Sports Bulletin

BIPIN DANI Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has shown the good gesture of allowing the "special trophy" to be taken away to Kabul. The 3-match inaugural bilateral ODI series between the Sri Lankan team and the visiting Afghanistan team was tied 1-1 (the second ODI was called off due to rain) and the physical trophy of the tournament was taken to Afghanistan. This was confirmed by multiple sources, who saw the Trophy being taken in the team bus directly from Kandy hotel to Colombo airport. Later confirmed by Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) media and communications manager Abdullah Khan Pakthani, he said, "yeah, the team will bring the trophy home". At the time of filing this report, the team was in transit at the Dubai airport. "This trophy will be kept in our museum, where other memorabilias are displayed. We feel very happy and wish our team more success in the future as well", he further added. Player of the Match award Sri Lanka leveled the series 1-1 after Asalanka, Wellalage were successful to chase the target of 314 runs. Ibrahim Zadran's score of 162 runs was almost doubled to the Player of the Match winner Asalanka. "It was an unanimous decision (to name Asalanka as player of the Match winner)", the two commentators (Sri Lankan Roshan Abeysinghe and Afghanistani Ahmad Farhad Fidai), who were part of the all five commentator adjudicators, confirmed.  The visiting commentator also had praise for all three new weds, who put on a performance for Lanka. Rajitha in his first spell, Pathum with the opening partnership and Aharith in the end. "They came to play although they got married a couple days ago, so no honeymoon for them. My view at the later stage of the game was that marriage/ wife brings  good omen as per Afghan beliefs and it seemed as marriages brought good omen to all three players and specially Asalanka and Rajitha", Fidai added. Rajitha's wife Chamaththi did travel to Kandy (from Colombo) to watch the final match on Tuesday and occupied the seat in the Players' Family Area.    

