Sports Bulletin

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (November 10, 2021):-The match official appointments for the semi-final stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 have been announced. The first semi-final between England and New Zealand will take place at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, 10 November, while the second semi-final between Pakistan and Australia will be played on Thursday, 11 November at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. The match official appointments are as follows: 10 November – England v New Zealand (18h00), Zayed Cricket Stadium – Marais Erasmus and Kumar Dharmasena (on-field), Nitin Menon (third umpire), Paul Reiffel (fourth umpire), David Boon (match referee). 11 November – Pakistan v Australia (18h00), Dubai International Stadium – Richard Kettleborough and Chris Gaffaney (on-field), Joel Wilson (third umpire), Richard Illingworth (fourth umpire), Jeff Crowe (match referee). Appointments for the 14 November final at Dubai International Stadium will be advised once the outcome of both semi-finals are known.

SPECIAL REPORT England’s final group match against South Africa was a tough one but while they will be disappointed to come out on the wrong side of it, I think it’s good they’ve had a tight game before the semi-final stage of the tournament. You need to have a game where you’re pushed to your limits and they were against the Proteas. Everyone got an opportunity in the batting line-up, as well, which is important – you want to be going into the knockout stages with a lot of the squad having had time in the middle. Of course, the main worry for England is Jason Roy’s injury. He’s a massive player for England, he brings so much firepower to the top of the order and he’s a hard man to replace. With Tymal Mills also missing the rest of the tournament through injury, England have been hit a couple of times in a week, which is always tough – especially in two such big positions, opening batter and death bowler. Those roles are tricky to replace but we have spoken a lot in recent years about England’s enormous white-ball depth and now is the time for that to come to the fore. The players on the sidelines are comfortable within the group and will be ready to step up. Hopefully they can now deliver on the big stage. England do have a number of players who have opened in T20 cricket before. The obvious solution is to bring Sam Billings into the middle order and promote someone like Dawid Malan, who seems to have been slipping down the order – it might be beneficial to give him a clear role at the top of the order, while James Vince is an option now he’s been called up in Roy’s place. Having said that, the bowling against South Africa didn’t look as strong as it had done in previous games – with Mills looking a big miss – so England do have the option of bringing in an extra bowler. There are some big decisions to make but by the time the match starts, they will have done their preparations and everyone will know what they need to do. One player who I expect to see play a key role in Roy’s potential absence is Liam Livingstone.  Everyone has been waiting for him to explode on to the stage at a World Cup and he did that against South Africa with those three consecutive sixes. We all saw what he could do last summer and he’ll be pivotal to England’s chances now. He’s a big match-winner and hopefully that innings has given him some real confidence going into a must-win game against New Zealand. It’s always a close contest when England play the Black Caps – hopefully this one won’t be quite as close as that incredible final in 2019! New Zealand are obviously a very good team who have done incredibly well in the last two years. They are ICC World Test Championship winners, they came so close to winning a 50-over World Cup and they continue to punch above their weight. England will be fearful because of the success they’ve had and they’re led brilliantly by Kane Williamson. They’ve played some really good cricket and I can’t wait to see the two teams go head-to-head. The second semi-final will also be a great contest and Australia look to be peaking at the right time. David Warner is coming into form, their fast bowlers look very threatening and they have other big players, like Glen Maxwell, who are still awaiting their time to shine in this tournament. The two semi-finals are so hard to call. Pakistan have been playing some great cricket Australia have played some tough games and been under quite a bit of pressure, which always holds you in good stead going into a semi-final. They have been under more pressure than England and Pakistan. With that in mind, I think it will be an England-Australia final, just as it was in Barbados in 2010. Hopefully this one will end in the same result!

