkshire, after medical advice over the back injury that forced him to miss the one-day series against Pakistan.Harmison had been scheduled to return to action against at Headingley in next Wednesday’s Division One clash. But after a review by the ECB medical staff he has been withdrawn in order to allow more time for further rehabilitation ahead of the Champions Trophy.David Graveney, the England chairman of selectors, said: “Stephen’s withdrawal from this match will allow for a more gradual progression in his recovery programme. He will continue to work with the Durham and England medical staff as well as ECB fast bowling coach Kevin Shine, and we anticipate that he will be fully fit for the Champions Trophy.”Harmison is one of the injury clouds hanging over the squads for the Champions Trophy and Ashes series, that were named on Monday, which also include Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Liam Plunkett and James Anderson.On Wednesday England were given another moment of concern when Matthew Hoggard, who isn’t traveling to India, pulled out of Yorkshire’s match against Nottinghamshire which a side strain. England are due to leave for India on October 6.

It’s been a meteoric rise for Munaf Patel since he came to prominence witha 10-wicket haul against England in a tour game in February. On Test debuta few weeks later at Mohali, he did nearly as well, taking 7 for 97 asIndia battled back to win an even contest. Nudging the speedometer at90mph, he also showed the ability to reverse-swing the ball effectively,ending English resistance with a superb burst on the final morning.Since then, with Irfan Pathan struggling for form and consistency, Munafhas been thrust into the role of pace spearhead. He struggled initiallywith the one-day format, but an excellent spell against Australia onSaturday suggested that he was finding his feet in the hit-and-missversion.Given the new ball during the Tests in the West Indies – he took 14wickets in the four games – he was given first use of the white ball onSaturday after Pathan gave another insipid display in India’s openingmatch against West Indies. After practice on Monday morning at the RoyalSelangor Club, Munaf looked back on the past few months and spoke of theresponsibilities attached to taking the new ball.”Opening the attack isn’t really in my hands,” he said. “Whatever thecoach and the captain decide is after a great deal of thought, and in thebest interests of the team.”Coming on as first change against West Indies, he had figures of 1 for 18from five overs, the only bowler to escape a hammering as Chris Gayle andfriends romped to 141 from 20 overs. And after taking a bit of ashellacking early against Australia, he finished with 3 for 53, earningpraise from Ricky Ponting for the manner in which he had swung the ball.As for reverse swing, Patel felt that it was easier with the traditionalred ball than the white one. “You don’t get too much reverse with thewhite ball,” he said. “The batsmen too sense reverse, and are looking forany excuse to get the ball changed.”The red ball reverses more because you can use it for longer periods,while the white ball can at best be used for 50 overs and even then, it’schanged at least once during every innings. That’s one of the main reasonswhy it doesn’t reverse much.””I am fairly satisfied, but I want to put up an even better display,” saidMunaf, when asked to assess his displays so far. “My primary goal is tobowl according to the requirements of the team. There has been bounce andmovement for the quicker bowlers here, but it’s important to concentrateon line and length because those who stick to good lines and lengths arethe ones who are having success. The boundaries are fairly small and ifyou sacrifice accuracy for pace, then you will go for plenty of runs.”With rain having played a part in both Indian games, he admitted that theteam now faced a must-win situation. “There’s bound to be a bit ofpressure on us, but there’s pressure on West Indies too. There’s pressureon all teams. We want to win the next two matches and make it to thefinal.”We lost four matches on the trot in the West Indies, and here too,because of the rain, we lost the first match. We are focussed on puttingup a better performance on Wednesday [against West Indies].”The match against Australia was also his first opportunity to come acrossGlenn McGrath, unquestionably the greatest pace bowler of our age.”McGrath is a bowler who concentrates on line and length, he doesn’t havegreat pace but his control is remarkable,” said Munaf. “I have beenspeaking with him, and I will continue to speak to him as the tournamentprogresses. All the bowlers are eager to meet him and learn from him.”His team-mates continue to badger him to bowl quicker, but for Munaf,striking a balance is crucial. “Everyone wants that I bowl faster,” hesaid. “But I want to ally line and length with pace, not bowl all over thepark striving for pace. I can bowl quick, but my principal focus isaccuracy.”With Pathan and the other pace bowlers struggling to find their radar,it’s imperative that Munaf homes in during the next two games. Else, Indiaface the chastening prospect of an early flight home.