Zak Crawley (122), Ollie Pope (108), Ben Duckett (107) and Harry Brook (101) runs not out hit tons By Abdul Jabbar Faisal RAWALPINDI (December 1, 2022): Four blistering innings, Zak Crawley (122), Ollie Pope (108), Ben Duckett (107) and Harry Brook (101) runs not out, helped England to post a historical total on the scoreboard of 506 for 4 in 75 overs on the opening day of 1st Test match of three-match Tie that commenced here at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Also, English broke the 112 years old record of the most runs on the opening day of a Test match, as the previous record was 494 runs created by Australia against South Africa in 1910. At the end of Day 1, visitors were 506 for 4 in 75 overs, as umpires called off the game due to poor light. Harry Brook 101 (81 balls) and captain Ben Stoke 34 (15 balls) were on the pitch at the stumps. Zahid Mehmood claimed two wickets for 160 runs while Haris Rauf and Mohammad Ali shared one wicket each a piece after conceding 78 and 98 runs respectively. Both batsmen will resume their innings on Friday morning at the same venue. Harry Brook knocked an unbeaten sparkling innings of 101 runs, as he faced just 81 balls. He smashed two huge sixes and 14 boundaries while skipper Ben Stoke wasted merely 15 balls for his 34 runs innings that was a blend of 4 fours and a single six. Both batters were not out at the end of day one game that was 15 overs short from 90 overs per day fixture. Pakistani bowlers, both pacers and spinners could not take a sigh of breath at any stage of the match, as there was no mercy word in the opposition batters’ dictionary for them. Zahid Mehmood conceded 160 in 23 overs, Naseem Shah 96 in 15 overs, Mohammad Ali 96 in 17 overs, Haris Rauf 78 in 13 overs, Agha Salman 38 in 5 overs and Saud Shakeel 30 in 2 overs. Except, Mohammad Ali, rest of the bowlers conceded runs with the average of 6 runs per over.     Earlier, in the morning English skipper Ben Stoke won the coin’s battle and decided to bat first at a dry pitch and a simple batting track of Pindi ground. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett showed full aggression and plundered 174 runs in just 27 overs at lunch break. Both batters hit excellent strokes and were on the wicket with 91 and 77 runs respectively and hit 17 and 11 boundaries too. After the lunch break, Zak completed his feisty ton in 86 balls studded with 19 boundaries, as he was judged LBW by umpire Ahsan Raza on the bowling of Naseem Shah at 99, as TV umpire Marais Erasmus asked the field umpire to change his decision, as the ball was going down the leg-side and was missing the stump clearly. England batters completed 200 total in the 30th over of the innings, as Zak contributed 106 while his partner scored 88 runs. No one Pakistan bowler could make any trouble for the batsmen, who were smashing four all around the ground. Ben Duckett reached his hundred in 106 balls including 14 fours in the 34th over of the inning, as the total was 331. Finally, debut Zahid Mehood succeeded to get a wicket for Pakistan when Ben Deckett’s effort to play reverse-sweep and umpire Joel Wilson declared him not out on a big shout for LBW, as on review he had to change his decision in the favour of the bowler. He scored 107 runs in 110 balls with the help of 15 boundaries. Both aggressive batters collected 233 runs for the first wicket and provided a solid start to their team in the first Test clash of the three-match series. Zak Crawley was 2nd batter, who went back in the pavilion at 235, when pacer Haris Rauf clattered his stumps in 37th over of the English innings. Zaka scored 122 runs in 111 balls and smashed 21 fours. Joe Root, the most experienced batter of the visiting team, could score only 23 runs, as he faced 31 balls and hit three fours. He was also judged LBW on the bowling of Zahid Mehmood. The total was 286 on the scoreboard. He along with Ollie Pope aggregated 51 runs for the third wicket. At Tea Break, England batsmen managed 332 for 3 runs in 54 overs, as this session was a little bit in the favour of Pakistan, as the bowler got rid of three opponent batters. Zahid Mehmood claimed two while Haris Rauf one. Ollie Pope was not out on 48 runs while Harry Brook was on 22 not out both batters faced 51 and 23 balls respectively. Ollie hit 8 fours while Brook smashed two fours and only six of the match till the tea break. Ollie Pope was the third England player, who smashed a century in the Pindi Test. Wicketkeeper batter scored 108 runs in 104 four balls, as his strike rate was over hundred. He sent the ball 14 times over the boundary line.   Summarized Scorecard (Day-1): Toss: England won and decided to bat England (Batting): Zak Crawley (122 runs, balls 111, 4x2, 6x0), Ollie Pope (108 runs, 104 balls, 4x14), Ben Duckett (107 runs, 110 balls, 4x15, 6X0), Joe Root (23 runs, 31 balls, 4x3, 6x0), Harry Brook (101 runs not out, 81 balls, 4x14, 6x2), Ben Stoke (34 runs not out, 15 balls, 4x6, 6x1)   Pakistan Bowling: Zahid Mehmood (2 for 160), Haris Rauf (1 for 78), Mohammad Ali (1 for 96) Pakistan (Playing XIs): Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain & WK), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mehmood England (Playing XIs): Ben Stokes (c), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson Schedule of Tests: 9-13 December – 2nd Test, Multan 17-21 December – 3rd Test, Karachi

BIPIN DANI Sri Lankan all rounder Wanindu Hasaranga "obliged"  4-5 kids by inviting them in the dressing room and even made a few of them on his lap. This happened during the Sunday's rain affected second ODI match against Afghanistan in Kandy when these kids displayed a placard (prepared by a 5-year-old Nursery boy, Thameera Gimhan) which read "Uncle Wanindu. You are my favorite. Please come to me". "My son started watching matches when he was 3 1/2 year old. Being his fan, my son has been watching Wanindu's all matches. Since the tour was announced, he expressed his desire to meet him and the best way to invite Wanindu's attention was to make a placard and a group of kids displayed this during the match", the boy's father, Dhanushka Amarawansha, who works as a site manager for a private construction company in Kandy, said over the telephone. "To our surprise, Wanindu sent a message to invite these kids to the dressing room. My son was accompanied by all his cousins-Rajinda Harshal, Thursa,  Imasha and Janindu". "I like your bowling action and your inside out shots", my son told the all rounder". "It was a proud moment for all these boys.. They all were very happy and impressed by the player's modesty", the dad concluded.

