World Of Cricket

Asif ali and Misbah-ul-Haq helped Faislabad wolves to post a challenging total of 158 against the defending champions Sialkot Stallions in the final of Faysal Bank Super-8 T20.

Misbah-ul-Haq scored 38 not out in the final of Faysal Bank super 8-t20 © Associated Press

The winner of today’s final will be playing in Champions league later this year. Misbah’s Faisalabad wolves will start as favourite going into the second innings of Faysal Bank Super 8-t20 final but Shoaib Malik’s Sialkot Stallions can never be underestimated as it is the most successful domestic t20 side of Pakistan.

Earliar Misbah won the toss and decided to bat first but Sialkot started brilliantly as Malik bowled economically upfront, Sialkot kept Faislabad’s runrate under control for most part of the game but the partnership between Asif and Misbah has swung the game in favour of Faisalabad.

Faisalabad had not the ideal of starts as they lost their openers for just 16 runs on the board, but after that Khurram Shehzad and Asif Ali helped Faislabad to crawl back into the game. Both initially struggled a bit against the spin of Sialkot but they played their shots once they got settled.

Khurram Shehzad and Asif Ali added 63 runs between them but finally the partnership was broken by Raza Hasan when he got rid of Khurram Shehzad. The wicket of Khurram Shehzad allowed the most successful batsman of the tournament Misbah-ul-Haq to join Asif Ali in the arena.

Misbah-ul-Haq got a golden oppurtunity early into his inning when he survived a close run out chance. But after that incident he never looked back and carried his brilliant form into this game.

Misbah and Asif Ali smashed Sialkot bowlers in later part of the game to get back into the match and they now have a firm grip on the match as Saeed Ajmal is also playing for Faisalabad who can make life difficult for Sialkot but Shoaib Malik’s side is capable of chasing this target and Shoaib Malik will be their key man.

The most favourite team of the tournament Lahore Lions were knocked out today in a thrilling match by Misbah-ul-Haq’s team Faisalabad Wolves. Faislabad  have now reached final.

Ehsan Adil recieves the Man of the Match award © PCB

Star studded team of Lahore Lions are out from the Faysal Bank Super-8 T20 tournament. The home side was favourite to win the tournament but they won’t be taking any further part in this event as they are knocked out.

Earliar Faisalabad won the toss in first semi final and decided to bat first, their batting never really got going as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Misbah-ul-Haq who is the leading run scorer of the event also could not make such a big impact with the bat today as he was caught after scoring 19.

Khurram Shahzad was their highest run scorer who scored 27 while Imran Khalid remained not out on 20 to push Faislabad’s score to 125. From Lahore Lions Mohammad Hafeez picked up 3 wickets whereas Adnan Rasool bagged 2.

Lahore Lions went in the second innings as favourite to win the game and they  were on their way to victory as Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed of Lions smashed Wolves bowlers to all parts of the ground. They were 70 for 1 at one stage and victory was assured but from nowhere Faislabad crawled back into the game. Ehsan Adil bowled the crucial last over where only 9 runs were required and the young bowler bowled a spirited last over to give side victory just by 2 runs.

Faislabad snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and now they will face Rawalpindi or Sialkot in the finals, and they will be aiming to lift the trophy. The final will be played on 31st march at Gaddafi Stadium.

Rawalpindi Rams won against Faisalabad wolves in a thrilling match, the match went to super over and it was decided of the  last ball of super over.

Hammad Azam scored 66 of just 35 balls © AFP

The Group B toppers Faisalabad Wolves and Rawalpindi Rams met in Lahore today to stretch their winning streak, Sohail Tanvir of Rawalpindi won the toss and decided to bat first.

Rawalpindi went in with many international players including Sohail Tanvir, Hammad Azam, Awais Zia, Umar Amin and Yasir Arafat. Rawalpindi started their innings in worst possible manner as they lost their top 5 for ust 72 on the board but Hammad Azam from the other end  counter attacked Faisalabad bowlers to help Rawalpindi reach a respectable total of 143 which looked out of their grasp throughout the innings.

Only Hammad Azam could make over 50 runs for Rawalpindi , he made 66 runs. From Faisalabad Samiullah Khan picked up 3 wickets and Ehsan Adil picked up 2. Khurram Shehzad also bowled a tight spell he picked up 1 wicket by giving away only 13 runs in his 4 overs.

Faisalabad had a modest total to chase, and they had the perfect start to openors made 47 runs and gave them the ideal start, but equation changed when they were reduced to 61 for 3 from 47 for 0. Now Misbah again had a rebuilding job at his hands he guided Faisalabad’s chase and scored a crucial  42, but 42 runs were not enough as match was tied of the last ball as Misbah was trying to steal second run to get his team over the line but in process ran himself out.