Ali Ahmed LAHORE (November 9, 2021):-England will play two additional men’s Twenty20 Internationals to the five T20Is originally planned when they will tour Pakistan in September/October 2022, England and Wales Cricket Board Chief Executive Tom Harrison announced today following his meeting with Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja. The men’s side will then return to Pakistan in November/December at the back of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Australia 2022 to play three Tests, which will form part of the ICC World Test Championship. ECB Chief Executive Tom Harrison: “Myself and ECB’s Senior Director Martin Darlow visited Lahore to talk face to face with the PCB around some of the things that have happened over the past few weeks, leading to the cancelation of our tour in October. We also wanted to discuss the future as the two boards have a historic relationship and want to move the agenda towards a forward-looking one as opposed to one looking back. “We’re happy to announce that we’ll play two extra white-ball T20Is on our men’s tour of Pakistan in September/October 2022. We will then return after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia to complete the Test match element of that tour. “This is just to reaffirm our commitment to Pakistan cricket to getting England teams, men’s and women’s teams, eventually playing in Pakistan at home. “I don’t think there’s a cricketer in England who doesn’t want to test their abilities against the huge talent this country has and in the conditions they know best. “We also talked with our colleagues at the PCB around pathway engagement, how we can support proposals around the women’s game and some interesting ideas around the domestic agenda here in Pakistan. “We’re going to build on these plans going forward together and we’re excited about that too.” PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja: “The ECB have shown their large heartedness to be here for which I am thankful to Tom and Martin. It means a lot to us. “We are excited that England have committed to playing two additional T20Is as part of their white-ball tour in September/October in 2022. We put in lot of efforts to make sure that all visiting teams are comfortable in Pakistan. As such, it is a matter of pride for the Pakistan fans, who look forward to welcoming Australia and England in 2022. “England have got a great team and it’s mind-boggling how they’ve produced so many match-winners in a span of about five to seven years. They play very engaging and attractive cricket, which is fantastic for the fans and a big advertisement of the game.”

Sports Reporter LAHORE (November 9, 2021):-The fourth round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy season 2021-22 will resume from Wednesday with Central Punjab locking horns with Sindh in a pink ball contest under the floodlights at the Gaddafi Stadium. The final of the season will also be played with pink ball under the floodlights at the National Stadium Karachi from 25 to 29 December. This will be the first pink ball match in the Quaid-e-Trophy since the inception of six teams in the domestic structure that was revamped in 2019-20. The remaining two matches of the round will be played with red balls. The six teams will be eyeing for their maiden win of the season, as all nine matches of the tournament have so far ended in a draw. Only five points separate the six teams with Mohammad Abbas-led Southern Punjab lead the points table with 34 points, while Imam-ul-Haq’s Balochistan is on the sixth spot with 29 points. Nauman Ali-led Northern is on the second spot with 33 points, while Azhar Ali’s Central Punjab is on the third position with 31 points. Iftikhar Ahmed’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 30 points are positioned on number four, while Fawad Alam’s Sindh is on the fifth spot with 29 points. In the batting chart, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sahibzada Farhan leads the table with 472 runs from three outings at 118. His best of 163 came against Southern Punjab, where he helped his side draw the match after being enforced follow-on at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Second on the list is Central Punjab’s Abid Ali who has scored 444 runs in three outings at 111, his highest of 164 came against Balochistan in the previous round match at Gaddafi Stadium. The 28-year old Tayyab Tahir is third on the list with 412 runs from three matches at 103. The right-handed batter from Southern Punjab best of 221 came against Balochistan in the second round match at Multan Cricket Stadium. In the bowling charts, Southern Punjab’s Ali Usman took 17 wickets from three matches at 29.12 with best of five for 88 in an innings against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the third round match. During the match, left-arm spinner Ali ended-up taking 10 wickets for 190 where he dismissed Farhan in both innings of the match. Second on the list is another left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar, who representing Central Punjab has taken 13 wickets from three matches at 38.46. His best figures in an innings was four for 93. Northern’s Musa Khan is third on the list with 10 wickets from three matches. The 21-year old right-arm fast has best figures of five for 78, which he took against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the first round match. Balochistan will play against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, while Northern will take on Southern Punjab at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Sports Reporter LAHORE (November 9, 2021):-Balochistan beat Northern by an innings and four runs in their ninth-round match of the Cricket Associations Championship at the Saeed Ajmal Academy in Faisalabad on Tuesday. Resuming their second innings on 108 for five in 34.3 overs, Northern were bowled out for 179 in the 63rd over. Balochistan’s right-arm pacer Tariq Jameel picked four for 53 and ended-up with six wickets for 69. He was supported by Zainullah who with his left-arm spin picked three wickets in each innings and ended-up with match figures of six for 71 in 37 overs. Sindh’s Saim Ayub hit century in a drawn game against Southern Punjab at the Rana Naved Cricket Academy. Resuming their first innings on 390 for four, Southern Punjab managed to score 420 for five in 83 overs. Moinuddin returned undefeated on 170 hitting nine fours and as many sixes from 156 balls faced. Sindh in their second innings were 283 for three in 57.2 overs when stumps were drawn. Left-handed batter Saim scored 129 off 145, laced with 13 fours and three sixes. His opening partner Ahsan Ali scored 50-ball 80, which included 16 fours. Daniyal Hussain contributed an unbeaten 50 off 124, laced with four fours. At LCCA Ground in Lahore, Central Punjab played out a drawn game against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Resuming their first innings on the overnight score of 337 for nine in 65 overs, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were bowled out for 343. Zohaib Khan who resumed his batting on 96 scored an unbeaten 102 off 84, which included 11 fours and five sixes. Central Punjab in their second innings were 306 for seven in 70 overs when stumps were drawn. Rizwan Hussain top-scored with a 82-ball 74, hitting 11 fours and two sixes while Mohammad Waheed batting at number six scored an unbeaten 56 off 87, laced with five fours. Nisar Ahmad (42 off 54, four fours, one six) and Mohammad Irfan Khan (40 off 56, five fours) were other contributors with the bat. For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Saqib Jamil picked three for 45. Scores in Brief: Balochistan beat Northern by an innings and four runs at Saeed Ajmal Academy, Faisalabad Northern 102 all out, 45.4 overs (Ali Sarfraz 27, Kashif Ali 25; Zainullah Snr 3-25, Mohammad Shahid 2-9, Tariq Jameel 2-16, Aftab Ahmed 2-28) and 179 all out, 62.2 overs (Ziad Khan 50; Tariq Jameel 4-53, Zainullah 3-46, Fahad Iqbal 2-10) Balochistan 285-9, 83 overs (Mohammad Shahid 72 not out, Fahad Iqbal 60, Hanan Achakzai 55; Farhan Shafiq 4-107, Kashif Ali 2-32) Match drawn between Southern Punjab v Sindh at Rana Naved Cricket Academy, Sheikhupura Sindh 387-8, 83 overs (Usman Khan 136, Ahsan Ali 101, Saim Ayub 54, Danish Aziz 40; Ahsan Baig 2-51, Ahmad Hassan 2-58, Umer Khan 2-112) and 283-3, 57.2 overs (Saim Ayub 129, Ahsan Ali 80, Daniyal Hussain Rajput 50; Umar Khan 2-70) Southern Punjab 420-5, 83 overs (Moinuddin 170 not out, Mukhtar Ahmad 142, Zeeshan Ashraf 67; Danish Aziz 2-147) Match drawn between Central Punjab v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at LCCA Ground, Lahore Central Punjab 403-3, 83 overs (Abdul Samad 108, Ali Zaryab 88, Rizwan Hussain 99 not out, Irfan Khan 91 not out) and 306-7, 70 overs (Rizwan Hussain 74, Mohammad Waheed 56 not out, Nisar Ahmad 42) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 343 all out, 67 overs (Zohaib Khan 102 not out, Waqar Ahmed 80, Mohammad Mohsin Khan 47, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 42, Saqib Jamil 33; Nisar Ahmad 3-63, Sohaibullah 2-36, Mohammad Waheed 2-78)