Abdul Jabbar Faisal RAWALPINDI (December 1, 2022): England were 332 for 3 runs in their first innings of the Pindi Test at tea break, as Debuted Zahid Mehmood captured two wickets while Haris Rauf got one for hosts here at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Earlier, in the morning English skipper Ben Stoke won the coin’s battle and decided to bat first at a dry pitch of Pindi ground. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett showed full aggression and plundered 174 runs in just 27 overs at lunch break. Both batters hit excellent strokes and were on the wicket with 91 and 77 runs respectively hit 17 and 11 boundaries too. After the lunch break, Zak completed his feisty ton in 86 balls studded with 19 boundaries, as he was judged LBW by umpire Ahsan Raza on the bowling of Naseem Shah, as TV umpire Marais Erasmus asked him to change his decision, as the ball was going down the leg-side and was missing the stump. England batters completed 200 total in the 30th over of the innings, as Zak contributed 106 while his partner scored 88 runs. No one Pakistan bowler could make any trouble for the batsmen, who smashed four all around the ground. Ben Duckett reached on his hundred in 106 balls including 14 fours in the 34th over of the inning, as the total was 331. Finally, debuted Zahid Mehood succeeded to get a wicket for Pakistan when Ben Deckett’s effort to play reverse-sweep and umpire Joel Wilson declared him not out on a big shout for LBW, as on review he had to change his decision in the favour of bowler. He scored 107 runs in 110 balls with the help of 15 boundaries. Both aggressive batters collected 233 runs for the first wicket and provided a solid start to their team in the first Test clash of the three-match series. Zak Crawley was 2nd batter to go back in the pavilion at 235, when pacer Haris Rauf clattered his stumps in 37th over of the English innings. Zaka scored 122 runs in 111 balls and smashed 21 fours. Joe Root, the most experienced batter of visiting team, could score only 23 runs, as he faced 31 balls and hit three fours. He was also judged LBW on the bowling of Zahid Mehmood. The total was 286 on the scoreboard. He along with Ollie Pope aggregated 51 runs for the third wicket. At Tea Break, England batsmen managed 332 for 3 runs in 54 overs, as this session were bit in favour of Pakistan, as bowler got rid of three opponent batters. Zahid Mehmood claimed two while Haris Rauf one. Ollie Pope was not out on 48 runs while Harry Brook was on 22 not out both batters faced 51 and 23 balls respectively. Ollie hit 8 fours while Brook smashed two fours and only six of the match till tea break. Summarized Scorecard (Day-1): Toss: England won and decided to bat England (Batting): Zak Crawley (122 runs, balls 111, 4x2, 6x0), Ben Duckett (107 runs, 110 balls, 4x15, 6X0), Joe Root (23 runs, 31 balls, 4x3, 6x0),   Pakistan Bowling: Zahid Mehmood Haris Rauf Pakistan (Playing XIs): Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain & WK), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mehmood England (Playing XIs): Ben Stokes (c), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson Schedule of Tests: 9-13 December – 2nd Test, Multan 17-21 December – 3rd Test, Karachi    

