Final Result
Sind 149 (Naumanullah 47, Shakeel-ur-Rehman 6-28) and 309 for 5 (Manzoor 118, Latif 72, Alam 51* ) beat North West Frontier Province 203 (Shakeel-ur-Rehman 45, Sohail 4-65) and 254 (Younis 111, Kaneria 5-62, Ali 3-66) by five wickets.
Sind managed to beat NWFP quite comfortably although their was a minor collapse when they lost three quick wickets but a scintillating innings from Alam and a trade mark cameo from Afridi saw them home.
In the other game the Federal Capital batsmen held Punjab for a draw. The Capital Areas’ effort was led by test discard Bazid Khan who scored a composed 172, and he was well supported by Usman Saeed (65) and Yasir Arafat (56*).
ABN-AMRO Pentangular Cup 2007/08 Table
| P | W | WLF | L | DWF | DLF | ND | A | Pts | NetRRF | |||
| 1 | Sind | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.164 | |
| 2 | Punjab | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1.644 | |
| 3 | Federal Areas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.644 | |
| 4 | North West Frontier Province | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.164 |
Now the tournament takes a break for a week due to the elections in the country and action will resume again on 22nd February with 2 more matches: Federal Capital vs Baluchistan and Punjab vs NWFP – the latter will be a cracker as it will pit Younis Khan vs the rest of the Pakistan middle order (Malik, Yousuf, and Misbah).
DAY 3
Federal Areas 383 and 37 for 3 trail Punjab 599 for 7 dec (Butt 290, Jamshed 108, Yousuf 56, Azam 3-133) by 179 runs
Scorecard
Salman Butt hit an astonishing 50 fours during his 290 © AFP
Salman Butt fell only 10 runs short of his triple century, he resumed the innings with Nasir Jamshed who carried his form from the Zimbabwe series and added 290 runs for the second wicket before both Butt and Nasir were dismissed by Shehzad Alam, Jamshed scored 108.
Butt was the star of the day his strike rate was amazing he took only 318 balls to score 290 runs,
Butt continued his domestic form but the question is will he be able to score against Australia.
For the moment he has silenced his critics. His innings was against Pakistan’s front line pace attack so cannot be regarded as fluke. Mohammed Yousuf also scored a fluent 50 before the Punjab team declared for 599.
This match is perhaps the last nail in Shoaib Akhter’s coffin he alongwith Arafat and Tanvir went for over four runs an over and failed to take any wickets.
At close of play Federal area’s team was 37 for 3, Aizaz cheema got rid of both the openers and Abdur Rehman took the third wicket leaving federal area trailing by 179 runs.
Sind 149 and 130 for 0 (Manzoor 74*, Latif 56*) need another 179 runs to beat North West Frontier Province 203 and 254 (Younis 111, Kaneria 5-62, Ali 3-66)
Scorecard
Having conceding the first-innings lead to North West Frontier Province on the second day, Sind fought back strongly on the third day to still be in with a chance of victory.
Leading by 200 runs with seven wickets in hand in their second innings and captain Younis Khan still at the crease, NWFP were done in by Danish Kaneria’s 5 for 62. Kaneria, who recently expressed his disappointment at not being handed a central contract by the Pakistan board, dismissed Nos 6 -10 as NWFP crumbled to 254 all out from 150 for 3 at the end of the second day. NWFP fought well but they do not have the batting or bowling strength as compared to Sind
Yasir Hameed again disappointed and failed to seize the opportunity.
Younis’ 111 was the only substantial contribution, the next best was only 26. Shahid Afridi, the Sind captain, chipped in with the wicket of his opposition counterpart, while Anwar Ali ended with 3 for 66.
Needing the highest total of the match to win the game, Sind were off to a solid start. Khalid Latif and Khurram Manzoor, two others fighting for the opening slot in the Pakistan line-up, scored patient fifties as their team finished at 130 for no loss. Sind need another 179 with ten wickets left, but given the propensity of batting collapses in this match, it is still anybody’s game.
