Archive for ‘October, 2008’

20 results.
Oct05

Royal Bank of Scotland Twenty-20 Cup (2007/08) 2008/09

by wasim on October 5th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Posted In: Uncategorized

Squads

Points Table 

The Royal Bank of Scotland Twenty-20 Cup (2007/08) 2008/09 has kicked off and on the first day five matches were played.

1-  Faisalabad wolves Vs Abbottabad Rhinos

FAISALABAD WOLVES 148-6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 62, Misbah-ul-Haq 30; Khalid Usman 3-21); ABBOTTABAD RHINOS 128 in 18.5 overs (Riaz Kail 25, Khalid Usman 20, Yasir Shah 22; Samiullah Niazi 2-22, Mohammad Talha 3-26).

The highlight of this one sided  match was the all round performance of  Mohammad Hafeez who scored  a 53 ball 62  and  gave away only 16 runs  in his 4  overs, skipper Misbah-ul-Haq scored a 25 ball 30, Left-arm paceman Samiullah Niazi put the Rhinos on the back foot by grabbing two quick wickets before Talha mopped up the tail as the Rhinos were dismissed for 128 off 18.5 overs.

2- Lahore Eagles Vs Karachi Dolphins 

The second match was between Lahore Eagles and Karachi Dolphins.

KARACHI DOLPHINS 184-7 in 20 overs (Fawad Alam 55, Naumanullah 41, Shahid Afridi 23; Mohammad Naved 3-33); LAHORE EAGLES 159-9 in 20 overs (Asif Raza 53 not out, Mohammad Ali Raza 29; Anwar Ali 3-8, Sohail Khan 2-26, Shahid Afridi 2-18).

The match proved to be a complete one sided affair due to the lack of fire power in Lahore eagles bowling, the highlight of the match was the all round performance of Lahore Eagles Asif Reza who scored a 21 ball 53 which included 4 sixes his innings included 6 sixes and 2 fours he gave away 31 runs in his 4 overs and took one wicket, Fawad Alam scored 55 of 41 balls but he gave away 47 runs in his four overs, the unknown players of Lahore Eagles put up a good fight against the star studded Karachi dolphins team which is favorite to win this tournament.

3- Lahore Lions Vs Quetta Bears 

This was perhaps the most entertaining and interesting match of the day where the underdogs Quetta bears fell short by just two runs to create a huge upset in the tournament, Lahore Lions is one of the heavyweight teams in the tournament led by Mohammad yousuf and Quetta Bears consists of mostly unkown players with the exception of their skipper Shoaib Khan.

LAHORE LIONS 187-4 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 99 not out, Nasir Jamshed 22; Naseer Khan 2-22); QUETTA BEARS 185-4 in 20 overs (Shoaib Khan 85, Samiullah 31,Arun Lal 29; Waqas Ahmed 2-28).

The highlight of the match was a 67 ball 99 by Salman Butt which included 10 fours and 3 sixes, Nasir Jamshed scored 22, Mohamad yousuf failed to prove his worth to the selectors as a T20 player in his first match as he managed to score only five runs, the star of Quetta bears was their skipper Shoaib Khan who scored  85 of 54 balls with 14 boundaries but his effort went in vain when he fell to Wahab Riaz in his last over. Wahab Riaz alongwith Junaid zia proved to be very  expensive Junaid Zia gave away 17 runs in one over and Wahab gave away 43 runs in his 4 overs, Lahore’s bowling looks extremely weak.

4- Karachi Zebras Vs Sialkot Stallions

The Sialkot Stallions led by Shoaib Malik won this match easily the highlights of this match were Qaisar Abbas scores 49(34) and Shoaib Malik scored 39(28) for Sialkot stallions who managed to post a total of 179 on the board, the Karachi Zebras could score only 147 in reply Asif zakir 58 and Ahmed Zeeshan 30 were the top scorers Sarfraz Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers who gave away only 16 runs in his four overs and took 3 wickets. Interestingly Malik bowled his full quota of four overs and gave away 32 runs and took no wicket, he was quite expensive but continued to bowl the full quota although he had Mansoor Amjad  available who bowled only one over it will be interesting to see if he bowls his full quota of 4 overs against quality teams in the tournament.