Aamir Ali Janjua Dubai (November 9, 2021):-The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the winners of the ICC Player of the Month Awards for October which recognise and celebrate the best performances from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year. The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the winners of the ICC Player of the Month Awards for October which recognise and celebrate the best performances from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year. Pakistan’s Asif Ali and Ireland’s Laura Delany have been voted the ICC Players of the Month for October. Ali beat Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and Namibia's David Wiese to the men's award, and Delany beat teammate Gaby Lewis and Zimbabwe's Mary-Anne Musonda to the women's prize. Ali scored 52 runs without defeat across three matches for Pakistan in October at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scoring at a strike rate of 273.68. He first grabbed headlines at the tournament by blasting 27 not out from 12 balls to help Pakistan defeat New Zealand, but it was what he did in the next game that made him a household name. With Pakistan needing 24 runs off the final two overs against Afghanistan, Ali hit four sixes in the 19th. Commenting on Ali’s performance ICC Voting Academy member Irfan Pathan said: “Helping your team to win, especially from the jaws of defeat is what makes Asif Ali special. And he did that not just once but twice,". Although he scored considerably less than other two nominated players, the contribution he made and the pressure situations from where he snatched the victories made all the difference.” Ireland captain Delany shone in their 3-1 ODI series win over Zimbabwe. The all-rounder flourished with bat and ball, scoring 189 runs at 63, and taking four wickets at 27. Commenting on Delany’s performance ICC Voting Academy member Lisa Sthalekar said: “Laura has been playing International cricket for over a decade and has the difficult task of captaining her country, which carries a great weight of expectation. I have been following her career, ever since I played alongside her in the Gordon Women’s Club in Sydney and watched her development. This recent series was a breakout series for her as she was able to register her highest ODI score and is a worthy recipient of the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October.”