DAY 2
North West Frontier Province 203 and 146 for 3 (Younis 68*) lead Sind 149 (Shakeel-ur-Rehman 6-28) by 200 runs
Scorecard
The second days play was quite a shock for many cricket fans as both team Sind and team Federal Area failed to hold on to the first days gains, team Sind reduced NWFP for only 203 and were 60 for 1after the first days play and were expected to gain a huge lead but thanks to a career best haul of 6/28 by medium pacer Shakeel-ur-Rehman Team Sind was dismissed for 149,his first victim was opener Khalid Latif, caught behind for 17 from 75 balls to make it 79 for 2. Faisal Iqbal, the Pakistan international, was out for 1 and the dangerous Shahid Afridi was removed for an 18-ball 17. Naumanullah was then bowled for 47, the best contribution of the innings, and two swift strikes cut through the tail. Sind had proceeded to lose nine wickets for 89 runs.
Rafatullah Mohmand and Yasir Hameed got NWFP’s second innings off to a solid start, adding 41, but a double-strike from Anwar Ali threatened to bring Sind back. Hameed hit 26 from 30 balls before he was trapped leg before by Anwar, a former Under-19 star. Riaz Kail suffered a similar fate for 4 as NWFP slipped to 51 for 2. That became 71 for 3 when Mohmand fell to Uzair-ul-Haq’s medium-pace, but Younis proved difficult to dislodge.
Coming off two fifties against Zimbabwe and a one-match breather in the clean sweep, Younis rattled his way to an unbeaten 68 off 95 balls, with 13 boundaries, by the close of play. Offering solid support at the other end was Wajahatullah Wasti, the former Pakistan opener, with a sedate 14 from 81 balls. NWFP’s tail wagged in the first innings and further such contributions could be enough to seal Sind’s fate as this match progresses.
If NWFP manages to extend the lead to 350 plus they have a good chance of winning this match.
The star studded Team Sind failed miserably with the bat against an average and perhaps the weakest bowling attack of the tournament, Sind’s captain Shahid Afridi scored only 17 and maintained recent average of his International career.
This tournament will expose quite a few over hyped senior players and will certainly bring to limelight the unsung heroes of Pakistan’s domestic cricket.
Punjab 219 for 1 (Butt 135*, Hafeez 77) trail Federal Areas 383 (Saaed 69, Ashraf 58, Rehman 4-86, Riaz 4-112) by 164 runs
Scorecard
Shoaib Akhters Federal areas team also failed to hold on to the initiative on the second day they resumed their innings at 301/4 and were all out for 383 thanks to some excellent bowling by Wahab Riaz and Abdur- Rehman.
It was expected that a pace attack comprising of Shoaib Akhter, Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Arafat will make a short work of Punjab’s team but Opener’s Salman Butt and Hafeez had other ideas
Salman Butt scored a scintillating 135* 75 % of which was scored in boundaries, he was ably supported by Hafeez who scored 77.Punjab still trail by 164 but with the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Kamran Akmal to follow Federal Areas may be in for a tough third day in the field.
Shoaib Akhter only bowled 7 overs in the whole day and failed to prove any point in the match his fitness and form remains the same.
DAY1
The pentangular cup has started and two matches are being played one between Shahid Afridi’s Sindh team and Younus Khan’s NWFP team and the second one between Misbah Ul Haq’s Punjab and Shoaib Akhtar’s federal areas team.
Shoaib Malik the captain of the Punjab team failed to reach the ground before the play started as his flight from Dubai got delayed, the Pakistan skipper is hounded by a Scandal about his marriage with an Indian girl whom he has abandoned something which Malik has categorically denied in fact his visit to Dubai was related to this issue as he was scheduled to appear in Nadia Khan show to clarify his position, due to which he failed to play a mandatory match against Shoaib Akhter’s team.It seems that Shoain Malik who was already in hot waters due to his poor personal performance in India as a player and as a skipper will be hounded by the media for his alleged marriage with that Indian girl,we might see a further slump in his personal performance if he fails to come of out of the scandal.
In his absence after the first days play his team was in a bad position as the federal Areas team scored 301/4 powered by a 107 runs innings by opener Raheel Majeed and 40 by Afaq Raheem.
Of all the Punjab bowlers only the left arm quick, Wahab Riaz, who made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe looked impressive picking up 2 wickets.
The Punjab batting line up looks like the national teams line up but their bowling is weak.If Shoaib Akhter who is trying to prove a point against the PCB management manages to produce a quality spell we might witness an upset in the first round of the tournament.
Shahid Afridi’s team which looks like Pakistan’s A team includes a lot of upcoming players who will be a part of the National team in near future, shot out the NWFP team for only 203, their star performer was Sohail Khan who took 4/65 including two wickets in his second over which sent Nwfp team reeling at 11/2, the prize wicket of Younus Khan went to Anwar Ali the hero of 2006 U19 WC.Younus toiled hard for 40 odd deliveries scoring only 12 before he was plumb in front to a beauty from Anwar.The pacers were well supported by spinners Kaneria and Afridi, each taking 2 wickets and bowling NWFP out for only 203.
By the close of play Sindh had raced to 60 for the loss of opener Khurram Manzoor in 15 overs. At stumps Khalid Latif (12*) and Naumanullah (33*) were at the crease. Openers Khurram and Khalid made their international debuts in the series against Zimbabwe last month and Naumanullah is this season’s leading run scorer in domestic first class games.
Given the weak bowling of NWFP in the absence of Umar gul who has left for Australia for the check up of his back injury Sindh team is a clear favorite to win this match.
Australian Senior players have refused to tour Pakistan as they all want to play IPL and make money,PCB should make it clear to Australia that it will not tour Australia or play Australia on any other venue if they do not tour Pakistan.
Given the history of Pakistan Cricket Board’s management I think it is too much to ask.They don’t have the balls to stand up against ICC at the last moment they will give up.
Sri lanka is back in the tournament,the problem with Lankans is their batting if Jaysuriya and Sangakara do not score they always lose as skipper Mahela is in poor form and also SriLanka’s lower middle order is not consistent and dependable anymore.
India has a good chance to win this year but they are also facing the same problem Yuvraj and Uthappa are not scoring and the openers are also due for big innings.India’s bowling is good has variety and depth.They need to fix their lower middle order.
Sind won the first match, Khurram Manzoor and Fawad Alam are ready for the National team,Nauman Ullah was also Impressive.
Pakistan might fix its batting woes after this tournament but none of the bowlers taking part in this tournament are good enough to be potent on International level,the lack of quality is even worse in the spin department,Pakistan has not produced any good spinner after Saqlain.In the next of matches more spinners should be evaluated.
Shoaib Akhter’s career has come to its logical end,PCB has made up its mind to impose a life ban on bad boy Shoaib,he is not playing the next match of Pentangular cup,I believe its good riddance! Shoaib was a amjor distraction for the team and a major source of embarrassment for the country.
Danish Kineria deserves another chance I know he has not been taking wickets and has been too expensive but a lot of his misery is owed to Kamran Akmal.
He needs to control the runs and should develop the flipper.
Khurram Manzoor,Khalid Latif and Alam look like being the future of Pakistan batting, and these players should be given chances ahead of Hafeez, Hameed and even Butt if Australia tour.
Meanwhile, in the CB series, India finally managed to get two decent partnerships from the middle-order but eventually lost to SL, because of some very indisciplined bowling. R.Sharma once again impressed, and this is the biggest positive India can take from the match, since he looked confident against the experienced SL bowlers and wasn’t dominated by them. He’ll have to maintain consistency though.
For tomorrow’s match, Aus look favourites, but the SL pace bowling is capable of rattling them.
I wanted to post this earlier, but the site was not getting loaded.
I’ve heard and seen on geo news that the pentangular cup is beign telectaed on a pakistani sports channel geo super.
Why is there no geo super in uk ?
Latest news my favourite cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed has signed for the icl. The fact the Australian tour is doubtful to go ahead I hope the pcb will allow it’s palyers to participate in the multi mega event.
Pakistan under 19 has arrived in Australia in there attempt to wn a hatrick of u19 world cups. Good luck to Imad Wasim and players let’s do it for Paksitan..
Wasim publish some of our comments on the home page.
Vishal:
I will cover the Cb series in the net round.But we are loading the videos and I do post my comments regularly about the matches.Write now I am too busy adding some very cool and important features which will be up shortly so keep your fingers crossed and bear with me for a week.
I also apologize to the visitors that the site was down for almost 24 hours due to a critical server failure. We apologize to our visitors for any inconvenience.
Why are you not covering CB series?
Kasim Sahib:
How can a big general help Butt to score 290 against Shoaib.
He is inconsistent but other than Yousuf who is not.
Rain reduced the 5th Odi of Cb series to a 20/20 shoot out.I personally never like games when they are reduced by the rain,but I think Srilanka won this match fair and square.
Srilanka is back in the tournament,Yuvraj failed again but IMO Dhoni should persist with him as the only way to come back to form is by playing.Sharma has shown that he is going to stay.
India has to fix its batting combination, the place of Uthappa and Yuvraj are in danger.
The tables have been turned both Federal areas and NWFP teams have failed to hold on to the momentum,we have to acknowledge one thing its not easy to score 290 against Shoaib Akhter and Sohail tanvir Butt has been inconsistent against foreign teams but his domestic form has been outstanding.
Shoaib Akhter is all set to be shipped to bollywood there is no more excuse left to persist with him if there was a confusion in the minds of the selectors and the board it should have cleared up now.
Younis played a good knock but he didn’t get any help from his teammates.Nwfp still has a chance if they can bowl out Sind on the last day.
I am really disappointed by the performance of Sind team, I was hoping that they will post a big lead, but Younus khan’s team made a wonderful comeback.
So far the performance pattern of all the senior players is the same, Younus always fail in the first innings and scores big in the second,Salman Butt always scores big in domestic cricket as Amit pointed out,Shoaib Akhter rarely bowls more than 10 overs in a day,Yasir Hamid and faisal Iqbal fail most of the times.
Afridi always maintains his average of less than 20 and scores big after every 10 matches, and Shoaib Malik knows how to avoid tough situations just by hiding.
I just posted a blog on BBC’s 606 re: Salman Butt’s century:
Shoaib Akhtar bowled only seven overs and who knows at what speed? while most the other bowlers were part-timers. Salman Butt must be related to a General, a powerful Politician or a Big Big Bureaucrat!!
Hmm … Sindh and NWFP is really playing serious cricket going by the scoreboard … low scoring matches are always more competitive than batting platters. My bet horse (anwar ali) is doing well
.. but he needs to take more wickets here to really impress the selectors.
Btw what is shoaib akhtar doing there .. out of 48 overs he only bowled 7 .. it means his fitness level is same as was in india … no improvement in that front … He doesn’t need to show his wicket columns (that still is empty though) .. but the number of overs he bowled … either in short spells or long ones (this is unimaginable now) … but he can work on short spells .. and shud try to bowl atleast 25% of bowled overs.
Salman butt knows where to score runs .. that i can guarantee … lol
Yesterday’s match at the mcg was a thrilling encounter . I back India as favourites to win the cb series becuase of the abundunce of youthful talent and the ideal balance and strategy the team currently has . Credit goes to Ishant Sharma , Sreesanth , Tendulkur ,Dhoni and Rohit Sharma for yesterday’s victory.
I’m following the pentagular cup on the pcb and cricinfo pakistan website and I must say the competition looks seriously competetive . I back Sindh looking at there bowling attack. Sohail Khan who has had a golden first class season is the leader of the bowling attack which aslo has a match winning spin combination of Shaid Afridi and Danish Kaneria and I think that this Sindh spin bowling pair should be the test math combination for Pakistan.
I have read the article of big star about Kaneria’s fustration at being demoted to category c of cental contracts. In a way the pcb has to punish Kaneria because of his poor form of late . Howver Kaneria’s point is that he should be treated with more respect as he has be fit commited and county’s leading wicket taker in the last few years .
My opinion of this controversy is that Kaneria cannot argue with the national cricket board and has got an oppurtunity to prove himself in this pentagular cup.
I found your site on google blog search and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. Just added your RSS feed to my feed reader. Look forward to reading more from you.
- Sue.