GUJRANWALA: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) comfortably made it to the final of the tournament, as they drew their semifinal of the 2007-08 PCB Patron’s Trophy Grade-II Cricket Championship against United Bank Limited (UBL) on the final day of the three-day match, here at the Jinnah Stadium on Tuesday.

State Bank achieved their objective on the basis of the big 157-run first innings lead over their opponents on Monday’s second day. Yesterday, they rubbed more salt in United Bank’s wounds by rattling up a score of 299 runs before applying closure after nine second innings wickets had fallen.

With an impossible 457 runs to make to gain an unlikely win in hardly any time available, the virtually vanquished United Bank team faced only one eventful over, in which 16 runs were scored and one wicket fell. The match was then called off as a draw.

State Bank resumed yesterday morning at 70 for two, already with a lead of 227 runs, and stand-in skipper Faisal Athar — Kashif Siddiq didn’t appear in the semifinal — scored a brisk 137 off 183 balls in just short of four and a quarter hours with 13 boundaries. With the experienced Afsar Nawaz, his magnificent third-wicket stand was worth 215 runs.

Afsar missed a hundred by just four runs, his 96 coming off 165 balls in eactly four hours with 13 hits to the rope.

Slow left-arm bowler Nauman Ali from Hyderabad completed another five-wicket haul as he took 5-81 in 29.5 overs which gave him a tournament tally of 33 wickets at 18.39 runs apiece. Nauman collected five wickets in an innings on as many as five occasions.

Scores: State Bank 401-8 in 83 overs (Wajid Ali 80, Wasim Naeem 189, Shahbaz Butt 49; Rizwan Ahmed 4-90) and 299-9 dec in 79.5 overs (Faisal Athar 137, Afsar Nawaz 96; Nauman Ali 5-81). United Bank 244 in 71.3 overs (Rizwan Ahmed 66; Jalat Khan 4-77) and 16-1 in one over.

State Bank, in the final of a major domestic cricket event for the first time, will now meet debutants Port Qasim Authority (PQA) in the decider, to be played at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad over four days from May 9 to 12.