World Of Cricket

Pakistan announced their 30 man probables for upcoming Champions trophy, Pakistan drop its veteran batsman Younis Khan from the side, left arm spinner Raza Hasan was also not selected.

Younis Khan had an ordinary ODI series against South Africa © AFP

Younis Khan one of Pakistan’s most senior player was left out from 30 man probables for Champions trophy, Younis Khan had an ordinary ODI series against South Africa, he struggled in that series with the bat, he scored 116 runs in 5 match series at an average of 23.20.

Raza Hasan and Abdul Razzaq were also not selected, Raza Hasan who is a promising left arm spinner  impressed one and all in World T20 played in Srilanka last year. After that tour injury didn’t allow him to participate in India and South Africa tour, Abdul Razzaq is another veteran who was overlooked.

The 30 man probables are,

Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Ahmed Shehzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umer Amin, Sohail Tanvir, Hammad Azam, Azhar Ali, Shahid Afridi, Asad Ali, Anwar Ali, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil, Imran Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Zulfiqar Babar, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan

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.

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.

This day reminds us of the famous semi-final between South Africa and England. South Africa required 22 to win from 13 balls against England in 1992 world-cup semi-final to reach the final but it all changed after the rain interrupted the match.

South Africa had a impossible task to achieve after the rain interrupted the game © Patrick Eagar

The match that can never be forgotten as South Africa were left helpless after rain interrupted the game. South Africa and England were battling to mark their place in world-cup final. South Africa were playing their inaugural world cup and it turned out to be a forgettable day for them.

England batted first in a rain hit match and scored 252 in 45 overs. South Africa while chasing the target kept losing wickets at regular intervals but they remained in the hunt. The game was all set for exciting finish as South Africa needed 22 to win of 13 balls but  the real drama started when rain interrupted the game.

Play did resume after the rain but it was only a formality by that time as the equation went totally against South Africa, after the rain South Africa required 22 to win of 1 ball, which was a impossible task.

England went on to play their 3rd world cup final but they lost yet another final, Pakistan won the world-cup, it was also the first world-cup with coloured kits.

Durban: There was no cricket in the first T20 international between Pakistan and South Africa as rain had the final say.

The T20I between South Africa and Pakistan was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain © Getty Images

Rain didn’t allow Pakistan and South Africa to play cricket as the 1st T20I match was called off due to heavy rain. The weather forecast before the match was not so good but the fans were hoping against hope that there will be some cricket.

It was raining since morning at Durban. The rain did stop for sometime in the afternoon but there were still 85% chances that the rain will interrupt the match. The match between South Africa and Pakistan was called off even before the cut off time because the groundsmen required 2 hours to get the ground ready for cricket because the outfield was so wet.

The next and the last T20I match between South Africa and Pakistan will be played on 3rd March in Centurion.