World Of Cricket

Left arm pacer Sohail Tanvir joins Pakistan One day squad in South Africa as a cover for Mohammad Irfan and Umar Gul.

Sohail Tanvir joins Pakistan squad as cover for Gul and Irfan © Associated Press

Pakistani touring team were in meeting with left arm pacer Sohail Tanvir who was already in South Africa playing for Highveld Lions. He was with the team in sunday’s match and he will be with them in the remaining ODIs.

Sohail Tanvir was not picked initially in the ODI squad, he was not part of the team in India as well he was only selected for t20s there, now he is awaiting for a recall in Pakistani side.

Sohail Tanvir was picked up due to poor form shown by Umar Gul in this tour and also because Mohammad Irfan was struggling with his fitness, Mohammad Irfan could not complete the quota of his 10 overs in the last game and went off the field for treatment.

On the other hand Umar Gul had a poor tour thus far, he is Pakistan’s most experience bowler and he has performed only once in this tour, Umar Gul also did not play the last game.

The next game will be played on 21st March at Durban.

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.

Kandy: Pakistan has started series with flying colours as they defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets (D/L method) in a match which was interrupted by rain several times.

Pakistan's Umar Gul (2nd L) celebrates with teammates taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene during their first One Day International (ODI) in Pallekele June 7, 2012 © Reuters

Captain of Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and decided to bat first. It was a surprise decision as it was raining continuously for some days and the conditions were damp too.

Pakistani fast bowlers Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir ripped-off the Sri Lankan top order and froze the flow of runs. Dilshan (5) got out by playing a stupid shot. Jayawardene was given a lucky break by umpires who gave a poor decision without seeing all camera replays, he was caught out on Tanvir’s delivery but question was whether his foot landed behind the line or on the line, umpires saw the 1st replay camera angle which wasn’t clear and showed that Tanvir’s foot was over the mark and gave signal of no-ball. But later television replays from different camera angles showed that the foot of Tanvir was landed just before the line/mark and Mahela must had been given out.

Gul in the next overs took the revenge and beat Jayawardene (3) with pace and swing. The ball came back sharply and umpire didn’t hesitate in raising his finger for giving lbw. The pressure which Pakistan had built on Sri Lanka’s batting resulted into another wicket when Chandimal (0) played one back onto stumps, Umar Gul was the bowler once again.

The misery continued for Sri Lanka as their another top class batsmen Kumar Sangakkara after scoring 9 runs off 31 balls got out to the yorker of fast and furious Mohammad Sami.

Fall of Mathews wicket added salt to the wounds of Lankan Loins. Thrimanne tried to become a wall in front of Pakistani bowling line-up but Thanaga left him after getting out at the ball of M. Sami.

Perera tried to become the bridge between the score and Sri Lanka by supporting Thrimanne. Couple of interruptions confused Pakistani captain Misbah-ul-Haq as he tried to use his spinners against them but didn’t get things very fine. Part time spinner Mohammad Hafeez who is now at no.4 in ICC ODI bowlers got rid of Perera (17) with an arm-ball.

Kulasekara extended the stay of Sri Lanka by adding 18 vital runs but he was caught out by Tanvir at the ball of M. Sami. Lahiru Thrimanne remained not-out at 42 with Herath; who faced only 1 ball but didn’t score.

8 overs were deducted because of the interruptions caused by rain. Sri Lanka ended up with the score of 135/8 in 42.0 overs. Pakistan who started with flying colours scrapped their performance by giving 31 extras (lb 7, w 23, nb 1) and dropping 4 catches. Sri Lankan top order once again misfired and put the weight on middle and lower order.

Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami took 3, 3 wickets whereas Mohammad Hafeez took 2 wickets. Bowling figures of Pakistani bowlers were pretty economical.

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Pakistan started the chase with Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali. Both openers adopted cautious approach as ball was wobbling. This approach cost Pakistan when Azhar Ali gave his wicket to an ordinary delivery of Malinga, it was going away and Ali tried to slice it but the scenario ended with a catch in the gloves of wicket-keeper Sangakkara.

Stay of Younis Khan was not small, he stayed at the wicket for 23 min. , faced 16 balls but scored only 5 runs. He fell to a beautiful delivery of Nuwan Kulasekara. The score of Pakistan was 27/2 in 7.1 overs.

