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thursday, 13 September, 2012
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Talented lahoris dazzle the crowd in Sprite cricket
Pakistan aim to maintain Wt20 record DILEEP PREMACHANDRAN HeN it comes to the ICC World Twenty20, no team can match Pakistan’s pedigree. runnerup in the inaugural event in 2007, after Misbah-ul-Haq attempted sweep over short fine-leg went wrong in the final over, it was popular winners in front of passionate support in england in 2009. In the Caribbean a year later, despite indifferent performances in the group and Super eight stages, it came within a whisker of upsetting australia, only for a spectacular Michael Hussey heist to deny it in the final over of the semi-final. Pakistan’s greatest asset heading into the tournament is experience. Of the ten players with most caps in Twenty20 internationals, six are Pakistani. Shahid afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Saeed ajmal and Kamran akmal have all played 40 or more games. afridi leads the way with 50. Misbah, who came so close to snatching victory in that epic 2007 final, is no longer part of the squad, but Mohammad Hafeez, who replaced him as captain, can boast of 34 appearances, at the end of the three-Twenty20 International series against australia in dubai that Pakistan won 2-1. ajmal (60), Gul (59) and afridi (58) are also the only bowlers to take more than 50 wickets in the format. With all-rounders like Hafeez, abdul razzaq and Sohail Tanvir also in the ranks, bowling is clearly Pakistan’s strongest suit. It may lack a tearaway fast bowler – Mohammad Sami is not a certainty for the XI – but ajmal and Gul, in particular, are experts at throttling the scoring rate in the final overs. Nasir Jamshed is a new addition to the top order, and the batting will need to improve on what are likely
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LAHORE Staff RepoRt
after selecting finalists from Karachi, Sprite Cricket Next (SCN) 2012 second phase kicked off in Lahore at the railway Cricket Stadium in Mughalpura. The top 180 qualifiers (30 teams) from all over Lahore competed against each other to win a spot in ‘Josh’ or ‘Hosh’ squad and be directly coached by legendary cricket icons Shoaib akhtar and Moin Khan. during the first round of elimination, 30 teams competed amongst each other until only 15 remained. These 15 teams (90 players) went on ahead to be judged based on their individual performances. The players were asked to move on to the designated game zones where they faced bowling machines and speed guns. 48 out of the 90 players were further shortlisted for the next round in which each of them was assessed individually by Shoaib akhtar and Moin Khan. Out of these 48 players, Shoaib and Moin each drafted a team of 11 of the best players to represent ‘Josh’ and ‘Hosh’. Both teams faced each other in an action packed game of street cricket and based on individual performances during the match, Shoaib and Moin scouted players for their final squads. In addition to these players, there were four wild card entries, talented individuals who were granted an opportunity to play against Shoaib and Moin and impressed thoroughly with their exceptional skills. Speaking on the occasion, Shoaib akhtar shared, “I am thrilled to be amongst so many Josheelas today. The crowd and the participants both have great passion for the game and it is heartening to see them show up in such huge numbers. The raw talent and passion displayed by the youth remind me of myself and how I started my career. Through this platform provided by Sprite, I plan to scout and coach Josheela bowlers like myself. It is evident to all that cricketers with JOSH have a clear street cricket advantage.” Moin Khan, while sharing his views on the occasion stated, “after everything that Cricket has given me, I have always wanted to give back to the sport. Through Sprite’s platform, I will scout, train and coach talented individuals, who will be assets for our nation and the sport itself.”
to be slow and low pitches. Much depends on Hafeez and the hit-and-miss talent of Imran Nazir first up, with the akmal brothers, Kamran and Umar, to provide the midinnings firepower. razzaq, who first caught the eye at the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999, is also capable of explosive cameos, but it’s the batsmen who have often let Pakistan down in recent times. Since the ICC World Twenty20 2010, it has won ten and lost the same number. That included a six-match losing streak in 2010. Progress out of the group stage in Sri Lanka will not be a formality. Pakistan has won all five T20Is against Bangladesh, but New Zealand has had the edge in recent
times despite Pakistan leading 5-3 in the overall headto-head statistics. On subcontinent pitches, the multitude of spin options and the ability of the pace bowlers to summon up variations, Pakistan will be one of the favourites. But for it to emulate the 2009 campaign, it will need afridi to rediscover his best form. He was magnificent in both the semi-final and final of that tournament, combining sensible big hitting with the canniest slow bowling. If he can somehow stop the clock and replicate those feats, Pakistan will be there or thereabouts, as it has been at every ICC World Twenty20 till now.