BIPIN DANI Sri Lanka Cricket team two coaching staff members-Mickey Arthur (Head coach) and Grant Flower (Batting coach) have not returned with the team but have stayed back in the UAE. The team, which could not advance to the final legs of the World Cup, returned by Emirates Flight (EK 648) early hours on Saturday. "They (Arthur and Flower) have not stayed back to watch the World Cup final but they have sought a short break and are also awaiting their fate with the national team", a top ex-co member, speaking exclusively over the telephone said.  Arthur's contract ended with the World Cup. whereas Flower's contract runs till December. Arthur is likely to return to Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Considering the team's improvement, especially the young blood performing well, both are keen to continue with the team and await the evaluation report to be made by the Technical Advisory Committee, headed by Aravinda de Silva. Very few days are left for the upcoming series against the visiting West Indies team, the SLC may have kept "staff for now". However, according to the sources, Muthiah Muralitharan and few others in the advisory committee are keen on having Roshan Mahanama to take this task. Interestingly, Mahanama, the former ICC match-referee himself is a member of the committee and has no coaching experience but that may not become on his way to be involved with the team. "Where did Ravi Shastri have coaching experience ? Also, Mahela Jayawardane was a strategist but has now become a successful head coach of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL", the ex-co member argued.    

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (November 9, 2021):-India rounded off the Super 12s stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 with a resounding nine-wicket victory over Namibia in Group 2. Both sides had already failed to make the semi-finals before the action got underway in Dubai, but India finished on a high as half centuries from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul helped them chase 133 with ease. Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin set the foundation, taking three wickets apiece to help prevent Namibia, for whom David Wiese again top scored with 26, from setting an imposing total on what was a good wicket. India were left to rue what could have been in the UAE after recording their third win, as two defeats in their opening two games against semi-finalists Pakistan and New Zealand ultimately cost them a place in the last four. Virat Kohli elected to field after winning the toss in his final T20I as India captain but Namibia made a solid start with the bat. Stephan Baard’s six off Mohammed Shami helped his side to 25 without loss after three overs but he soon lost his opening partner when Shami caught Michael Van Lingen, 14 off 15 balls, after he miscued a pull shot off Jasprit Bumrah. No.3 Craig Williams soon followed for a duck after running straight past a Jadeja delivery, Rishabh Pant calmly whipping off the bails as Namibia finished the powerplay on 34 for two. Jadeja had another when Baard missed a sweep and was trapped lbw for 21 and Namibia were in further trouble at 47 for four when fellow spinner Ashwin got in the act, having Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton caught at slip for five. That brought Namibia’s most productive pair at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 together, as Wiese joined captain Gerhard Erasmus at the crease. They shared a stand of 25 until Erasmus, 12 off 20 balls, nicked Ashwin behind to Pant who took a superb catch after a big deflection. Namibia showed some fight, taking 21 from the next 15 balls before JJ Smit became Jadeja’s third victim from the last ball of his spell, Sharma’s diving catch sending him back for a run-a-ball nine with the score 93 for six with five overs to go. Not to be outdone by his teammate, Ashwin bowled Namibia wicket-keeper Zane Green for a golden duck to also pick up his third scalp of the innings, finishing with three for 20 from his four overs. Namibia brought up their 100 in the 17th over as Wiese found support from Jan Frylinck. But the former South Africa international was outfoxed by a Bumrah slower delivery in the penultimate over, Sharma taking another catch to send the all-rounder packing for 26 off 25 balls. By the time Ruben Trumpelmann had scored 13 off Shami’s 20th over, 37 runs had come from the final four, as Namibia left India needing 133 to sign off with a win. Trumpelmann then switched to his primary suit of bowling and should have had the huge wicket of Sharma to his name, but Van Lingen dropped the Indian opener at short fine leg, allowing him to get off the mark. Sharma had another life when a one-handed hack off Wiese somehow fell safely before he swatted the next ball for six behind square on the legside to get India going. Another boundary off Trumpelmann’s second over brought up 3,000 T20I runs for Sharma but he again had a close shave when a mis-timed pull fell just short of the fielder. Sharma and KL Rahul had India cruising as they raced to 54 without loss by the end of the powerplay. And the former brought up an action-packed 50 off 31 balls, his second of the tournament, as India showed no sign of taking their foot off the gas. Eventually, however, Namibia made a breakthrough with Frylinck dismissing Sharma for 56 as wicket-keeper Green held onto the catch to end the opening partnership of 86 one ball before the halfway point. Sharma had dominated the strike with Rahul, but the latter upped the ante after losing his partner and was joined by Suryakumar Yadav who showed off his ability to score all around the ground in an entertaining unbeaten 25 from 19 balls. Rahul brought up his third 50 of the tournament from 35 balls before hitting a boundary to end his side’s campaign in style with 28 balls to spare. Scores in brief India beat Namibia at Dubai International Stadium, Dubai by nine wickets Namibia 132/8 in 20 overs (David Wiese 26, Stephan Baard 21; Ravindra Jadeja 3/16, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/20) India 136/1 in 15.2 overs (Rohit Sharma 56, KL Rahul 54 not out; Jan Frylinck 1/19) Player of the match: Ravindra Jadeja (India)