Abdul Jabbar Faisal RAWALPINDI: Debuted Zahid Mehmood and Haris Rauf got each one wicket for Pakistan, as England reached at 235 for 2 in 36 overs here at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Earlier, in the morning English skipper Ben Stoke won the coin’s battle and decided to bat first at a dry pitch of Pindi ground. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett showed full aggression and plundered 174 runs in just 27 overs at lunch break. Both batters hit excellent strokes and were on the wicket with 91 and 77 runs respectively hit 17 and 11 boundaries too. After the lunch break, Zak completed his feisty ton in 86 balls studded with 19 boundaries, as he was judged LBW by umpire Ahsan Raza on the bowling of Naseem Shah, as TV umpire Marais Erasmus asked him to change his decision, as the ball was going down the leg-side and was missing the stump. England batters completed 200 total in the 30th over of the innings, as Zak contributed 106 while his partner scored 88 runs. No one Pakistan bowler could make any trouble for the batsmen, who smashed four all around the ground. Ben Duckett reached on his hundred in 106 balls including 14 fours in the 34th over of the inning, as the total was 331. Finally, debuted Zahid Mehood succeeded to get a wicket for Pakistan when Ben Deckett effort to play reverse-sweep and umpire Joel Wilson declared him not out on a big shout for LBW, as on review he had to change his decision in the favour of bowler. He scored 107 runs in 110 balls with the help of 15 boundaries. Both aggressive batters collected 233 runs for the first wicket and provided a solid start to their team in the first Test clash of the three-match series. Zak Crawley was 2nd batter to go back in the pavilion at 235, when pacer Haris Rauf clattered his stumps in 37th over of the English innings. Zaka scored 122 runs in 111 balls and smashed 21 fours.       Summarized Scorecard (Day-1): Toss: England won and decided to bat England (Batting): Zak Crawley (122 runs, balls 111, 4x2, 6x0), Ben Duckett (107 runs, 110 balls, 4x15, 6X0) Pakistan Bowling: Zahid Mehmood Haris Rauf Pakistan (Playing XIs): Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain & WK), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mehmood England (Playing XIs): Ben Stokes (c), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson Schedule of Tests: 9-13 December – 2nd Test, Multan 17-21 December – 3rd Test, Karachi    

Abdul Jabbar Faisal RAWALPINDI: Zak Crawley 91 not out and Ben Duckett 77 not out disarmed the local pace battery, as England reached 174 runs in 27 overs at lunch break here at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Earlier, in the morning English skipper Ben Stoke won the coin’s battle and decided to bat first at a dry pitch of Pindi ground. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett showed full aggression and plundered 174 runs in just 27 overs. Both batters hit excellent strokes and were on the wicket with 91 and 77 runs respectively hit 17 and 11 boundaries too. Pakistan (Playing XIs): Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain & WK), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mehmood England (Playing XIs): Ben Stokes (c), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson Schedule of Tests: 1-5 December – 1st Test, Rawalpindi 9-13 December – 2nd Test, Multan 17-21 December – 3rd Test, Karachi    

Abdul Jabbar Faisal RAWALPINDI: England won the toss and decided to bat first, as both openers started the inning aggressively by hitting boundaries here at Pindi Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi on Thursday. English captain Ben Stoke won the coin’s battle and decided to bat first at a dry pitch of Pindi ground. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett started the innings with full confidence and command and aggregated 103 runs in 14 overs of first hour. Both batters hit excellent strokes and were on the wicket with 58 and 42 runs respectively. Pakistan (Playing XIs): Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain & WK), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mehmood England (Playing XIs): Ben Stokes (c), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson Schedule of Tests: 1-5 December – 1st Test, Rawalpindi 9-13 December – 2nd Test, Multan 17-21 December – 3rd Test, Karachi    

