World Of Cricket

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

 

 

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.

Lahore: Afghanistan tour to Pakistan will start from 6th February till 13th February 2013. Boom Boom will be leading Pakistan-A.

 

 

Good news for Pakistani fans is that Afghanistan cricket team is going to visit Pakistan where they will play 3 One-dayers against Regional Teams and 2 One-dayers and a T-20 against Pakistan-A. Shahid Afridi will lead Pakistan-A Team in One Day & T-20 against Afghanistan Tour of Pakistan. Afghanistan cricket team has improved a lot and they have a good chance to show the world that they are underrated. We have seen some good shows from them and lets see now what they come up with.

 

This is yet another effort by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the revival of international cricket in Pakistan. Afghanistan team to play against Pakistan A team, combine regions Bahawalpur / Multan and Karachi / Hyderabad in Niaz stadium Hyderabad, Multan and Gaddafi stadium Lahore. Important feature of this event is that cricket lovers will see cricket in Niaz Stadium Hyderabad and Multan regions after a very long period of time.

 

Pakistan-A squad includes players such as Shahid Afridi (C), Kamran Akmal (W), Umer Akmal, Umer Amin, Fawad Alam, Ahmed Shehzad, Wahab Riaz whilst from Afghanistan Muhammad Shehzad (C), Nauroz Mengal, Shapoor Zadran, Sami Ullah Shenwari, Aftab Alam, Noor Ali Zadran and many more.

 

This will be an exciting series where players of both sides will learn a lot. Pakistani players such as Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz have a chance to regain their form and they can prove themselves to gain place for ODIs and T20Is against South Africa.

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.

 

 

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).

Dhaka: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. Incredible performance by the captain Misbah-ul-Haq and his bowling unit.

 

 

Mahela Jayawardene (12) – skipper of Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. He and ex-captain Dilshan (20) started good and struck couple of boundaries to Aizaz Cheema who came back seriously and blew the Sri Lankan top order by sending their both openers back in the pavilion.

 

Chandimal (0) was undone by Umar Gul courtesy to a smart catch by Younis Khan in the slip. Thirimanne (7) was the next one who lost ground but this time the bowler was Hammad Azam.

 

The score of Sri Lanka was 65/4 in 14.3 overs. After this collapse, Sangakkara and old opener Tharanga stuck together at the crease to add some runs to the Sri Lankan innings.

 

Both silenced the cannons of Pakistan for some time and made a partnership of 96 runs. Saeed Ajmal was introduced by the Pakistani captain in the 3rd powerplay to break this partnership and he did exactly the same thing, he bowled Tharanga (57) through his gates.

 

He then erased Maharoof (2) who went for a wild hit but completely missed it. Nuwan Kulasekara (4) was picked up by the keeper at the good bouncer of Umar Gul.

 

Kumar Sangakkara (71) who was losing his partners tried to take on Pakistani bowlers all alone, cost him an inside edge on Cheema’s delivery which uprooted his middle stump.

 

Lasith Malinga (1) was the 4th victim of Aizaz Cheema. Suranga Lakmal went for a wild hit on the ball of the magician – Ajmal but was caught by long-off fielder Nasir Jamshed.

 

Sri Lanka was bowled out in 45.4 overs at the score of 188. Aizaz Cheema took 4 wickets for 43 in 9.0 overs, Saeed Ajmal took 3 wickets for 27 in 8.4 overs, Umar Gul took 2 wickets for 20 in 8.0 overs and Hammad Azam took 1 wicket for 21 in 4.0 overs.

 

Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed as usual started cautiously and this behavior cost Pakistan 3 wickets, it started with Jamshed (18) who threw his bat to a short-ball bowled by Lakmal, then Mohammad Hafeez (11) who played a ridiculous shot on the bowling of Prasanna and in the end Younis Khan (2) who punched a ball to mid-on where Maharoof took a good catch.