SPORTS REPORTER Lahore (November 8, 2021):-Pakistan cricket selectors have named an 18-player squad for the three T20Is against Bangladesh, which will be played in Dhaka on 19, 20 and 22 November. The only change in the side that has qualified for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 semifinals is of Mohammad Hafeez who, following discussions with Chief Selector Muhammad Wasim, has opted out so that younger batters can get opportunities to perform and gain international experience and exposure. As such, an in-form Iftikhar Ahmed has been added to the middle-order that also includes Haider Ali and Khushdil Shah. Pakistan squad for the two Tests, which will be played from 26-30 November and 4-8 December in Chittagong and Dhaka, respectively will be announced in due course. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board has retained the same team management that is presently in the United Arab Emirates, barring batting consultant Matthew Hayden who is not available due to prior commitments. Pakistan T20I squad Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab) Shadab Khan (vice-captain, Northern) Asif Ali (Northern) Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Haider Ali (Northern) Haris Rauf (Northern) Hasan Ali (Central Punjab) Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Imad Wasim (Northern) Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab) Mohammad Nawaz (Northern) Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper, Sindh) Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh) Shoaib Malik (Central Punjab) Usman Qadir (Central Punjab) Player Support Personnel: Mansoor Rana (manager), Saqlain Mushtaq (interim head coach), Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach), Vernon Philander (bowling consultant; 3 T20Is and 1st Test), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Talha Ejaz (team analyst), Col (retd) Muhammad Imran (Security Manager), Ibrahim Badees (media and digital manager), Dr Najeeb Soomro (team doctor) and Malang Ali (Masseur)

SAAD KAYANI Karachi, 8 November 2021: A brilliant century by player of the match Deandra Dottin scripted West Indies Women’s to 45-run win over Pakistan Women in the first One-Day International at National Stadium on Monday. The West Indies opener smashed 132 off 146 balls and smoked 18 fours and two sixes after Pakistan’s stand-in captain Sidra Nawaz opted to bowl after winning the toss. This was Dottin’s best score in the format. Dottin added 119 runs for the third wicket with Hayley Matthews, who scored 57 off 67 (eight fours), as their partnership set the platform for the tourists to post 253 for eight before Shemaine Campbelle scored a brisk 23 off 20. Dottin’s century and the eventual Pakistan defeat eclipsed Anam Amin’s maiden five-wicket haul. The left-arm orthodox from Lahore returned five for 35 with two of her 10 overs being maiden. Anam accounted for Dottin, Rashada Williams (15 off 40), Hayley Matthews, Campbelle and Kycia Knight (six off six). Birthday girl Fatima Sana, who came into this match after recording a five-wicket haul in the fifth and final ODI against West Indies in Antigua in July, took two for 65. This match marked a significant moment in the 20-year-old’s career as she opened the bowling for Pakistan against the very opposition to whom she bowled as a net bowler when they were in the city two years ago for three T20Is. Pakistan crumbled in their reply. Opener Sidra Amin was caught on the last ball of the second over and one-drop Ayesha Zafar was LBW on the last ball of the eighth over. Both batters were sent packing by Shakera Selman. Iram Javed fought back with a 34-ball 40 as she added 57 runs for the fourth wicket with Kainat Imtiaz (24 off 60), but the dismissal of the former pretty much settled the game in the tourists favour. Aliya Riaz top-scored with 46 off 61 (three fours). She was run out in the 47th over with Pakistan 56 runs away from the target. The two teams will play the second ODI on 11 November at the same venue. Scores in brief: West Indies Women 253-8, 50 overs (Deandra Dottin 132, Hayley Matthews 57, Shemaine Campbelle 23; Anam Amin 5-35, Fatima Sana 2-65) Pakistan Women 208-9, 50 overs (Aliya Riaz 46, Iram Javed 40, Muneeba Ali 28, Kainat Imtiaz 24, Sidra Nawaz 23; Hayley Mathews 3-31, Shakera Selman 2-35) Player of the match - Deandra Dottin