Sports Bulletin Report RAWALPINDI: The organizers set all the thing at the right spots to start the historical three-match Test Series with Pindi Test, which will be kicked off from Thursday (December1, 2022) at Pindi Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi, as the both teams are determined to play positive, entertaining and result oriented cricket. England will play Test series after 17 years on the soil of Pakistan, as the 2nd Test will be in Multan (9-13 December) and 3rd in Karachi (17-21 December), are part of the ICC World Test Championship. Pakistan are presently fifth, while England are seven on the championship table. When England last played in Pakistan in 2005 under Michael Vaughan, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s side had won the three-Test series 2-0. Prior to the 2005 series, Nasser Hussain had led England to a six-wicket victory in Karachi in 2000, marking their first Test win in Pakistan in 39 years that also handed Pakistan’s their first-ever Test loss in Karachi. Since the 2005 series and due to situation beyond the Pakistan Cricket Board’s control, Pakistan hosted England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2012 and 2015, winning five of the six Tests. While the recent past performances in their home Test series makes Pakistan as a favourite, Ben Stokes-led England have also done enough, probably more, to start off with a favourites tag. Stokes led England to ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 title at Lord’s, while on 13 November in Melbourne, he stroked a sparkling half-century against Pakistan to add the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title to the collection. During their home summer season, England defeated New Zealand 3-0 and South Africa 2-1 in Brendon McCullum’s maiden series as head coach. On the ICC rankings charts, England is ranked fourth, while Pakistan in sixth – 11 points behind. If Pakistan wins the series 2-0, they’ll move to 99, while England will slip to 99. In the scenario of Pakistan winning the series 1-0, Pakistan will rise to 97 points and England will drop to 100 points. In the ICC player rankings for Test batters, Root is the No.1 ranked batter, while Babar Azam is ranked number-three. 16th ranked Mohammad Rizwan, 20th-ranked Abdullah Shafique, 21st-ranked Ben Stokes and 25th-ranked Azhar Ali are the other batters from either side to feature inside the top-25. Amongst the bowlers, fifth-ranked James Anderson will start as the highest-ranked bowler from either side. Naseem Shah is Pakistan’s highest-ranked bowler in 59th spot. England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Rehan Ahmed. Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain & WK), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Zahid Mehmood Schedule of Tests: 1-5 December – 1st Test, Rawalpindi 9-13 December – 2nd Test, Multan 17-21 December – 3rd Test, Karachi

BIPIN DANI Thihan Chandramohan will be the new physio for the third and final ODI against Afghanistan, it is learnt here. He will replace Brett Harrop, who after his successful two-year contract with the Sri Lankan team ended is set to take up a new assignment with the New Zealand team.   According to the well-placed sources in Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Thihan Chandramohan has been asked to look after the national team during the 3rd ODI and may be until the new man is hired.  Incidentally, Thihan Chandramohan is also a manager and looks after the rehabilitation of the injured players. Apparently, he was born in Sri Lanka and also holds Australian citizenship.   In the meantime, it is also learnt that no specific name is given to the trophy played for the inaugural series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. However, the "Special Trophy" as described by Nemantha Abeysinghe, the General Manager, Nippon Paints (Title Sponsor for the series) has been made by Bandara and Sons. The prize money for the second ODI, which was called off halfway due to rain, will not be carried forward. There will be a fresh prize money for the third ODI. The adjudicators for deciding the Player of the Match award are five commentators- Roshan Abeysinghe, Russel Arnold, Fervez Mahroof (all Sri Lankans), Afghanistan's Ahmad Farhad Fidai and Zimbabwe's Tino Mawoyo.

faisal RAWALPINDI: English pacer James Anderson, 40, revealed to play cricket till he would be fit for international competitions and no plan to hang the shoes in near future. While addressing a press conference at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday he said that he was completely fit for international cricket. “I am to visit Pakistan, as it is my second trip and it’s nice to see the restoration of international cricket on the soil of Pakistan, “he added. “We are practicing in Pindi stadium and the weather is excellent and we are trying to mix-up with the atmosphere, I am expecting there will be wetness on the pitch and will be helpful and supporting for the pacers too. We have also analyzed the previous series that played here against Australia and South Africa and we are planning to play our natural and aggressive game, “he further added. Right-arm fast bowler while replying to a question said that Pakistan was a great team and could not be underestimated. “Hosts bowling attack is strong and powerful. Babar Azam is leading the side and is also a good batsmen and I hope people of twin cities Rawalpindi and Islamabad will enjoy good cricket and both sides have great players in the squad, “he asserted. James, who played 175 Test and got 667 wickets, said: “I am toiling hard to maintain my fitness level to produce remarkable performance in the three Test match Tie, which will be rolled into action from Thursday at Pindi Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi, “he concluded.