LAHORE: Table-toppers Peshawar will aim to maintain their winning momentum when they host third-placed Abbottabad in the fourth-round action of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2025-26 at the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium on Friday.

After a weather-marred opening-round match against defending champions Sialkot, last year’s finalists Peshawar bounced back strongly to defeat FATA by 17 runs and Bahawalpur by eight wickets. They currently lead the 10-team table with 53 points.

They are followed by Multan (44 points), Abbottabad (43), Karachi (42), FATA (41) and Sialkot (39). Lahore (29), Bahawalpur (28), Islamabad (22) and Faisalabad (19) remain winless so far.

In other fourth-round fixtures, second-placed Multan will take on eighth-placed Bahawalpur at the Diamond Cricket Ground, while fourth-placed Karachi will face traditional rivals and seventh-placed Lahore at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Fifth-placed FATA will meet bottom-ranked Faisalabad at the Marghzar Cricket Ground, whereas defending champions and sixth-placed Sialkot will go up against ninth-placed Islamabad at the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium.

After three rounds, Islamabad’s Shamyl Hussain leads the batting charts with 445 runs, including two centuries and as many half-centuries. He is followed by Bahawalpur’s Saad Khan (348 runs, 1×100, 1×50), Yasir Khan of Bahawalpur (338 runs, 1×100, 2×50), Abbottabad’s Fakhar Zaman (319 runs, 4×50), Faisalabad’s Atiq ur Rehman (307 runs, 1×100, 1×50) and Multan’s Arafat Minhas (305 runs, 1×100, 1×50).

FATA’s Test spinner Zahid Mehmood leads the bowlers’ table with 16 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls. His teammate Shahid Nazir and Karachi’s Saqib Khan have taken 15 wickets apiece. Aamer Yameen (Multan) and Mohammad Ali (Sialkot) follow with 13 wickets each, while Peshawar’s Mohammad Amir Khan, and Abbottabad’s Israr Hussain and Khalid Hussain have 11 wickets each.

After three rounds, batters appear to have dominated the contest, with 26 centuries recorded so far, compared to 18 five-wicket hauls by bowlers. Saad Khan’s 215 remains the tournament’s only double-century, while Zahid Mehmood’s 6 for 85 stands out as the most impressive bowling performance to date.

Fourth round schedule (24-27 October):

Peshawar v Abbottabad, Imran Khan Cricket Stadium

Multan v Bahawalpur, Diamond Cricket Ground

Karachi v Lahore, Abbottabad Cricket Stadium

FATA v Faisalabad, Marghzar Cricket Ground

Sialkot v Islamabad, Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium