KARACHI - Federal Areas Leopards won their last league encounter against NWFP Panthers by one-run margin to enter the final of the RBS Pentangular Cup one-day tournament here at the National Stadium on Monday. They meet Punjab Stallions in the final on December 24. Tuesday is the rest day of the competition. Federal Areas Leopards, who had mustered 265 all out in 49.5 overs after being sent into bat, succeeded in defending the total when NWFP Panthers innings folded just two runs short of victory in the fourth ball of the final over. It was off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and not the reputed pacers Shoaib Akhtar or Sohail Tanveer who grabbed the spotlight by claiming the last wicket of Junaid Khan of the NWFP in the fourth ball of the last over when the batsman was stumped by wicket keeper Muhammad Salman for a duck giving Federal Areas sensational entry into the final. Saeed Ajmal grabbed three wickets for 41. His other two victims were Rafatullah (56) and Khurram Shahzad (61). Rao Iftikhar Anjum also accounted for three wickets for 48 runs. Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanveer ended the crucial match with one wicket reach. NWFP Panthers skipper Umar Gul took the decision what other skipper had done throughout the competition when after winning the toss he sent Federal Areas to bat. However, the trick of sending opponents in did not work and Federal Areas openers Raheel Majeed and Baber Naeem put on solid 65, scoring at the rate of just over four runs per over. Frontier pacers Samiullah Niazi, Umar Gul and Junaid Khan failed to make any impression on the openers in the initial overs. However, the partnership ended with the dismissal of Raheel Majeed for 32 in 18th over after facing 52 balls and hitting four fours. Federal Areas continued to bat strongly and collect quick runs. It was medium pacer Nawaz Ahmed who was brought late in attack put some break on scoring and finished with three wickets for 44 Baber Naeem topscored with 71 made in 80 balls. Federal Areas innings ended in the fifth ball of 50th over at 265. NWFP Panthers robustly began their chase for the winning total. After a good start of 35 runs, they lost three wickets to be 107 for three down. Yasir Hameed reached a deserving fifty before getting out playing 37 balls hitting eight fours and one six. Rafatullah made 56 in 65 balls with the aid of seven fours. But when these two left, NWFP innings suffered a sudden slump until Khurram Shahzad batting with confidence once again put his team's innings back on the track. His innings of 61 which ended when he fell leg before to Saeed Ajmal brought NWFP team near its target. NWFP skipper Umar Gul contributed 30 in 24 balls and his team was within the sniffing distance of victory. In the last over of the match, the NWFP needed just two runs to win but as the buck would have Junaid Khan was stumped smartly by Muhammad Salman off Saeed Ajmal for a duck when the batsman in desperation went out to hit the winning stroke. SCOREBOARD FEDERAL AREAS LEOPARDS, Innings: Raheel c Nawaz Ahmed b Samiullah 32 Baber Naeem lbw Nawaz Ahmed 71 Umar Amin c Zulfiqar Jan b Nawaz 34 Afaq Rahim c (sub) Wajid b Nawaz 16 Usman Saeed c Rafatullah b Samiullah 44 M Salman c Zulfiqar b Junaid Khan 11 Sohail Tanveer b Junaid Khan 0 Yasir Arafat run out (Rafatullah) 12 Shoaib Akhtar c Junaid b Umar Gul 17 Rao Iftikhar Anjum not out 7 Saeed Ajmal run out ( Samiullah Niazi) 0 EXTRAS: (B1,LB8,W11,NB1) 21 TOTAL: all out in 49.5 overs 265 Fall of wickets:1-65,2-144,3-145,4-166,5-191,6-191,7-206,8-240,9-256 BOWLING: Umar Gul 10-0-51-1 (W2) Samiullah Niazi 9.5-1-50-2(Nb1, W2) Junaid Khan 10-0-42-2(W2) Aslam Qureshi 8-0-56-0(W1) Khurram Shahzad 2-0-13-0 Nawaz Ahmed 10-0-44-3(W2). NWFP PANTHERS Innings: Adnan Raees c Afaq Rahim b Sohail 23 Yasir Hameed lbw Rao Iftekhar Anjum 50 Rafatullah c Salman b Saeed Ajmal 56 Nawaz Ahmed b Yasir Arafat 12 Aamir Sajjad lbw Rao Ifekhar Anjum 6 Khurram Shahzad lbw Saeed Ajmal 61 Zulfiqar Jan c M Salman b Rao 12 Umar Gul b Shoaib Akhtar 30 Aslam Qureshi run out ( Umar Amin) 1 Samiullah Niazi not out 3 Junaid stmp M Salman b Saeed Ajmal 0 EXTRAS: (LB6, W3, NB1) 10 TOTAL: all out in 49.4 overs 264 Fall of wickets: 1-35,2-78,3-107,4-126,5-169,6-209,7-249,8-254,9-264 BOWLING: Shoaib Akhtar 10-2-59-1 Sohail Tanveer 10-0-63-1(NB1, W2) Rao Iftekhar Anjum 10-0-48-3 Yasir Arafat 10-0-47-1 Saeed Ajmal 9.4-0-41-3(W1). Results: Federal Areas Leopards won by one run Man of the match Rao Iftekhar Anjum and Saeed Ajmal.