 

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Once again Pakistani top order failed to score and the burden fell on the middle-order specially on captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

 

He managed to keep his aggressive partner Umar Akmal cool and keep the scoreboard ticking, both took their time but in the end came out with some best shots.

 

Sri Lankan captain Mahela used his all available resources against these two brilliant batsmen but nothing went in his way. His key bowler Malinga who was rested in the 1st match against India because of injury wasn’t in form today, he was hit for 4 FOURS by Umar Akmal in 1 over.

 

There were some mighty SIXES struck by this couple. Both added 152 runs for the fourth wicket partnership. Junior Akmal who was playing at 77; in greed of finishing the match in style, he hit one high up in the air which in the end was caught out by Tharanga who earlier dropped him at 46.

 

Hammad Azam came in next, 4 runs were required off 6 balls to win the game with bonus point, he blocked first 4 balls but then took aerial rout to hit the 5th ball over mid-off for FOUR. Misbah-ul-Haq ran towards him, hugged him and was looking very delighted because of a bright smile on his face. He knew that Pakistan is now very close to the final.

 

It took 39.5 overs for Pakistan (189/4) to win the game. Misbah-ul-Haq remained not-out at 71 with Hammad Azam at 4. It is a highest score for Misbah-ul-Haq as a captain of Pakistan Cricket Team.

 

Suranga Lakmal was impressive, he took 2 wickets for 37 runs in 8.0 overs, Prasanna took 1 wicket for 49 in 7.5 overs and Maharoof took 1 for 23 in 7.0 overs.

 

Pakistan will now face India on March 18 and Sri Lanka will face Bangladesh on March 20.

 

Result: Pakistan won by 6 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Aizaz Cheema (Pakistan).

Dubai: England defeated Pakistan by 9 wickets to lead the 4-match series by 3-0. Kevin Pietersen who wasn’t in good form clicked & scored unbeaten 111 runs.

 

 

For the first time in the series, Pakistani captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss & decided to bat first. The same story repeated itself, openers didn’t get a good start, Imran Farhat (9) was the first-one to go in same fashion, the ball was moving away and Imran tried to play away from his body, got an outside edge & keeper behind the stumps did the rest.

 

Azhar Ali (5) who played a key role in Pakistan’s success during test series & also played good in the last match here threw his wicket to Braod, he was also caught behind.

 

Mohammad Hafeez (29) after getting a good start once again got lbw out at the ball of Finn, he tried to play the in-dipper across the line & paid the price.

 

In the next over, Pakistan lost its captain Misbah-ul-Haq (1), it was a length ball by Broad, moving slightly away from the off-stump, skipper tried to push it & produced a thick edge which went straight into the hands of Swann who was standing at 1st slip.

 

The score of Pakistan was 50/4 in 10.4 overs. Asad Shafiq who was in place of ill Younis Khan tried to make a partnership with Umar Akmal. England’s captain then brought his spinners & spread the field a bit, commentators criticized Cook for allowing free singles to batsmen.

 

In this short period when spinners were operating both batsmen looked calm & good enough to negotiate the England bowlers.

 

Pakistan received a shock when Asad Shafiq (18) got run-out in 22nd over after making a partnership of 47 runs, it was tough one for the 3rd umpire Dharmasena because the toe-end of the bat was in the air when he dived in the crease & bails were taken off but the mid part of the bat was grounded & was well enough to convince the tv umpire. But he made his decision against Asad & hence Pakistan lost its 5th wicket at 97.

 

BOOM BOOM Afridi was the next batsman, a sensible & mature innings was required from him. A couple of overs later, Kieswetter dropped Umar Akmal (who was playing at 28) at the ball of Broad.

 

After this incident, both batsmen played gently, the patience of Afridi was quite impressive, after taking singles & doubles in couple of overs, he first inaugurated Bopara with a FOUR & then jugged Swann for SIX at the 1st ball of 30th over.