A back injury to fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz, the Australian fast bowler, has jeopardised his chances of making the Australian squad for the Ashes next month. Kasprowicz picked up the injury last week while jogging and consulted a specialist on Wednesday for scans.Kasprowicz said that the condition felt similar to the one he suffered earlier this year in South Africa, which forced him out of the subsequent tour to Bangladesh. He had been training hard, he said, during the off-season to boost his chances of making the Ashes squad, shedding five kilograms in the process.”It’s been a week now and it hasn’t settled down,” Kasprowicz told . “I can’t sit down for any more than two minutes without it hurting. I’ve tried things like acupuncture but it hasn’t worked. It feels a bit like it did on the South African tour.”It does not look much good at all at the moment and there is no clear time frame as to when I will be bowling again. I will know more tomorrow. It’s really disappointing because I had had a great off-season.”Kasprowicz was dropped from the Australian squad after a poor Ashes series last year, though he only played in two of the Tests. He missed Australia’s entire home season against the West Indies and South Africa before returning for the return series against South Africa. He only took seven wickets in the series, but alongside Brett Lee went some way towards erasing the Edgbaston heartache by taking Australia to an exciting two-wicket victory at Johannesburg with a crucial ninth-wicket stand. His injury is the second setback to Australia’s admittedly well-stocked pace attack after fast bowler Stuart Clark pulled out of the Champions Trophy in India with a thigh injury.

Damien Martyn has told Dennis Lillee to shut up with his “Dad’s Army” criticisms of the home side ahead of the Ashes. Martyn, who arrived home on Tuesday from Australia’s Champions Trophy victory in India, said Lillee was in danger of losing the respect of current players if he continued to criticise the team.Martyn, one of three 35-year-olds in the side, slammed Lillee’s recent comments that an ageing top order could be the achilles heel in Australia’s bid to regain the Ashes. “I think Dennis Lillee should keep quiet as president of the WACA [Western Australia Cricket Association] – it is disappointing,” Martyn told reporters. “The team is disappointed in Dennis’ several comments over the last six months, which don’t need to be said. No [it doesn’t fire you up] … you just lose your respect.”In a column in the last month, Lillee said he saw danger signs for Australia as they prepared to take on the younger England team. “It’s worrying how Australia, after being outplayed in England last year, are going to turn things around with a decidedly older team,” he wrote.”Australia have some great players but even the greatest players get tapped on the shoulder by Father Time at some stage.” The side to begin the Ashes campaign at the Gabba on November 23 is likely to include Martyn, 35, Justin Langer, 36, Matthew Hayden, who will have turned 35, Ricky Ponting, 31, Adam Gilchrist, 35, Glenn McGrath, 36, and Shane Warne, 37.Ponting said the Champions Trophy win would serve as good preparation for regaining the Ashes. “Our last 12 months of Test cricket has been first-class,” Ponting told reporters at Sydney Airport. “We’ve raised our standards again from where they were, so I couldn’t be happier with the way we’re heading and to have this trophy and the month’s preparation in India and good hard training will be good.”We went away [after the 2005 Ashes loss] and had 15 months to try to rectify some things and with everything we’ve done – our training, preparation and the way we’ve played – we couldn’t have done much more. That’s been the really pleasing thing for me and I know every Australian cricketer is looking forward to getting the series underway – not long now.”

