Pakistan captain Babar Azam is expected to be in action for Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in the second round of the President’s Trophy after all four first-round matches ended in draws on Tuesday.

Babar was not originally named in any of the eight sides but, after the premier batter expressed his interest and availability for the four-day first-class competition, he was included by OGDCL as a guest player.

With Babar’s inclusion, all of the country’s leading cricketers, barring Aamir Jamal and Naseem Shah, will now participate in first-class cricket. This will not only help the cricketers regain form and fitness ahead of the upcoming home internationals against Sri Lanka and England, but will also help the PCB channelise, standardise and prioritise domestic cricket, which is the lifeline of any cricket board.

Weather ruined the last day’s play in the SBP-SNGPL match at the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium and the PTV-OGDCL match at the Diamond Cricket Ground, where no play was possible on the fourth day. Ghani Glass held KRL to a draw at the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium, while MIT Solutions drew with Kingsmen Academy at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

KRL, after securing a first-innings lead of 241 runs, resumed at 164 for one and declared their second innings at 215 for two after Shahzaib Khan scored 103 not out from 102 balls, with 10 fours and a six.

Set a target of 457 for victory, Ghani Glass were 207 for four when play ended. Opener Mirza Tahir Baig top-scored with 79, while Sharjeel Khan scored 44.

MIT Solutions, who were forced to follow on, resumed on Tuesday at 203 for five, still trailing by 32 runs, and were bowled out for 384. Samana Riaz scored 67 not out, while Mehran Mumtaz took three wickets.

Needing 150 for victory, Kingsmen Academy were 45 for three when play ended.
The second-round action will start on Friday after a two-day break.

Scores in brief (day four of four):

Khan Research Laboratory (KRL) vs Ghani Glass, Imran Khan Cricket Stadium, Peshawar. Toss: KRL. Result: Match drawn

KRL 547-9d (Imran Rafiq 129, Fakhar Zaman 128, Asim Ali Nasir 87, Shaheen Shah Afridi 47, Mohammad Hunaid 43, Shahzaib Khan 36, Abdul Faseeh 26, Iftikhar Ahmed 23; Ghulam Haider 4-119, Mohammad Wasim Jnr 3-129) and 215-2d 29 overs (Shahzaib Khan 103 not out, Fakhar Zaman 77)

Ghani Glass 306 all-out, 81.5 overs (Haseebullah 99, Sharjeel Khan 59, Ali Razzaq 52, Mirza Tahir Baig 34; Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-61, Iftikhar Ahmed 2-62, Arshad Iqbal 2-75) and 207-4, 60 overs (Mirza Tahir Baig 79, Sharjeel Khan 44, Khawaja Arham 37, Mohsin Riaz 37 not out; Mohammad Faiq 2-21)

MIT Solutions vs Kingsmen Academy, Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Toss: MIT Solutions. Result: Match drawn

Kingsmen Academy 565-7d, 131.1 overs (Salman Ali Agha 300 not out, Mohammad Suleman 115, Mohammad Shayan 34, Azan Tariq 31, Mohammad Huraira 30, Mohammad Arshad 27; Salman Aslam 2-70) and 45-3

MIT Solutions 330 all-out, 76.5 overs (Mohammad Farooq 117, Bismillah Khan 39, Atiq-ur-Rehman 36, Mohammad Razaullah 30, Salman Aslam 22; Akif Javed 6-79, Mehran Mumtaz 2-50, Muhammad Omar 2-52) and 384 all-out, 86.2 overs (Samana Riaz 67 not out, Mohammad Farooq 67, Bismillah Khan 53, Salman Khan Junior 42, Atiq-ur-Rehman 38, Hasnain Nadeem 24, Muhammad Razaullah 20; Mehran Mumtaz 3-100, Muhammad Umar 2-51, Azan Tariq 2-60)

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) vs Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium. Toss: SNGPL. Result: Match drawn

SBP 158 all out, 62.2 overs (Mubasir Khan 62 not out, Rameez Aziz 27; Ahmad Safi Abdullah 3-44, Khan Zeb 3-48, Shehzad Gul 2-28) and 190-1, 58 overs (Hasan Raza 103 not out, Faham-Ul-Haq 78 not out)

SNGPL (overnight 161-5, 51 overs) 188 all-out, 68.1 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 49, Abdul Samad 33, Awais Zafar 26, Sameer Minhas 24; Kashif Bhatti 6-40, Sirajuddin 2-62)

Pakistan Television vs Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Diamond Cricket Ground. Toss: PTV. Result: Match drawn

PTV 400 all out, 106.1 overs (Mohammad Taha 134, Sharoon Siraj 92, Waqar Hussain 42, Amad Butt 37, Mohammad Shahzad 21; Danish Aziz 3-60, Mohammad Amir Khan 2-68)

OGDCL (overnight 90-5, 31 overs) 204 all-out, 64 overs (Mohammad Hammad Khan 43, Mohammad Irfan 35, Rohail Nazir 28, Danish Aziz 27, Saad Khan 27; Haris Rauf 5-34, Faisal Akram 4-51) and 64-3, 19 overs (Saad Khan 42, Ali Zaryab 20; Israr Hussain 2-15)