Once again captain Misbah-ul-Haq came in to rescue Pakistan from this situation. He build partnership with Mohammad Hafeez and also gave him confidence in raising his arms. He kept blocking the deliveries but on couple of occasions struck handsome boundaries.

Mohammad Hafeez after settling on the crease played some fine shots but unfortunately got stumped. His foot was on the line and 3rd umpire gave him out at the ball of Herath. Before getting out he scored 37 runs off 57 balls in his stay of 95 minutes and struck 5 FOURS & 1 SIX.

Young Umar Akmal came in to finish the things, he took the bowlers on and slashed them hard. It was an eye-catching moment to see two generations on crease, at one end there was 37-year old Misbah-ul-Haq and on other end there was 22-year old Umar Akmal. Both supported each other and played their game in favour of Pakistan.

Just when Pakistan was at the brink of victory, Misbah-ul-Haq got run-out. He faced 79 balls, stayed at the crease for 119 minutes, struck 4 FOURS to score 30 runs. His innings gave Pakistan a stability which was the team was looking for in uncertain situation.

His departure brought BOOM BOOM Afridi on the crease who clinched the victory for Pakistan by taking 2 runs. Umar Akmal also remained not-out at 36 runs including 6 FOURS which he scored off 48 balls.

Pakistan chased the target of 135 in 34.1 overs and sacrificed 4 wickets. Sri Lankan bowlers gave 22 extras (b 2, lb 13, w 6, nb 1). Malinga, Kulasekara and Herath bagged 1 wicket each.

Umpiring standards were down to earth as umpires gave several wrong decisions. The 2nd ODI will be played here again at Pallekele on June 09, 2012.

Result: Pakistan won by 6 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Umar Gul (Pakistan).

Karacho — Pakistan on Monday added Sohail Tanvir to the one-day squad against Sri Lanka after the left-arm paceman excelled in the Twenty20 series draw.

Sohail Tanvir was named 'man of the series' in the latest concluded T20I series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

The 27-year-old fast bowler failed to make the original one-day squad but was included at the request of team managers. Tanvir replaced opener Nasir Jamshed who suffered a finger injury before the tour began.

Tanvir was declared man of the two-match Twenty20 series which Pakistan levelled on Sunday with a thumping 23-run win in Hambantota. Sri Lanka won the first match, also in Hambantota, on Friday by 37 runs.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim confirmed Tanvir’s inclusion.

“In view of the request from the team management and keeping in consideration the current form of Tanvir, the selection committee has decided that he may be retained for the one-day series in Sri Lanka,” Qasim said in a Pakistan Cricket Board statement.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka play the first of five one-day matches at Pallekele on Thursday. The one-days will be followed by three Tests.

Tanvir has so far taken 55 wickets in 43 one-day games.

Bangladesh v Pakistan

Dhaka: Pakistan is going to start their series against Bangladesh on November 29, 2011 with a T20I.

What a better way for Pakistan to start with a T20 match where in the format Pakistan just beat Sri Lanka on November 25, 2011. Where Aizaz Cheema’s 4 wicket rattled Sri Lnaka. Bangladesh is also coming from a T20 win over West Indies (last month) where their captain Mushfiqur Rahim scored 41 runs of 26 balls & helped his team win the match.

Head to head Pakistan and Bangladesh have clashed 4 times in T20 matches 3 times during ICC World Twenty 20 cup and once in Karachi – Pakistan. Pakistan have won the all 4 matches against them.

Interim Pakistan coach Mohsin Khan has warned his team against taking Bangladesh lightly in the upcoming tour. “I think it will be a very good series in Bangladesh. They always try hard and the upcoming series will be no different. The pressure will be on Pakistan as we will undoubtedly start as favourites and will be expected to win in Bangladesh.”

Misbah Ul Haq the captain of Pakistan team has said “I hope my team shows more improvement and consistency on the tour of Bangladesh which like any other tour is not easy,”

Pakistan T20I squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Sohail Tanvir, Asad Shafiq Reserves: Awais Zia, Raza Hasan and Yasir Shah.

Bangladesh T20 Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt /wk), Mahmudullah, Abdur Razzak, Alok Kapali, Elias Sunny, Farhad Reaza, Imrul Kayes, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

Abu Dhabi: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the last match of the tour by 5 wickets at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Aizaz Cheema was awarded with the ‘Man Of The Match’ award for taking 4 wickets.