Andrew Strauss was satisfied with England’s efforts after a useful two-day work-out against Western Australia at Perth. Strauss, who was captaining England in the absence of Andrew Flintoff, made 88 in a first-wicket stand of 183 with Alastair Cook, who top-scored with a composed 106. “The wicket was pretty flat and both Cooky and I appreciated some length of time in the middle,” said Strauss after the match had ended in a predictable draw.”It’s a practice match and the best practice is to get some runs,” he added. Strauss was England’s form batsman in the opening stages of the tour, but managed scores of just 12, 11, 14 and 34 in the first two Tests. “It’s not gone quite according to plan in that respect,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t have been desolate if I hadn’t scored runs, but it’s nice to get some time in the middle.”Realistically, England have to win Thursday’s third Test if they are to get anything out of this series, and Strauss added that the real bonus of their performance was the chance to get a sneak preview of the WACA conditions. “The guys have said it’s been slow and low in recent years, but there’s was bounce and carry on the first morning for our bowlers, and it played slightly better than I expected.”The success of England’s batting meant that Michael Vaughan’s much-vaunted comeback had to be put on hold. “Vaughany was due to come in at No. 4,” said Strauss, “but as the day went on it was more a case of giving the guys who may be involved in Test matches a run-out in the middle, so he slipped down the order. If we lost a few early wickets he’d have come in.”We’ve not had a huge amount to do with Vaughan,” said Strauss, when asked whether it was a distraction having a non-playing captain hanging around the squad. “He’s encouraged by how his recuperation is going, but he realises it’s better to keep a low profile. But he came through his fielding really well. He was really happy with it, so that’s encouraging.”Changes are anticipated for the third Test, with Monty Panesar widely tipped to come into the side for his first appearance of the tour. “I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Strauss said with a grin after it was pointed out he had bowled more than three times as many overs as his rival Ashley Giles. “I think it was important that Monty got a good bowl, and the wicket maybe suited a quicker left-arm spinner.

Strauss couldn’t tell from his sighting of the pitch quite how much of a part spin would play in the Test. “It’s hard to say because we haven’t seen how the wicket deteriorates,” he said. “It’s wasn’t overly difficult to face the spinner, but as the game goes on, they’ll become more difficult because of the turn and bounce, which is something spinners always look for.”The seamers will have to be disciplined,” added Strauss. “There may be a wicket or two early, but then it’s a case of being really disciplined. I thought Jimmy [Anderson] bowled exceptionally. He swung it late and bowled very few bad balls. It was a tough time in those first couple of Tests, but he got some really useful rhythm out of this match.”The form of Steve Harmison remains a worry for England, however. He took 1 for 99 in 21 overs in this match, but Strauss insisted he was getting back towards his best. “He’s coming alright, but he’s not having a lot of luck. There were a few occasions yesterday when it was outrageously bad luck that he didn’t get wickets. Hopefully that luck changes, because sometimes all you need is one or two wickets and it all falls into place.”He’s been hurting to be honest,” added Strauss. “Harmy had a big contribution to make in this series, but he needs to be patient and things will happen. You don’t go from world-class to nothing overnight. He has all the attributes to bowl very, very well in Australia, and I’ve never seen him work so hard in the nets.”Strauss glossed over the reported divisions in the England camp, and backed his coach, Duncan Fletcher, to ride out the current storm. “Duncan is always good in a crisis,” he said. “He doesn’t lose his head, he keeps focussed, and he’s always drumming in simple things we need to not lose sight of.”He hasn’t changed at all,” Strauss added. “He’s been there and done it all before, and it’s important not to get sidetracked by off-the-field issues. The guys have got a point to prove and the squad’s still together.”

