LAHORE – The final round of the PCB Inter-club Tournament is set to begin on Thursday, 5 December.

As many as 16 triumphant club sides from each region will compete in a knockout round at eight venues across Pakistan.

The eight winning teams will advance to the quarter-final stage, followed by the semi-finals and final, which are scheduled to take place in the second week of December. In the final round, 15 matches will be played to determine the winner of the countrywide club tournament.

The 16 club sides began their journey in the PCB Inter-club tournament in May in each of the 101 districts across the 16 regions. In the first round of the tournament, a total of 3,388 registered clubs competed in 6,143 40-over matches on a league basis.

The winning club from each of the 101 districts advanced to the second round of the tournament which was staged in October with 87 matches played on a knockout basis. At the end of the second round, the winning club of each of the 16 regions qualified for the third and final round.

PCB Chair Mohsin Naqvi: “The club cricket tournament which commenced in May earlier this year aims to revive the competitive culture at the grassroots level in Pakistan. We look forward to continuing this momentum of arranging club-level competitions across the country in the sixteen talent-rich regions.

“Club cricket is the heart and soul of every strong cricketing nation and we will continue to invest in and promote the thousands of clubs providing great opportunities to the younger people to play the sport and begin their journey.”

Schedule of final round: (All matches to be played on 5 December except the one between FATA and Peshawar’s champion club sides, which will take place on 7 December; Winners to advance to quarter finals followed by semi-finals and final)

DM Jamali (Diamond CC) v Quetta (Khalil Kashani CC), Abdul Ghaffar Sial Cricket Ground, Naseerabad

FATA (Spark CC) v Peshawar (ICMS CC), Gymkhana Ground, Peshawar

Islamabad (Eleven Star CC) v Abbottabad (Friends CC), Margalla Cricket Ground, G-9 Markaz, Islamabad

Karachi (Pakistan CC) v Hyderabad (Mir Mehmood CC), KCCA Stadium, Karachi

Lahore (City Cricket Centre CC) v Multan (Okara Gymkhana CC), LCCA Ground, Lahore

Larkana (Shah Abdul Latif CC) v Bahawalpur (Jinnah Sports CC), Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur

Rawalpindi (Al-Faisal CC) v AJK (Challenger CC), Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur

Sialkot (Muridke Gymkhana CC) v Faisalabad (Combined CC), Saeed Ajmal Cricket Academy, Faisalabad