Sports Bulletin

Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD:-As many as 8 teams will take part in the 12th National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) T-20 Blind Cricket Trophy Grade-1 will start from May 12, 2022 at two different venues in the capital city Islamabad. According to an official of Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC), the premier national tournament of Blind Cricket the 12th edition of the NBP T-20 Blind Cricket Trophy Grade-1 will be taken place from May 12 to 16, 2022 at Islamabad. The matches will be played at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground and PAF Cricket Ground E-9.  Eight (8) top Teams across the country will be battling for this Grade-1 prime title during the 5-day national blind cricket fixture. Teams are divided into two following pools, as the top two teams will be qualify for semifinals and the final will be played on May 16 at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground G-7 Markaz Islamabad. The inauguration ceremony of the said event will take place on Thursday (May 12, 2022) at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Sittara Market G-7 Islamabad. Abbottabad won the Grade-2 Trophy last year (2021) so got the place in this year’s Grade-1 event and Attock stood last in the Grade-1 Trophy last year (2021) so relegated to Grade-2. Pool (A): Islamabad, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Abbottabad Pool (B): Peshawar, Lahore, AJK, Okara  Schedule of NBP T-20 Trophy 2022: 12-05-22 Islamabad Vs Gujranwala at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground 12-05-22 Peshawar Vs AJK at PAF Cricket Ground, E-9, Islamabad 12-05-22 Abbottabad Vs Bahawalpur at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Islamabad 12-05-22 Lahore Vs Okara at PAF Cricket Ground, E-9, Islamabad. 13-05-22 AJK Vs Okara at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Islamabad 13-05-22 Abbottabad Vs Islamabad at PAF Cricket Ground, E-9, Islamabad. 13-05-22 Peshawar Vs Lahore at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Islamabad 13-05-22 Gujranwala Vs Bahawalpur at PAF Cricket Ground, E-9, Islamabad. 14-05-22 Bahawalpur Vs Islamabad at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Islamabad 14-05-22 Gujranwala Vs Abbottabad at PAF Cricket Ground, E-9, Islamabad. 14-05-22 Lahore Vs AJK at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Islamabad 14-05-22 Peshawar Vs Okara at PAF Cricket Ground, E-9, Islamabad. 15-05-22 1st Semi-Final (1AVs 2B) at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Islamabad 15-05-22 2nd Semi-Final (1B Vs 2A) at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Islamabad 16-05-22  Final at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground, Islamabad.