Thirty probables for the Cricket World Cup and a team for India’s first two one-dayers against the West Indies will be selected at Rajkot on January 12.The probables’ names will be sent to the International Cricket Council by January 13, the deadline to submit the list, and it would be further pruned to 14 members a month before the start of the mega event in the Carribean on March 11.The first of the four-match ODI home series against the West Indies will be played on January 21 at Nagpur and the second will be a day-night affair on January 24 at Cuttack.”The selection committe meeting will be held at Rajkot because captain Rahul Dravid would be playing for Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy four-day match against Saurashtra from January 10-13,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI.The Indian team will return after the three-Test series against South Africa, presently poised at 1-1, which ends with the Cape Town match from January 2 to 6.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Muttiah Muralitharan was the ringmaster, claiming his ninth ten-wicket haul of the year, as Sri Lanka wrapped a series-levelling 217-run victory just before tea on day four at the Basin Reserve. Only Daniel Vettori (51) and James Franklin (44) provided substantial resistance as New Zealand, set a towering 504 run target, were bowled out for 286 in 85.1 overs.Muralitharan wrapped up an incredible year with 6 for 87, completing a match analysis of 10 for 118, the fifth time he has taken ten-fors in his last six Test matches. His latest haul, achieved on a slow and drying pitch, left him with 90 wickets from 11 Tests during the calendar year: an amazing performance even by Muralitharan’s prolific standards. Murali now has a 10-wicket match-haul against each of the Test playing nations,Sri Lanka’s discovery of the series, Chamara Silva, was rightly adjudged the Man of the Match for his superb comeback from a pair in Christchurch, scoring 61 and 152 not out. Mahela Jayawardene hailed his performance afterwards: “There were some brilliant performances, including Sanga’s hundred, Malinga’s bowling in the first innings and Murali, but Chamara’s batting in this game was magnificent. He showed immense character to comeback in the way he did after a pair in the first Test.” Stephen Fleming admitted that his team had been thoroughly outplayed, identifying “the unorthodox nature of the Sri Lanka attack” as the key problem for his team.New Zealand, starting the day on 75 for 2, survived the best part of an hour without losing a wicket as Stephen Fleming (27) and Matthew Sinclair (37) played themselves in diligently against Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan. But the first change in the bowling brought instant success as Fleming was sucked into a loose drive to Lasith Malinga’s second ball of the day and was caught behind.Thereafter, the wickets fell in a slow drip. No New Zealand top order batsman passed fifty in the match and there were no substantial partnerships. Sri Lanka’s ground fielding was a little ragged, but their bowling was gun-barrel accurate and Jayawardene was always asking different questions with his innovative fields. Behind the stumps, Kumar Sangakkara chirped away happily.Sinclair was the next to go and the first of Muralitharan’s scalps, deceived by a perfectly pitched doosra that caught the outside edge and carried low to Jayawardene’s left at slip. After 33 balls of defiance, Nathan Astle was trapped lbw to Muralitharan for the third time in the series, pinned to his back foot by a quick 95kmh delivery that still spun sharply.The Sri Lankans were now in full chorus, sensing the start of New Zealand’s final slide. Vaas returned to the attack – with Sangakkara standing up to the stumps – and Jacob Oram, handicapped by his thigh injury, was somewhat predictably trapped lbw, stumbling across his stumps. Sri Lanka then rounded off a good morning’s work with the wicket of Brendon McCullum, who chopped on having been surprised by Muralitharan’s extravagant turn from around the wicket.Sri Lanka were frustrated after the interval by a 96-run stand between Vettori and Franklin. Both players had moments of good fortune, most notably Vettori who was bowled by a glorious Malinga yorker that was harshly called a no ball and later cracked on the wrist by a brutish lifter, but they battled hard and showed the kind of application that was missing in New Zealand’s top order.But Muralitharan, shortly after Vettori became the first New Zealander to pass fifty in the match, finally broke through in the second hour of the afternoon with a doosra. Vettori missed the change in action and padded away only to see the ball pitch and straighten. Franklin then tried to raise the tempo, lofting one huge six off Muralitharan over mid-wicket, but the innings was soon wrapped up with Shane Bond nicking behind and Franklin hoisting a catch into the deep.