 

In the last & 3rd powerplay, Pakistan continued to score runs but in a decent way, both batsmen put teams responsibility ahead of their personal achievements & desires. Umar Akmal reached his 50 (off 88 balls & 1 FOUR) in 39th over, probably the slowest fifty of his career.

 

In the next over, Shahid Afridi also reached to his 50 landmark, he took 52 balls to reach there. Just when both batsman were looking good, Broad bought a breakthrough for England, Umar Akmal (50) tried to clip the full length delivery to midwicket area but credit goes to Samit Patel who once again took a stunning catch, it was a one-handed take. Patel was the one who took fabulous catch in 2nd ODI to remove junior Akmal.

 

Adnan Akmal came in as the last recognized batsman for Pakistan but he lost his partner Afridi straightaway in the next over, once again Anderson took his prey with a length-ball, Afridi tried to hit it towards on-side, got an inside edge which clipped his pads before hitting the stumps. A good innings by Afridi (51 off 55, 3 FOURS & 1 SIX) came to an end.

 

The score of Pakistan was 180/7 in 41.0 overs. At the fourth ball of the 43rd over, Umar Gul danced down the pitch & clubbed Swann over deep mid-wicket area, the ball went into the stands for SIX.

 

Gul in the 47th over once again hit a fabulous SIX but this time to Patel & it went straight over the bowler’s head. In the next over, Finn came back to clean Adnan (9) who tried to play it on the off-side.

 

Ajmal (4) also lost his stumps in an effort to hit the ball hard. It was an inswinger from Anderson, Ajmal missed it, the ball kissed his pad before hitting the stumps. At the last ball of the over, Umar Gul got an outside edge which went wide of Kieswetter & raced away for FOUR.

 

In the last over of the innings, both batsmen took 8 valuable runs but at the last ball, Cheema (5) got run-out as he was looking for 2nd run but Gul sent him back, he was stuck in the middle of the crease & keeper took the bails off. Umar Gul remained not-out at the score of 27 (27 balls, 1 FOUR, 2 SIX).

 

Pakistan some how managed to score 222/10 in 50.0 overs. It was a below par score but was good one for Pakistan as they were in trouble early on after loosing 4 wickets for 50 in 11 overs.

 

Finn once again lead the attack & took 3 wickets for 24 in 10 overs, Broad was the other one who took 3 wickets but he gave 42 runs in 10 overs. Anderson was a bit expensive as he gave 52 runs in 10 overs & took 2 wickets.

 

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For chasing the targets, England’s captain – Alastair Cook who is at his best started innings with Kevin Pietersen. Pakistan who was looking for early breakthroughs was jolted when Umar Gul bowled 3 no-balls, 1 wide & gave 15 runs in that over. Mighty England was more then happy as their score was 40/0 after first 5 overs.

 

Saeed Ajmal was introduced by Misbah-ul-Haq in the next over. From there own, spinners were in the control but at occasions Pietersen danced down the pitch to score some quick runs. Afridi was hit for a SIX in 15th over by KP.

 

England enjoyed some fortune as Pietersen was dropped by Azhar Ali at 45. It was all looking so easy to bat, Kevin didn’t stop hitting the ball hard, he once again came down the crease & hit M. Hafeez straight for a SIX, this took him over 4,000 runs in ODI’s.

 

Umar Gul was brought back into the attack but his comeback over went for 13 overs. Saeed Ajmal finally managed to get the breakthrough, the wicket-ball turned a bit and took a faint edge of Cook’s bat which went straight into the gloves of Adnan Akmal, Cook (80 runs, 98 balls faced, 9 FOURS & 1 SIX) stayed 20 runs short of his 3rd consecutive hundred.

 

Score of England was 170/1 in 29 overs. Eoin Morgan was sent out to complete the job, he struck Ajmal with a beautiful SIX over long-on.

 

In the next over, Gul was punished again by Pietersen, he hit 2 FOURS in it. Newbie (Morgan) was dropped by wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal at the ball of Saeed Ajmal in 33rd over.