Sports Bulletin Report AJMAN (UAE):-A magical innings by Zawar Farid (72 not out) helped Delhi Bulls-Future Mattress to lift the title of Ajman T20 Cricket Cup that concluded Malek Cricket Stadium Ajman, United Arabs Emirates (UEA). They defeated Maratha Arabians-Brothers Gas by 4 wickets in the final. Chasing Maratha Arabians-Brothers Gas 142 for 8, Zawar Farid scored over half his team’s total off 63 balls with seven boundaries and one six. He got timely support from Syed Haider, who hit 32 runs off 20 balls, and together they put on a crucial 65 runs for the fifth wicket. Farid also had sparkled with the ball taking three wickets to restrict Maratha Arabians-Brothers Gas’s total. It was a dramatic finish to the tournament with Omer Farooq bowling the 19th over clean bowling Syed Haider with his third delivery and also had Delhi Bulls-Future Mattress skipper Umair Ali Khan with the next ball caught by Harry Bharwal at long on. Zawar Farid hit the hat-trick delivery from Farooq for a six to equal the score and then pick a single to win the game with one over to spare. The proceedings of the final began with Delhi Bulls-Future Mattress winning the toss and electing to bowl.  Maratha Arabians-Brothers Gas opener and skipper Jiju Janardhanan, with a bag full of high scores in this tournament, walked in with their Under-19 player Hamdan Tahir.  Delhi Bulls-Future Mattress began their bowling attack with their Under-19 player and left-arm spinner Nilansh Keshwani. Hamdan Tahir scored the first boundary of the final off the fourth ball of the first over by hitting over mid-off. Zahid Ali bowled a tight second over giving away just three runs. Skipper Umair Ali introduced himself for the third over and gave away only six runs. Then Zahid Ali struck with the second ball of the fourth over taking the prize wicket of Jiju Janardhanan caught at mid-on for 7. Usman Khan too fell to the second ball he faced, edging to wicketkeeper Abdul Shakoor for a duck.  When Umair Ali Khan had opener Hamdan Tahir miscue his shot to Syed Haider at point for 14, Maratha Arabians-Brothers Gas were reeling at 22 for 3 in 4.3 overs. Tanveer Junaid and Mohammad Afzal began the repair to the damage and took the score to 44 when left-arm spinner Sultan Ahmed had Junaid caught and bowled for 16. This brought in Shahnawaz Khan, and along with Afzal, kept the scoreboard moving.  With only five overs more to go, Maratha Arabians-Brother Gas were 79 for 4.  Zawar Farid who was re-introduced gave away only seven runs in the 16th over. Shahnawaz Khan hit Umair Ali for a boundary and a six off the second and third deliveries of the 17th over but he fell to the last ball of that over getting caught by Zahid Ali at long-off for 33. His knock off 28 balls had one boundary and a six. Afzal too followed in the next over, bowled by Zawar Farid, for 35 made off 34 balls with three boundaries and one six. Omer Farooq announced his intention hitting the first ball he faced for a six off Farid. In the next over Zeeshan Abid hit Zahid Ali’s first two deliveries for two consecutive boundaries and then hit a six off the fourth delivery. Omer Farooq too hit the last delivery for a six to take 23 runs off that over. The last over was an eventful one with Zawar Farid having Zeehsan Abid caught by Nilansh Keshwani at deep point for 18 with the second delivery. Omer Farooq hit Zawar Farid for a boundary off the fourth ball but got bowled to him with the next delivery for 16. In the end Maratha Arabians – Brother Gas posted 142 for 8 which was a fine recovery from 44 for 4 in 8.4 overs. It was a shocking start for Delhi Bulls -Future Mattress losing their opener Abdul Shakoor to the second ball off the first over caught behind by wicketkeeper Hamdan Tahir off Saqib Manshad for a duck. Shakoor was the hero of their semifinal match through a knock of 83. Adil Mirza joined opener Zawar Farid, who took three overs to get off the mark.  Omer Farooq, who was introduced for the fourth over had Adil Mirza caught at mid-on by Usman Khan for 11. Left-handed Mohammed Umsan walked in with score reading 15 for 2 in 3.1 overs. He began by scoring a boundary off Omer Farooq flicking down the leg side. Saqib Manshad bowled a brilliant fifth over giving away just one run. Mohammed Usman began to stroke fluently. Jiju Janardhanan who introduced himself for the seventh over gave away only four runs. Zawar Farid lifted Jiju in the eighth over mid-on for a boundary to take the score to 50. At the score on 54, Harry Bharwal struck by forcing Mohammad Usman on 15 to hit high and Saqib Manshad, running in from deep square leg, took the catch Mohammad Azha joined Zawar Farid with 88 runs needed off the last ten overs. Mohammad Azhar hit Harry Bharwal’s second ball of the 12th over for a might six but fell to the next ball leg before for 7. Syed Haider got off the mark with a boundary. Skipper Jiju Janardhanan who marshalled his bowling resources well introduced Omer Farooq for the 13th over. He gave away just six runs. Jiju introduced himself for the 14th over and gave away ten runs. With 51 runs needed off the last six overs, Zawar Farid kept the chase going and reached his half century in exactly 50 deliveries. Then Syed Haider began to unleash his big hits and speeded up the race to the target. Brief scores: Delhi Bulls – Future Mattress beat Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas by 4 wickets Maratha Arabians-Brothers Gas: 142 for 8 in 20 overs Mohammad Afzal 35, Shahnawaz Khan 33  Zahid Ali 2 for 33, Umair Ali Kahn 2 for 34, Zawar Farid 3 for 25 Delhi Bulls-Future Mattress: 143 for 6 in 19 overs Zawar Farid 72n.o, Syed Haider 32 Harry Bharwal 2 for 25, Omer Farooq 3 for 29 Man of the Final: Zawar Farid Best Batsman: Sagar Kalyan (Bangla Tigers-Karwan) Best Bowler: Mohammad Azhar (Delhi Bulls-Future Mattress) Most sixes: Mohammad Afzal (Delhi Bulls-Future Mattress) Player of the tournament: Jiju Janardhanan (Maratha Arabians-Brothers Gas).

Aamir Ali Janjua DUBAI (UAE):-Pakistan thrashed traditional rival India by 58 runs in the final of Triangular T-20 Blind Cricket Series at Skyland University Cricket Ground, Sharjah. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first. Nisar Ali and Mohammad Rashid opened the innings for Pakistan and the first wicket fell at the score of 75 runs when Rashid was retired out while Nisar Ali kept the run-rate over 8 runs per over and got out after scoring 70 runs off 51 balls. Badar Munir scored 63 runs off 25 balls. He smashed 5 sixes and 3 boundaries in his innings. Pakistan finished on 216 runs on the board for the loss of 3 wickets in 20 overs. Chasing the target of 217 runs, India lost 3 quick wickets in 2 overs for just 10 runs, thereafter Sunil played a splendid inning of 91 runs but wasn’t enough to take his side home. India made 158 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs. Badar Munir took 3 wickets for Pakistan. Result: Pakistan won by 58 runs Man of the Match: Badar Munir Man of the Series: B1: Riasat Khan (Pakistan) B2: Badar Munir (Pakistan) B3: Sunil Ramesh (India)    