Ken Cranston, who captained England once in 1947-48, has died at the age of 89. He became England’s oldest living Test cricketer on the death of Mandy Mitchell-Innes on December 28. That mantle now passes to Surrey’s Arthur McIntyre.A tall and lithe allrounder – he bowled fast-medium batted in the middle order – Cranston’s first-class career was limited to two seasons immediately after the war during which time he quickly established a reputation as one of the country’s leading bowlers, being able to move the ball into the right hand off the seam or away in the air. He originally made his name in wartime games for the Royal Navy and Combined Services, but it was not until 1947 that he made his debut for Lancashire as their captain.He took 84 wickets and scored 1228 runs in that season, making the first of his eight Test appearances, against South Africa, barely two months after his first-class debut. In his second Test at Headingley he gabbed four wickets in one over and won a place on that winter’s tour of the Caribbean.England, under the veteran Gubby Allen, were a virtual B side, and Cranston was pressed into leading them in the opening Test when Allen injured himself on the boat trip out. He struggled for any form on a gruelling trip and lost his place when the side returned home.

He continued his excellent form for Lancashire in 1948, and was recalled for the Headingley Test against Don Bradman’s Invincibles but failed to impress and was immediately dropped. He retired at the end of the summer to resume full-time work at his dental practice in Liverpool, as had always been his intention.After retiring he continued to play for Neston in The Liverpool and District Competition, and in 1950 made a rare first-class appearance at the Scarborough Fesitval where he cracked a career-best 156 for MCC against Yorkshire.In all he made 3099 runs at 34.92 and took 179 wickets at 27.84. In Tests he took 18 wickets at 25.61 and made 209 runs at 14.92.He maintained strong links with Lancashire and was their president in 1993-94. He was also president of the county’s Former Players’ Association.

Gold League
Karachi Urban tamed the Rawalpindi attack and scored 284 for 2 on the opening day of their fifth-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League match at the National Stadium on Thursday.By stumps, Saeed Bin Nasir was unbeaten on 100 after Karachi’s captain Hasan Raza chose to bat. It was Saeed’s eight first-class hundred in 70 matches and he batted for three hours 40 minutes, faced 170 balls and hit 14 fours and a six. Asif Zakir was unbeaten on 76 off 181 balls with nine hits fours.The unbroken third-wicket partnership between the pair yielded 184 runs, in 220 minutes off 350 deliveries. Earlier, Agha Sabir and Khurram Manzoor had given Karachi Urban a splendid 96-run opening partnership.Rawalpindi captain Mohammad Wasim employed as many as eight bowlers including himself but fast bowlers Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir were the only two who were successful.After four matches Rawalpindi, who have never won a national cricket title before, had collected 21 points to go top of the Gold League table. Karachi Urban with 15 points are placed third in the seven-team ranking.Defending champions Sialkot did their chances of qualifying for the Gold League final no good, when they scraped together 212 for 6 against Lahore Shalimar at the Jinnah Stadium on Thursday.At one stage, after having been put in first, Sialkot were in dire straits having lost six wickets for 152 runs. It was an unbroken 60-run stand for the seventh wicket that helped them cross the 200 mark. Ayub Dogar and Tahir Mughal were at the crease at stumps. Earlier, opener Atiq-ur-Rehman had dominated the scoring with 70 off 139 balls with the help of 11 fours as Sialkot reached 127 for 2.Fast bowler Junaid Zia, with figures of 3 for 33, bowled with spirit after Mohammad Khalil had made the first strike by removing Haafiz Majid Jahangir. Veteran left-arm spinner Mohammad Hussain later snared two victims.Sialkot were led by former Pakistan batsman Ijaz Ahmed, who made a comeback to first-class cricket after an absence of six years, because Imran Nazir was called up to the ODI squad in South Africa. Sialkot had collected only 12 points from their previous three matches and are currently fifth in the seven-team table. Faisalabad exploited Peshawar’s dwindling form to their advantage, and dismissed them for 215 on the opening day at the Iqbal Stadium on Thursday. Faisalabad’s openers added 39 runs by stumps.Peshawar were rattled by fast bowlers Faisal Afridi and Asad Ali as they lost three wickets for 17 runs. Debutant Fawad Khan and Shoaib Khan then added 100 for the fourth wicket. Fawad scored 69 while Shoaib contributed 59. Later, captain Arshad Khan helped raise a score from 137 for 6 to 187.While Faisal, Asad and offspinner Saeed Ajmal took two wickets each, medium-pacer Tauqeer Hussain restricted Peshawar’s batsmen with figures of 4 for 47 from 12.4 overs.Faisalabad are currently at the bottom of the Gold League table with two defeats in three matches and no points to their credit. They desperately need to lift themselves in order to avoid relegation to next season’s Silver League circuit.Peshawar were displaced by Rawalpindi at the top of the points table in the previous round. They are still at second place with 18 points, but lost two successive matches after having started with wins in their first two appearances.Silver League
With nothing at stake for either team, 14 wickets fell on the opening day of the Silver League match between Quetta and Hyderabad at the Niaz Stadium on Thursday. Quetta bowled out Hyderabad for 193 after they had opted to bat first. By the close of play, Quetta had slipped to 91 for 4.But for wicketkeeper Hanif Malik’s 90 off 148 balls with 11 fours and a six, Hyderabad might have fallen for less than 100. Hanif, who made his highest score in first-class cricket, arrived with his team at 65 for 5 and lifted them to 193.While Quetta captain Faisal Irfan was hard working as usual with figures of 3 for 36, Zahoor Ahmed, a left-arm medium-pace bowler, captured 4 for 39.Opener Shoaib Khan was still at the crease on 47 in Quetta’s first innings. Hyderabad’s most successful bowler this season, Farhan Ayub picked up three of the wickets to fall.The Abbottabad pace attack bowled out Lahore Ravi for 162 at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground on Thursday.Abbottabad won the toss and invited Lahore to bat first on a placid wicket and exploited it to put pressure on Lahore. At stumps, Abbottabad were in a sound position, having reached 89 for 1 in 35.2 overs. After the departure of Ahmad Said, who made 44 with eight fours off 88 balls, Mohammad Naeem was unbeaten on 30 and Wajid Ali on 5.Abbotabbad’s pace trio of captain Sajid Shah, Nasir Jalil and Junaid Khan captured three wickets each and ripped through Lahore’s innings in 55.3 overs. Lahore Ravi could not find any notable support from their key batsmen but number nine batsman Wasim Khan shone with a fighting half-century.Wasim gave some respectability to the total with a solid knock that included one six and eight fours after Ali Azmat made 24 and Adnan Raza contributed 23. Six of Lahore’s batsmen failed to reach double figures.Abbottabad, with 12 points from their previous four matches, still have an outside chance to nose ahead of Multan into the Silver League, in case they gain an outright win against Lahore Ravi.Azhar Mahmood century boosted Islamabad to 314 against Multan on the opening day at the Diamond Club Ground on Thursday.Azhar Mahmood’s 105 off 183 balls with 14 fours, was the seventh hundred of his 142-match first-class career, but the remainder of his team didn’t do too well. Bilal Asad and debutant Asadullah Sumari chipped in with 49.Azhar’s fifth-wicket partnership with Asadullah produced 112 runs. Opener Atif Ashraf was injured early on and had to retire hurt. He resumed later in the innings and remained unbeaten with 20 runs. For Multan, pace bowler Abdul Rauf took 3 for 63 from 18 overs.By the draw of stumps, Multan had lost one wicket in for 26 in eight overs. Opener Usman Tariq has retired hurt without having opening his account.With the full 36 points from their previous four matches, Islamabad have already qualified for the Silver League final, scheduled to be played from February 7. Multan, second in the table with 21 points, appear the team most likely to be in that match alongside Islamabad. The winners of the Silver League competition will be promoted to the Gold League circuit of the next season.