5- Islamabad Leopards vs Peshawar panthers 

This was also an interesting match, both teams had some big names Peshawar led by younis khan also had Umar Gul, Yasir Hameed, and Fazle Akbar in the ranks, Islamabad included Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar , Bazid Khan and Raheel Majeed.

The highlight of the match was the whirlwind knock of 45 off 26 balls by Younis Khan he was ably supported by Yasir Hameed 33(22) and Jannisar Khan 41(47). Umar gul and Fazle Akber rocked the Leopards top order and they never recovered, Raheel Majeed, Bazid Khan and Afaq Rahim they all failed also Shoaib Akhtar failed to take any wicket in his quota of four overs and gave away 30 runs.

Stay tuned for the next report.

 

 

 Comment 
Oct07

Ijaz Butt is the new chairman of PCB

by wasim on October 7th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

After months of lobbying by different candidates Ijaz Butt has been appointed as the new chairman of PCB.

He has an untainted reputation as far as I know but there were other candidates who could have done this job better than Mr.Butt and were far more qualified than him, this appointment has been done on the basis of nepotism which has become a part of our political culture.

Former Test wicket-keeper batsman Ijaz Butt has been appointed chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), an official said Tuesday.

The 73-year-old takes over from Nasim Ashraf, who resigned on August 18, the same day that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf stood down to avoid impeachment.

“We have been verbally informed about the notification and Mr Butt has been appointed new PCB chairman by President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari,” PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi told AFP.

Butt, who played eight Tests in the 1950s with modest success, becomes the 27th chairman of the PCB. He is a former secretary of the BCCP (Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan) in the late 1980s.

Butt also served as chairman of the selection committee and was a member of the governing board during Ashraf’s tenure.

Butt’s first task will be to restore Pakistan cricket’s image, which has been badly hit by doping controversies and through a lack of discipline.

He is also facing a tough task to convince foreign teams to tour Pakistan, which has been a no-go zone for touring sides following a wave of suicide bombings.

1 Comment
Oct07

Pakistan’s squad for Canada

by wasim on October 7th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Pakistan Twenty20 squad

Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Shoaib Khan, Khalid Latif, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul Haq, Shahid Afridi,Kamran Akmal (wk), Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Fawad Alam, Anwar Ali, Sohail Khan, Abdur Rauf

Pakistan Has announced its squad for the upcoming T20 tournament in canada, Shoaib Akhtar makes in but Mohammmad Yousuf has been dropped because of his failure to impress the selectors other noteable ommission is of opener Nasir Jamshed he lost his place to Shoaib Khan. Mohammad Aamir who impressed everybody in the current T20 tournament also failed to secure a place which is disappointing, Saeed Ajmal alaso failed to secure a place in his absence the spin department looks weak, the selectors selectewd too many fast bowlers they should have selected one more spinner.

2 Comments
Oct07

Karachi Dolphins reach RBS finals

by wasim on October 7th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket Pakistan

Karachi Dolphins led by Shahid Afridi outclassed the Islamabad leopards in the first RBS Semifinal, the match proved to be one sided affair, Karachi bowled Islamabad out for a paltry 68 and knocked off the runs in 10.4 overs.

Islamabad’s innings, after they chose to bat, never got off the blocks. Sohail Khan, today announced in Pakistan’s Twenty20 side for a quadrangular tournament in Canada, snubbed out opener Raheel Majeed and Bazid Khan for ducks. Malik Aftab, coming in at first change, took 3 for 17 soon after and Islamabad were floored. Ashar Zaidi, the captain, stuck around 20 balls to top-score with 14 before Tahir Khan too two wickets in his only over. It was a disappointing effort, to say the least.

The Dolphins are favorites to win this tournament as their team is the most balanced team in the tournament

A 48-run opening partnership between Khurram Manzoor (28 not out) and Khalid Latif (24), also rewarded with a national call-up today, eased Karachi to victory.

In the other Semi final Sialkot Stallions are struggling against the Lahore Lions, the Stallions posted a paltry score of 117/6 batting first Live Scorecard.