The match was then decided by the super over , Faisalabad batted first in the super over Misbah and Asad Ali were the selected openors from their side. Faisalabad made 9 runs in their super over.

Rawalpindi then started their super over in best possible way as Hammad Azam smashed the first ball out of the playing field, but the match was not over as Samiullah Khan came back strongly, Rawalpindi then required 1 from the last ball and they took that single of a bye.

Rawalpindi now with this win are leading Group B, Hammad Azam for his fine performance with the bat was awarded Man of the match award.

Faisalabad Wolves captain Misbah-ul-Haq scored an unbeaten 85 runs to lead his side to a comfortable win against Karachi Dolphins in Group B game.

Misbah-ul-Haq scored an unbeaten 85 to guide his side to victory © Associated Press

Faisalabad Wolves won their second consecutive game and this time against Karachi Dolphins who were captained by Mohammad Sami. Earliar Mohammad Sami of Karachi Dolphins won the toss and elected to bat first.

They lost their openor early but Shahzaib Hasan and Khurram Manzoor led the fight back, they scored 51 and 41 respectively. After them little cameos from Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Sami pushed Karachi Dolphin’s score to a modest 157.

From Faisalabad side Khurram Shahazad and Ehsan Adil picked up 3 wickets whereas Asad Ali and Samiullah Khan bagged one each. Faisalabad Wolves started their batting in a awful way and lost their first 2 wickets for just 21 runs.

But from their on Misbah joined Ali Waqas and they both led the chase, Misbah lost his partner at the score of 88, from their on he was joined by Imran Khalid, Misbah-ul-Haq guided Faisalabad’s chase and played a captains innings, he scored 85 not out of just 47 balls with 5 mighty sixes.

In the end Faisalabad Wolves got over the line comfortably. Misbah-ul-Haq was awarded Man of the match award for his captain’s knock. With this win Faisalabad Wolves now jumps towards top position for Group B whereas Karachi Dolphins falls to 3rd place.

Lahore: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced their squad of ODIs and T20s against South Africa. Shahid Afridi to make a comeback in ODIs.

Afridi makes a comeback in ODIs against SA

Former captain Shahid Afridi has made a comeback in Pakistan’s ODI squad after being dropped from Indian tour last year.Squad for the 5 ODIs is: Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Imran Farhat, Abdur Rehman. ODI squad seens to be a balence squad in the presence of Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz who will strengthen Pakistan’s squad.

Squad for 2 T20s is: Mohammad Hafeez (Captain), NasirI Jamshed, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Amin, Zulfiqar Babar, Asad Ali, Junaid Khan. Pakistan will play 5 ODIs and 2 T20s against South Africa.Sohail Tanvir is dropped from T20 squad and Wahab Riaz who has performed well against Afghanistan and in domestic tournament seems to be a good choice as he is a swing bowler who can swing the bowl in both ways and he has also got pace.

At the end of the first day of second test match, Pakistanis are 253-5. Younus Khan and Asad Shafiq scored 219 runs partnership for 5th wicket.

Shafiq and Younus scored centuries on the 1st Day of 2nd Test

South Africa after winning the toss opted to bowl first. The decision to bowl first was justified as Pakistan lost 4 wickets for just 33 runs. But Younus Khan and young talented Asad Shafiq played well and scored centuries. Younus got out on 111 runs late in the day while Asad Shafiq is still at the crease. At the end of the first day Pakistan are 253-5. Pakistanis will be pleased with their effort since they were being criticized for their poor batting. As far as South Africans are concerned, they have to come with a better strategy otherwise Pakistanis are capable of leveling the series

Against the best attack in the world, Younis Khan maintained his reputation of scoring runs when his team was in trouble.Pakistanis were 33-4 and they were in a great trouble. Some people were saying South Africa will start batting after lunch but Younus Khan with the help of Asad Shafiq took the responsibility and scored 219 runs partnership.After 253-5, Pakistan is in comfortable position. If they can score upto 350 runs they can really put pressure on world no. 1 side.

In this match South African squad was unchanged. They decided to go with the winning combination. On the other hand there were two changes in the Pakistan side. Junaid Khan was injured and Rahat Ali who made his debut in the last match was not able to impress team management.  Mohammed Irfan and Tanvir Ahmed are given the chance. Mohammad Irfan who played well in the warm up match can surprise South Africans. This match is still even and both the teams have a chance to win this match.

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