LAHORE: The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy enters its penultimate round on Monday, and with the table finely poised, the tournament is bracing for a week of high-stakes cricket that could decide not only who reach the final — but also who slip through the trapdoor of relegation.

At the top end, defending champions Sialkot have surged ahead with 126 points, powered by a remarkable haul of 87 points in their last four outings. Twenty-time champions Karachi, who earned a wild-card entry after failing to qualify through the Hanif Mohammad Trophy, are second with 110 points after collecting 68 points across the same period.

Just one point behind Karachi are last year’s finalists Peshawar, who are locked on 109 with Faisalabad. FATA follow with 94. Remarkably, the teams chasing the two available places in the five-day final are separated by only 32 points — a spread that promises twists right until the end.

But the real tension simmers in the bottom half, where five sides are separated by just 16 points. Sixth-placed Lahore (76) are in a precarious buffer above Islamabad (74), Bahawalpur (68), Multan (67) and bottom-placed Abbottabad (60). One bad match could drag any of them into the relegation zone.

And eighth round starting on Monday offers no comfort.

Lahore face Bahawalpur in Rawalpindi in what could be a straight shootout for survival. Abbottabad, fighting to stay afloat, run into a red-hot Faisalabad side. Islamabad take on a Karachi team eyeing the final, while Multan go up against the formidable Peshawar unit.

The fifth fixture — Sialkot v FATA in Abbottabad — carries its own subplot. A win for Sialkot all but seals their place in the final with a match to spare. But if FATA pull off an upset, the title race could be jolted open and Sialkot’s smooth ride could suddenly become a nervy one.

While the teams pursue their overarching objectives, the race for individual honours continues to intensify.

Bahawalpur’s Saad Khan leads the run charts with 798 runs (three centuries, three half-centuries), closely followed by Karachi’s prolific Saad Baig (787 runs, four centuries). Islamabad’s Shamyl Hussain also remains firmly in the hunt with 738 runs.

Sialkot’s Azan Awais (688), Abbottabad’s Shahzaib Khan (668) and Islamabad’s Sarmad Bhatti (621) round off the top performers.

Among national team players, Shan Masood has impressed with 394 runs in just two outings, while Saud Shakeel (159 in three matches) and Abdullah Shafique (133 in three) continue to warm up through domestic cricket.

In the bowling department, Karachi’s Saqib Khan leads the race with 33 wickets. He is followed by Multan’s Ali Usman (28), Lahore’s Mohammad Abbas (27), Sialkot’s Mohammad Ali (25) and Faisalabad’s Afaq Afridi (21).

Test bowlers have also made their mark — Khurram Shahzad (18 wickets), Sajid Khan (17) and Noman Ali (nine in a single appearance) remain prominent threats.

Eighth-round fixtures:

Abbottabad v Faisalabad, Marghzar Cricket Ground

Peshawar v Multan, Imran Khan Cricket Stadium

Bahawalpur v Lahore, Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium

Islamabad v Karachi, Diamond Cricket Ground

Sialkot v FATA, Abbottabad Cricket Stadium