 Comment 
Oct07

Sialkot Stallions reach finals of RBS

by wasim on October 7th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket Pakistan

ScoreCard

Sialkot Stallions in a low scoring thriller defeated star studded Lahore Lions by 6 runs, Shoaib Malik won the toss and elected to bat, opener Naeemuddin was the first one to fall in the 2nd over Mohammad Ayub and Kamran Younis tried to resurrect the innings after the initial loss but when the score was 51 Mohammad Ayub fell to Waqas Ahmad, 8 balls later skipper Shoaib Malik also fell to Waqas  Ahmad in the next over Qaisar Abbas also returned to the pavillion and the Stallions from 51/2 became 62/4, opener Kamran Younis kept on fighting from one end he was the highest scorer for the Stallions he made 36 off 54 balls,the Sialkot Stallions managed a total 117/6 @5.85, given the strength of the Lions batting line up the matched seemed to be over, but Sarfraz Ahmad removed opener Nasir Jamshed in his first over which was a wicket maiden, in the very next over pacer Kashif Reza removed Ahmad Shehzad the scorecard looked grim for the Lions and suddenly they were under pressure after the loss of two quick wickets Salman Butt and Mohammad Yousuf tried to rebuild the innings but they failed to manage the run rate, Yousuf who was dropped from the T20 Squad for canada earlier in the day proved the selectors right he wasted too many precious deliveries and managed to score only 17 runs of 34 deliveries, both Butt and Yousuf departed in quick succession and after 13.3 overs the Lions were 56/4 the asking rate climbed to 8 a late cameo by Waqas Ahmad who struck 31 of just 12 balls with 2 boundaries and three towering sixes off the bowling of Abdur Rehman came a bit too late and could not save his team, the Lions fell short by just six runs, the way Butt and Yousuf played is beyond anybodies comprehension they shut the door on their own team and gave the victory on a silver platter to their Skipper Malik.

Now Malik’s Stallions will face Afridi’s Dolphin’s in the finals, the Dolphins are too strong they have a perfect combination for a T20 team and are favorites to win this title, its Malik Vs Afridi lets see who survives.

2 Comments
Oct08

Afridi Vs Malik the RBS final

by wasim on October 8th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket Pakistan

ScoreCard

Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to bat first the Dolphins innings is over they scored 125/9 in 20 overs Fawad Alam was the top scorer with 40 off 31 balls the rest of the Dolphins batting line up failed miserably Afridi Scored 12 of 9 balls, Kashif Reza, Sarfraz Ahmad and Abdur Rehman bowled beautifully for the Stallions.

The Stallions have begun their run chase they have lost one wicket Faisal Naveed who was run out, the match is still evenly poised.

Its 50/1 after 8 overs the run chase for Stallions is progressing smoothly it looks they will maintain their winning record in the finals, all hopes are pinned on Afridi now if he can make some inroads in the Stallions Batting line up.

Afridi has bowled two tight overs and the Stallions received a big blow when a well set Kamran Younis was run out the asking rate is climbing up 8 more overs to go and its 67/2, Malik is the new batsman on the crease, the Stallions will have to step it up.After 14 overs it is 78/2, the asking rate is 8, six more overs to go Sohail Khan and Afridi both have 2 overs each left just two overs have to be bowled by other bowlers. The match is still evenly poised.

43 runs are required of the last 5 overs with 8 wickets in hand. The Stallions need two good overs they have the wickets in hand they should go for it, but Malik is being defensive again.

Another Blow to the Stallions Mansoor Amjad is retired hurt because of Hamstring injury he was on 39 of 34 balls Qaisar Abbas is the new batsman.

Malik was dropped by the feilder on extra cover on the bowling of Afridi, bad luck for Afridi and the Dolphins.

Qaisar Abbas got out trying to play a big shot of Afridi, three more overs to go and 28 runs required Sohail Khan has two more to go he gave away only 7 in his first two, Adeel Malik is the new batsman in the match is slipping away from the Stallions, they need one good over.

Adeel is Malik’s younger brother, Bang he flicks Sohail khan for a six over mid wicket.

20 runs required of the last two overs, Afridi has bowled his full quota of four. Anwar Ali comes in to bowl Afridi used his bowling options intelligently, Bang ! Adeel drives him straight down the ground for four, Bang ! SiX good length bowl he gives himself room and lofts him over long on. Two balls and two boundaries the guy can bat.

14 runs came from the first five balls 7 balls left and six runs required to win can Dolphins defend their score can Sohail Khan do it for them? Can the Malik brothers finish it off for their team? Its going down to the wire.

3 runs required to win of the last 5 deliveries.

Its all over! The Stallions have defeated the Dolphins by 7 wickets, Malik has defeated Afridi!

He did it with a weaker team with no big names in it, Congratulations Stallions.

3 Comments
Oct08

RBS T20 Statistics

by wasim on October 8th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket Pakistan

Team Records

Highest Totals

There were only scores above 170 in the whole tournament, the tournament was generally a low scoring tournament and   was highly indicative of the lack of power hitters in the current talent pool it also shows the lack of preparedness for the  format by different batsmen. However on the bright side it shows the immense talent in Bowling in Pakistan. But to score big totals in T20 we need Power Hitters. The national team will struggle to score big as Power hitters like Imran Nazir, Razzak , and Imran farhat  have been lost to the ICL. Afridi can’t hit the ball anymore he should not be considered a power hitter any more. Nasir Jamshed was a welcome addition but he has been lost due to a poor selection.

Batting Records,

Most runs

As always in domestic competition Salman Butt leads this chart with 152 from 3 innings at an average of 76 with a SR of 123, Stallion opener kamran Younis is #2 on the list with 139 from 4 innings @ ave of 46 his strike rate is 92 which is kind of low for this format but it was his consistent batting performances that the Stallions have won this tournament. Shoaib Malik is # 3 on the list with 120 from 4 innings @ an ave of 60 with a SR of 117 he had a good tournament both with bat and ball,  Hyderabad all rounder Rizwan was # 4 on the list with 117 from 2 matches and perhaps is the only batsman to score 2 fifties in the tournament his SR  148 was also the highest in the tournament, which raises the question why he has not been selected for the Canadian tour. Fawad Alam  was # 5 on the list by scoring 113 from four matches at an ave of 37 but a SR of 124 he had a good tournament with the bat but he was again miserable with the ball. I wonder why Khalid Latif got selected he is averaging only 20 in the tournament his SR of 86 is too low for this format he scored only 80 runs in the tournament in 4 matches, I guess he must have used a big Parchi.
Best Averages

Rizwan Ahmed again had the highest average of 114 in the tournament followed by Misbahul haq with an ave of 93.

High Scores

Salman Butt had the highest score of 99 in the tournament followed by Shoaib khan’s solitary innings of 85 which earned him the selection in the team in place of Yousuf.

Highest Strike rate

Most Fifties

Most Sixes

Waqas Ahmed leads the chart with 6 sixes int he tournament, Afridi managed only 3 sixes in five matches.

Bowling records

Most wickets

Sohail Ahmed of Lahore Lions leads the chart with 7 wickets from three wickets followed by Afridi who took 7 from 5 matches. Sarfraz Ahmed and Sohail khan are # 3 and #4 with six wickets each Mohammed Aamir took 5 from just 2 matches. Sarfraz Ahmad had a very good tournament he should have earned a place in the team.

Best Averages

Faisal Athar of Hyderabad is # 1 and Mohammad Aaamir is #2 on this list.

Best Economy rates

Mohammad Aamir again tops the chart with an econ rate of just 3.25 and Faisal Athar was # 2 on the list all rounder Kamran Hussain is # 3 on the list.

Best strike rates

Again Mohamad Aamir and Faisal Athar had the best strike rates.

Mohammad Aamir should have been included in the Squad for Canada I have serious reservations on the selection of Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Rauf.

Amongst spinners Fawad Alam was selected because of his batting but it has been proved time and again he is a nothing bowler he bowled 8 overs in 4 matches and took no wickets and had an economy rate of 10. Are we selecting him as a batsman only if thats the case then its ok but if we left out a spinner just because he has been selected then it is a huge mistake I guess Mansoor Amjad or Saeed Ajmal should have been given a chance. And if we had to select a batsman who could pretend to bowl then Rizwan Ahmad was a better choice considering the format of the game. There are already too many players in the team who pretend to be all rounders  but in reality their is no complete all rounder in the team.

Players like Kamran Hussain and Yasir Arafat have been ignored time and again.

2 Comments
Oct08

Salahuddin Ahmed resigns

by wasim on October 8th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Salahuddin Ahmed quit as Pakistan’s chief cricket selector on Wednesday after claiming a player change was made to the country’s squad for a Twenty20 tournament without his knowledge.

Ahmed said he and fellow selectors Shafqat Rana and Saleem Jaffar had picked spinner Saeed Ajmal in the 15-player squad for the four-day event starting Friday, but rookie opening batsman Shoaib Khan was instead included.

‘I left for Karachi immediately after finalizing the team but when the Pakistan Cricket Board announced the team in Lahore, Shoaib Khan was named in the squad,’ Ahmed said. ‘Nobody in the cricket board had the courtesy to ask me or the other two selectors before replacing a player and I felt insulted.

‘I have faxed my resignation to the PCB office in Lahore as I do not compromise on merit.’

PCB spokesman Mansoor Suhail was not available for comment.

The Pakistan team was scheduled to leave later Wednesday to compete in the four-nation tournament against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Canada in Toronto, Canada.

The 61-year-old Ahmed was appointed chief selector in April 2007 for a two-year term soon after Pakistan made a first-round exit from the World Cup.

‘We had already selected three openers in the 15-member squad for the Toronto event and it makes little sense to include a fourth one,” Ahmed added. ‘It’s not the right decision.’

Soon after Ahmed’s appointment, Pakistan won a three-match, one-day international series against World Cup finalist Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi and went on to play the final of the first Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

However, Pakistan lost a test and one-day series at home to South Africa and a test series at India in December 2007.

2 Comments
Oct11

Salman Butt rescues Pakistan

by wasim on October 11th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket Pakistan

Pakistan played its opening match against Canada in the T20 tournament the match was won by Pakistan but they couldn’t finish off the minnows comprehensively, Canada was in the match until they came into bat, Pakistan team looked too tired and disinterested as they had no time for rest after 26 hours of flight the players looked too casual and tired as a result Pakistan gave a lackluster performance against a minnow beating them by just 35 runs, batting first Pakistan scored 137 for the loss of 7 wickets , Salman Butt 76 was the top scorer the rest of the Pakistan team struggled to score on a difficult pitch against a club level bowling attack whether they took their opponents too lightly or the scores reflect the batting form of the players will be evident from today’s match against Srilanka the team selection will come under fire as Shoaib Khan failed  miserably he should not open instead kamran Akmal should open the innings with Salman Butt and Pakistan should drop Shoaib Khan and Include fawad Alam in his place. Pakistan will dearly miss a quality spinner in today’s match against Srilanka.

1 Comment
Oct11

Umar Gul tames Sri Lanka

by wasim on October 11th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket Pakistan, Cricket, Cricket Srilanka

Scorecard

Srilanka showed their intent in the very first over when Jayasuriya struck Shoaib Akhtar two consecutive boundaries and got out trying for the third one, Shoaib Akhtar and tanvir proved to be expensive as they both gave away 52 runs in the first 6 overs they bowled, Jahan Mubarak who was promoted up the order was particularly aggressive he scored 39 of 29 balls, Malik surprised everyone  in the seventh over when  he sent backUmar gul who was coming in to bowl and he introduced himself into the attack something which he has never done before when the team is under pressure Malik always runs away from the ball, but jokes apart its a welcome change he bowled a good spell along with Afridi and both took one wicket each Malik removed the dangerous Mubarak, but it was Umar Gul who made the real difference in the end he not only brought the runrate down but also took 4 wickets in his three overs  his yorkers were unplayable and Srilankan batsmen had no answer to them, In the end Srilanka which were lookking to score around 160 at one stage were tamed by Gul and managed to score 137/9.

Srilanka rested its several star players for todays match.

Pakistan is struggling at 72/5 after 12 overs parchi Shoaib Khan was again a failure, Younis Khan scored a run a ball 24, Salman Butt could only score 7 in this match, Misbah trying to up the tempo got out after scoring 19, and that brainless donkey from Karachi Afridi could only score one run, Malik mis on the crease with Kamran Akmal the asking rate is close to 9, the problem is why can’t we select players just on merit, their has been two much of jingoistic pressure in the media and on the net from different corners which puts a lot of pressure on the selectors. The selectors should select the best 15 regardless of where they hail from period.

Just when the match was slipping away from pakistan Malik and Fawad Alam rescued Pakistan from no where.

Fawad played beautifully and displayed his batting form to the fullest, Srilanka are left stunned they thought they had shut out Pakistan but Fawad and Malik clinched Victory from the  Jaws of defeat.

6 Comments
  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2
  • »