Pakistan Cricket Team posing with trophy after winning the only T20I against Sri Lanka © AFP

A full house with a few thousand fans stranded outside the Zayed Cricket Stadium, some with and most without tickets, witnessed some entertaining cricket but once again Pakistan turned in a superior display to complete a Test, ODI and T20 triumph over Sri Lanka.

The Zayed International Cricket Stadium wore a festive look as the set of cheer girls received a huge roar of approval from the fans. And seated in the Grandstand were a large number of VIPs which included former Pakistan President Pervez Musharaf and current Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Salman Basheer, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat among others. Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board also attended the match.

Misbah’s 38-ball innings helped his side chase down the 142 runs set for victory, after Aizaz Cheema (4-30) and Umar Gul (2-16) helped bowl Sri Lanka out for 141 in 19.3 overs on Friday.

Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga got the Lankans off to a smart start reeling off 30 runs within the first three overs but Cheema struck to remove Tharanga for 12. While Dilshan slammed four boundaries in his 15-ball 28 it was Dinesh Chandimal who scored the only half century of the game. Chandimal’s 44-ball knock of 56 came to an end in the 19th over in which Cheema picked up three wickets.

Aizaz Cheema bagged 4 wickets, Umar Gul took 2 wickets and Saeed Ajmal/Mohammad Hafeez shared 1 wicket each. Pakistani bowlers gave 16 extras (lb 3, w 13).

In reply, Mohammad Hafeez (13) and Imran Farhat (19) steered Pakistan to 31-0 from their first four overs before their dismissals, coupled with Umar Akmal’s wicket, left the Pakistan chase staggering at 3-44.

Misbah and Asad Shafiq steadied the ship before the latter was bowled by Lasith Malinga for a run-a-ball 33.

Shahid Afridi (22 off 15 ; 2 SIXES) then combined with Misbah for a 43-run stand before being dismissed by Dilhara Fernando, which left Pakistan needing another nine runs for victory off the final over.

The first ball of the last over went for six runs when Misbah-ul-Haq punched it down to the off-side for two but Sri Lankan fielder Mathews threw the ball at the wicket-keeper’s end to run-out Pakistani skipper dramatically he missed the stumps, Sangakkara over-ran the ball and failed to gather it, there was no back-up so it raced to fine leg boundary.

Misbah-ul-Haq at the next ball took single and gave it to Shoaib Malik to finish things off. The next one was a good yorker by Malinga but Malik squirted it out and got a thick outside edge down to third man. Malinga appealed loudly for lbw but he was disappointed by the umpire’s call of giving the batsman not-out. Both batsmen ran three to saw Pakistan home (two runs were required but they ran three just for comfort).

Pakistani skipper once again proved that how fit he is for this format (T20), he remained unbeaten on 48 off 38 balls with three FOURS and a SIX. Pakistan chased the target successfully by scoring 142/5 in 19.3 overs. Malinga, Perera, Fernando, Dilshan & Mendis took 1 wicket each. Sri Lankan bowlers gave only 5 extras (5 w).

Patriotic & optimistic Men in Green posed in front of cameras with their 3rd trophy of the tour. Friday’s game was the only T20 match between the two sides, after Pakistan won their three-Test series 1-0 and their best-of five one-day international series 4-1.

Pakistan will now fly directly to Bangladesh from UAE, it’ll start its tour with the only T20I match scheduled on November 29, 2011 at Shere Bangla National Stadium. Whereas Sri Lanka will travel back to home and will start preparing for the tour of South Africa, both teams will face each other in 1st test which will start from December 15, 2011.

Result: Pakistan won by 5 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Aizaz Cheema (Pakistan).

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Comments by both captains & by man of the match:

Tillakaratne Dilshan (Captain of Sri Lanka): ”We were short by 20 runs today. We are not finishing well and we’re repeating this mistake again and again. Bowlers did a great job.”

Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain of Pakistan): ”It’s all to do with the teamwork, including the management. We were under pressure when we started bowling and the spinners did really well. We thought they were going to score 200. We (me and Afridi) discussed that if we both stayed till the end we would pull it off. I’d like to thank the crowd, it looks like we’re playing back at home.”

Aizaz Cheema (Man Of The Match): ”I thank my coach, captain and family. In the first over I wanted to bowl line and length and thankfully I got wickets. It was a very good effort on our part to keep them under 150.”