Sports Bulletin Report SHARJAH:-Pakistan Blind Cricket Team thrashed Bangladesh by 7 wickets in the 6th match of the Triangular T-20 Blind Cricket Tournament at Skyland University Cricket Ground, Sharjah on Friday. Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first. Pakistan restricted Bangladesh to only 99 for 9 runs in the stipulated 20 overs.  Sahidul Islam was the main scorer with 23 runs off 26 Balls while Mohammad Mohsen Hussain chipped in with 17 runs off 29 balls. For Pakistan, Mohsin Khan got 2 wickets and Anees Javed claimed 1 wicket. In reply, Pakistan chased the target of 100 runs with ease in just 10.5 overs for the loss of 3 wickets. Mohsin Khan was the star with the bat as well, he scored 35 off 25 Balls and Riasat Khan made 28 runs off 13 balls. Arif Ullah took 1 wicket for Bangladesh. Result: Pakistan won by 7 wickets Man of the Match: Mohsin Khan

Aamir Ali Janjua SHAHRJAH:-Pakistan thrashed arch-rival India by 7 wickets in the Triangular T20 Blind Cricket Tournament at Skyland University Cricket Ground, Sharjah on Wednesday. This was third back-to-back victory of Pakistan in the series. In the morning, India won the toss and this time elected to bat first. Pakistani bowlers bowled on the tight lines and didn’t allow free runs to Indian batters. Pakistan restricted India to 163 runs on the board for the loss of 8 wickets in stipulated 20 overs. Indian Captain Prakash Jayaramaih was the main run-getter with 79 runs off 64 balls, while Sunil Ramesh chipped in with 24 runs. Badar Munir, Shahzaib Haider, and Anees Javed claimed a wicket apiece. In reply, Pakistan chased down the target of 164 runs in 18.4 overs for the loss of 3 wickets. Badar Munir and Muhammad Rashid played superbly and made 64 runs each off 34 balls and 48 balls respectively. Riasat Khan got out after scoring 20 runs. Deepak Malik and Irfan Dewan took 1 wicket each for India. Result: Pakistan won by 7 wickets Man of the Match: Badar Munir

Aamir Ali Janjua Dubai:-Pakistan Blind Cricket Team outclassed Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the 3rd match of T 20 Triangular Series at Skyland University Cricket Ground, Sharjah on Tuesday. In the morning, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistani bowlers didn’t allow the Bangladeshi batsmen to score freely and restricted them to 111 runs on the board for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. Bangladeshi Captain Ashiq ur Rehman made 48 runs off 44 balls. Matiullah was the best amongst the bowlers, he took 2 wickets while Mohsin Khan and Sajid Nawaz claimed one wicket each. In reply, Pakistan chased the target of 112 runs with ease in just 11.5 overs for the loss of 2 wickets. Riasat Khan and Badar Munir made 36 and 34 runs respectively and remained unbeaten. Faisal Mehmood and Matiullah got out after scoring 25 and 4 runs. Result: Pakistan won by 8 wickets Man of the Match: Matiullah

Sports Bulletin Report SHARJAH:-Pakistan Blind Cricket Team outplayed traditional foes India Blind Cricket Team by 29 runs in the Tri-Nation T 20 Blind Cricket Tournament at Victoria Cricket Stadium Sharjah on Sunday night. India won the toss and put Green Shirts into bat first. Pakistan managed 191 runs on the board and set 192 runs target for arch-rival India in 20 overs per innings fixture. Rashid made 49 runs and Badar scored 24 runs. Parkash took 3 wickets for 11 runs.  However, Indian batters could score 162 for 6 runs in 20 overs. . Durga Rao made 54 runs and Venkatesh scored 48 runs. Shahzaib Hyder took 2 wickets. Mohammad Rashid was declared man of the match on his remarkable performance with the bat. T20 Triangular Cricket Series (schedule) March 13, 2022: Pakistan vs India (Pakistan won by 29 runs) March 14, 2022: India vs Bangladesh March 15, 2022: Pakistan vs Bangladesh March 16, 2022: Pakistan vs India March 17, 2022: India vs Bangladesh March 18, 2022: Pakistan vs Bangladesh March 19, 2022: Final Venue: Victoria Cricket Stadium Sharjah (UAE)

Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD:-Sindh Blind Cricket Team have won the 1st National Blind Women’s Cricket Championship after beating Punjab Blind Team by 6 wickets in the final at Bhutto Shaheed Cricket Ground Islamabad on Sunday. Sindh won the toss and decided to bowl first, as the Punjab Blind Women’s Cricket Team set the competitive total of 171 for 2 runs in the allotted 15 overs on the board. Tayyaba Fatima played a splendid innings of 84 runs while Nisha was their second-highest run-getter with 36 runs. Laila BiBi took 1 wicket for SIndh. Sindh Blind Women Cricket Team reached at the target of 172 runs in 14.5 overs for 4 wickets. Kiran Rafiq played a superb innings of unbeaten 78 runs while Nimra Rafiq made 24 runs. Nisha Bax and Faryal claimed each one wicket apiece. Bryce Hutchesson Chargé d’Affaires, Australian High Commission in Pakistan, Hussain Adwani Marketing Manager Serena Hotel Islamabad, Madam Robina Akhter, Director Admin D.G.S.E, Dr Anwar Ali Sial Director Finance PBCC, Habibullah Khan Director Admin PBCC & Mohammad Bilal Director Marketing PBCC were the guests of the occasion and distributed the prizes amongst the players. Result: Sindh Blind Women Cricket Team won by 6 Wickets Player of the Match: Kiran Rafiq Players of the Tournament: B1: Anila Shahzadi (KPK Blind Women Cricket Team) B2: Nimra Rafiq (Sindh Blind Women Cricket Team) B3: Mehwish Rafiq (Sindh Blind Women Cricket Team) Best Wicket Keeper: Kiran Rafiq (Islamabad Blind Women Cricket Team).

Sports Bulletin Report ISLAMABAD:-Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) has selected the Pakistan Blind Cricket Team for the Triangular Blind Cricket Tournament to be held in United Arabs Emirates (UAE) from 13th to 19th March 2022. Besides Pakistan, India and Bangladesh will take part in 7-day international T 20 blind cricket fixture. Names of players: Zafar Iqbal (Vice Captain), Riasat Khan, Mohammad Shahzaib, Fakhar Abbas, Sajid Nawaz, Nisar Ali (Captain), Badar Munir, Matiullah, Shahzeb Haider, Anees Javed, Moain Aslam, Mohammad Rashid, Faisal Mehmood, Mohsin Khan, Sanaullah Marwat, Akmal Hayyat, Israr ul Hassan Team Officials: Mohammad Zeeshan Akram (Manager), Mohammad Jameel (Head Coach), Maher Yousaf Haroon (Assistant Coach), Tahir Mehmood Butt (Trainer).

Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD:-The 1st National Blind Cricket Championship for Women started at Shalimar Cricket Ground Islamabad Tuesday (March 8, 2022 on the World Women’s Day) sponsored by Australian High Commission in Pakistan. Four teams including hosts Islamabad, Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber PakhtunKawa (KPK) are taking part in this event. Nick Hockley, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Cricket Australia (CA), Joanne Frederiksen Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan, Syed Sultan Shah President World Blind Cricket as well as Chairman PBCC and Todd Greenberg, CEO of Australian Cricketers’ Association attended the event. Joanne Frederiksen, Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan said: “I appreciate the efforts of the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) in taking this initiative, and on this Women’s Day, I am pleased to support a visually impaired women's cricket training and championship as this will provide the women & girls with a disability the opportunity to participate in Pakistan’s favorite sport. We will continue to fund Blind Women Cricket in Pakistan in the future as well”. The Chairman, PBCC Syed Sultan Shah said that the two blind factory workers invented blind cricket in Melbourne, Australia, in 1922 and it was a highly competitive game which enables people with visual impairment to become people of vision. Forty-four (44) women & girls with visual impairment are participating in this event, shortlisted across Pakistan from Karachi to Gilgit-Baltistan. He thanked the Australian Government for the much-needed support for this cause. He requested Nick Hockley to follow the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) model of supporting Men Blind Cricket there in Australia. “Pakistan’s men blind cricket is the powerhouse in Blind Cricket and it couldn’t be achieved without the financial assistance of PCB, he added. Nick Hockley, CEO of Cricket Australia expressed his pleasure in watching these visually impaired girls playing cricket that were the source of inspiration for all. “Australia and Pakistan share a passion for cricket, and on this day Australian men's team is playing Test series while Australian and Pakistan Women are competing in World Cup game. Now Cricket Australia will play an important part to uplift the Blind Cricket in Australia, “he said. Nick Hockley officially inaugurated the event by hitting the audible blind cricket ball. Nick Hockley and Joanne Frederiksen played cricket with the visually impaired girls for quite some time.