windies wary of world T20 favourites tag COLOMBO afp
KaTunayaKe: bangladesh cricketers arrive for the Twenty20 world cup at bandaranaike international airport in Katunayake. afP
India win inaugural T20 World Cup stats corner S.PERVEz QAISER
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he inaugural Twenty-20 World Cup was staged in South africa from September 11 th 24 2007. Twelve teams took part in the thirteen-day tournament, comprising the 10 Test playing nations as well as the finalists of the 2007 World Cricket League division One tournament - Kenya and Scotland. The 12 participant teams were divided into four groups of three teams each. The groups were determined based on the rankings of the teams in Twenty-20 as of March 1, 2007. The top two teams from each group went through to the second stage of the tournament, Super eights. The eight teams qualified for the Super eights were divided into two groups of four teams each. The two top teams from each Super eight group qualified for the semi-finals. In semi finals, Pakistan defeated New
Zealand by six wickets while India beat australia by 15 runs. India defeated Pakistan by five runs in the final to win the inaugural Twenty-20 World Cup at Johannesburg on September 24,2007. India won the toss and chose to bat on what was considered to be a traditionally batsman-friendly pitch. Umar Gul took the wickets of both Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh dhoni, leaving India with 157-5 in 20 overs; only Gautam Gambhir (75
from 54 balls) produced a notable innings. a 21-run over from Sreesanth swung the game towards Pakistan. However, Irfan Pathan and Joginder Sharma slowed the scoring dramatically. With Pakistan needing 54 from 24 balls, Misbah-ul-Haq hit three sixes off Harbhajan Singh in one over. Sreesanth was also dispatched for two sixes but took the wicket of Sohail Tanvir, as Pakistan went into the last over needing 13 runs to win, with only 1 wicket remain-
plaYing RecoRD of eacH teaM: teaM india Pakistan new zealand australia South africa Sri lanka england bangladesh zimbabwe Scotland Kenya west indies
plaYeD 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 5 2 2 2 2
Won 4 5 3 3 4 3 1 1 1 -
loSt 1 1 3 3 1 2 4 4 1 1 2 2
tieD 1 1 -
n/R 1 1 -
SUcceSS% 78.57 85.71 50.00 50.00 80.00 60.00 20.00 20.00 50.00 25.00 00.00 00.00
ing. Joginder Sharma bowled a wide first ball, followed by a dot ball. Misbah-ul-Haq followed by taking six off a full-toss; Pakistan needed just 6 runs to win from the last four balls. Misbah-ul-Haq attempted to hit the next ball with a paddle-scoop over fine leg, but he only managed to sky the ball, and it was caught at short fine-leg by Sreesanth, leaving Pakistan all out for 152 runs in 10.3 overs . Irfan Pathan was awarded the Man of the Match for his spell of three wickets for 16 runs, including that of Man of the Series, Shahid afridi. as many as 7881 runs were scored for the loss of 348 wickets at an average of 22.64 off 986.1 overs in 26 matches. The match between India and Scotland was abandoned with out a ball being bowled. India and Pakistan are the only two teams who crossed 1000-run mark. Pakistan scored 1106 runs for the loss of 46 wickets off 136.3 overs in seven matches while India made 1037 runs for the loss of 37 wickets in six matches.
It is not often in recent years that the West Indies have been billed as favourites to win a major cricket title, but skipper darren Sammy is cautious of the tag ahead of the World Twenty20. "The favourite tag line does not guarantee us a place in the final," Sammy said ahead of the fourth edition of the tournament, which starts in Sri Lanka next Tuesday. "You have to go out there and play good cricket. We may have the best side on paper, but we have to pull all the resources together and win." The West Indies have struggled to match their overwhelming success of the 1970s and 1980s when their fast bowlers and aggressive batsmen dominated world cricket. With young men in the Caribbean turning to american sports like basketball and baseball, it's been hard to find replacements for the likes of andy roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Clive Lloyd and Vivian richards. But Sammy's men go into the World Twenty20 as the team to beat, looking for their first major title since 2004 when they won the Champions Trophy in england. The presence of explosive batsmen suited to the slam-bang T20 format like Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, combined with the guile of prolific spinner Sunil Narine, delighted the skipper. "We have the best spinner right now in T20 cricket in our side and he's been doing really well for us," Sammy told reporters in Colombo on Tuesday night. "The pitches in Sri Lanka will help him and I see him playing a very big role. "Chris brings a lot of experience in batting, and we have Pollard, darren Bravo and others who have done so well in the IPL (Indian Premier League). "everyone is aware that this is a wonderful opportunity for us to put a huge smile on our fans' faces. everyone is keen to do well."