- 22nd QeAT title for a side from Karachi across the 68 editions of Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament
- Day five highlights will be available here; Scorecard and stats are available here; Action images are available here for free download and editorial use
Lahore, 5 December 2025: Karachi Blues outfoxed defending champions Sialkot by a thumping 218-run margin in the final and 46th match of the 68th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as the port city claimed its 22nd title in the historic tournament here at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Friday evening.
The tournament winners grabbed the prestigious trophy and cash award of PKR 7.5 million, while Sialkot were PKR 4 million for their runners-up campaign.
Player of the final Abdullah Fazal was awarded 100k, best bowler Ali Usman and best batter, wicket-keeper and player of the tournament Saad Baig got 250k each for the three individual awards.
Chasing an insurmountable 533-run target, Sialkot began their day from 12 for no loss in four overs and were bundled out for 314 in 71.1 overs.
Wicketkeeper-batter Afzaal Manzoor, Abdullah Shafique and Hamza Nazar scored half-centuries but pacer Saqib Khan’s third five-wicket haul in the tournament handed Karachi a memorable win under Saud Shakeel.
Saqib – who finished the tournament with 47 poles in nine matches behind leading wicket-taker Ali Usman (48) – drew the first blood on day five as he broke the budding 35-run opening stand between Mohammad Hurraira (39, 65b, 5x4s) and Azan Awais (11, 18b, 1x4).
Abdullah Shafique (58, 98b, 6x4s, 1x6) formed a 46-run stand with Hurraira and then a 40-run stand with Abdul Rehman (18, 22b, 3x4s) before Karachi Blues struck on regular intervals to reduce defending champions to 144-5 in 38.2 overs.
At this juncture, Afzaal (63, 48b, 13x4s) and Hamza (56, 84b, 9x4s) got together to stall the imminent as they faced 107 balls to gather 112 runs for the sixth-wicket. Rameez Aziz dismissed Afzaal in the 57th over as Sialkot lost five wickets for 58 runs.
Saqib returned match figures of 9-165 in the 44 overs he sent down across both innings. Mushtaq Ahmed and Ramiz picked up two wickets each.
Scores in brief – Day 5
Final – Karachi Blues beat Sialkot by 218 runs at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Target for Sialkot: 533
Karachi Blues 340 all out, 81.2 overs (Abdullah Fazal 88, Usman Khan 82, Saad Baig 39, Saqib Khan 33, Rameez Aziz 22; Mohammad Ali 4-79, Mohammad Hasnain 2-70, Hasan Ali 2-75) and 458 all out, 133.4 overs (Haroon Arshad 116, Abdullah Fazal 114, Shan Masood 76, Usman Khan 47, Saad Baig 31, Rameez Aziz 30; Usama Mir 5-98, Mohammad Hasnain 3-91)
Sialkot 266 all out, 71.5 overs (Mohsin Riaz 71, Hamza Nazar 64, Hasan Ali 41, Abdullah Shafique 32; Saqib Khan 4-79, Muhammad Umar 4-79) and 314 all out, 71.1 overs (Afzaal Manzoor 63, Abdullah Shafique 59, Hamza Nazar 56, Mohammad Hurraira 39, Hasan Ali 25; Saqib Khan 5-86, Rameez Aziz 2-33, Mushtaq Ahmed 2-82)
Player of the final – Abdullah Fazal (88 & 114 – Karachi Blues)
Player of the tournament – Saad Baig (1000 runs & 32 dismissals in 10 games – Karachi Blues)
Best Batter – Saad Baig
Best Bowler – Ali Usman (48 wickets in 8 games - Multan)
Best Wicketkeeper – Saad Baig