 

England took 3rd powerplay in the next over to wrap-up the game. Cheema & Afridi were operating from both ends & Pietersen reached his ODI hundred after 3 years. He & Morgan then finished the game to seal the series for England.

 

KP & Morgan remained not-out at 111 (98 balls faced, 10 FOURS & 2 SIXES) & 24 (32 balls faced, 2 FOURS & 1 SIX) respectively. England scored 226/1 in 37.2 overs to win the match.

 

It was dreadful performance by Pakistani bowlers (gave 11 extras : ‘lb 3, w 4, nb 4′) after their batsmen, specially Umar Gul (who is the leader of the attack) went for 59 runs in 7 overs, Cheema went for 40 in 6.2 overs, M. Hafeez went for 32 in 6.0 overs & Shahid Afridi went for 52 in 8.0 overs. The best among all was Saeed Ajmal who took 1 wicket & gave 40 runs in 10 overs.

 

England are now 3-0 up in the series, they’ve nothing to lose. Pakistan will have to answer many question, they are losing ground in every department, Pakistan will try its best to win the last game to escape whitewash which they delivered to England in Test series.

 

Stats & Trivia:

– James Anderson is now leading the list of most wicket-takers in ODI’s for England against Pakistan with 29 victims.

– The opening stand between Alastair Cook & Kevin Pietersen worth 170 has become the highest one for England against Pakistan in ODI’s, it beat a 16-year record.

– England secured first series victory in Asian conditions since 2007 (in Sri Lanka), it is only England’s 3rd since 1987.

– Kevin Pietersen scored his 8th ODI hundred; a hundred after 3 years, 2 months & 22 days.

– Kevin Pietersen crossed 4,000 runs in his ODI career.

– Shahid Afridi scored his 33rd ODI fifty & Umar Akmal scored his 13th ODI fifty.

 

HQ Photo Gallery: Click here to enjoy the action in snaps.

 

Result: England won by 9 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Kevin Pietersen (England).

Lahore: Pakistan Cricket Board announced test squad for the series against England which will start next month in UAE. Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan and Umar Akmal have received a call whereas Shoaib Malik has been dropped.

 

 

The ex-captain Malik failed to gain his place in the squad because of his continuous poor form. He was the part of the team since the tour of Zimbabwe.

 

Wahab Riaz who was on the ‘resting’ list since the tour of Zimbabwe will make his comeback with Junaid Khan and Umar Akmal. The performance of Wahab Riaz in domestic tournament (Quaid-e-Azam trophy – Division I) was star-studded as he took 30 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 24.86.

 

Junior Akmal was omitted out of the 5-day squad because of his miserable performance. He worked hard to find his place back, he was impressive in the domestic tournament (Quaid-e-Azam trophy – Division II) and in the ODI series against Bangladesh.

 

Left-arm pacer Junaid Khan who picked-up an injury during the ODI series against Sri Lanka also inducted in the squad with the condition of fitness.

 

Misbah-ul-Haq who hasn’t lost any test series since becoming captain will continue to lead the team in the desert against World no.1 test team.

 

Mohammad Ilyas who is performing the duties as an interim chief-selector said: “There are some players who are dropped and some are recalled but nobody is out of the picture and can be selected only if they perform. Malik may be dropped but he isn’t out of the picture. The series against England is very important and that is why we’ve decided to show our confidence in Umar and Riaz.”

 

The ODI and Twenty20 squad, according to Ilyas, will be announced after the completion of the second Test that takes place from January 25.

 

The selection committee has also announced a 12-man squad to take on England in a three-day tour match. Wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed will be performing the duties of a captain.

 

PCB XI: Nasir Jamshed, Afaq Rahim, Harris Sohail, Mohammad Ayub Dogar, Fawad Alam, Usman Salahuddin, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt and wk), Raza Hassan, Mohammad Khalil, Mohammad Talha, Ali Imran Pasha, Yasir Shah.

 

Pakistan Test Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman.