HBL and The Rest play out tense draw

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) held on for a tense draw on an interesting final day against The Rest, and in the process secured first-innings points in Karachi. The Rest's strong second innings comeback lasted only four more runs on the final day, as Abdur Rehman snared the last two wickets to end with a five-for. That set the stage for a thrilling chase of 333 for HBL, led in style by opener Taufeeq Umar with a stroke-filled 83 off 111 balls. Despite the early dismissal of Shan Masood, Umar lay the foundation with Kamran Hussain, adding 113 runs for the second wicket as his team set off in right earnest. That was before Zulfiqar Babar's slow left-armers began to exert their say, as three wickets fell for 31 runs. Hasan Raza and Khaqan Arsal counter-punched with a 99-run stand for the fifth wicket as HBL chased an important victory from the perspective of the tournament standings. However, Babar and Saeed Anwar junior came back to dismiss both batsmen and pick the wicket of Abdur Rehman as well, to put the match in the balance. With the prospect of a defeat looming large, Sulaman Qadir and Farhan Iqbal adopted a safety-first approach to ensure that HBL got at least the draw.