Sports Bulletin

Pakistan have never qualified for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup knockout stages but experienced batter Javeria Khan insists they now have the tools needed to progress. Pakistan have yet to hit their potential at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, winning six of 24 games at the global showpiece Javeria has 97 T20I caps to her name and skippered the side at the 2018 edition Pakistan get their campaign underway against the West Indies on 26 February in Canberra Bismah Maroof’s side have featured in all six editions of the global event and are yet to advance beyond the group stages, winning only six games in the process. Sri Lanka are the only other ever-presents to have never reached the last four. But Javeria, 31, says tussling with top sides England, South Africa and New Zealand in bilateral series will help her side convert promise into performances. “We are closing the gap with every match we play against the top teams,” she said. “We would come to World Cups to play India and Australia with no experience of facing them outside tournaments. How could we grow? “The ICC have done this tremendously well with the introduction of the ICC Women’s Championship. Now, we are playing big teams and that’s why we’re gradually improving. “We used to get hammered by Australia and England but recently, we’ve been in a position to win matches against them and mentality is the main difference. “We have the talent, we just have to manage pressure at crucial times. There is a golden chance that we can reach the semi-finals.” Since the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2018, Pakistan have shown promise and beat Bangladesh 3-0 in a bilateral series, while also drawing 2-2 with South Africa. Javeria’s opening partner for their first group game against West Indies will likely be either 15-year-old Ayeesha Naseem, awaiting her T20I debut, or Muneeba Ali who hasn’t featured since 2018. Fielding and fitness are other long-standing bugbears for Pakistan, who underwent a ten-day conditioning camp in their homeland to prepare for the tournament. Javeria - who will play in her seventh T20 World Cup this month - knows her nation must step up in the field to achieve their semi-final dream. “The improvement is not dramatic, but we are growing gradually in the field,” she said. “We have fielded better in the last year, compared to how we used to. Fielding turns the game. “We have grown and there will be improvement in our unit. If we want to win, we have to field well and the girls must realise this.”

SB News LAHORE (February 15, 2020);-Since its advent the HBL Pakistan Super League has brought forward some riveting on-field rivalries and contests between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi have kept the fans at the edge of their seats. Gladiators and Zalmi are the two most successful teams in the history of HBL PSL with success percentages of 61.90 and 58.69, respectively, and both the teams have bagged an HBL PSL title once. After two nail-biting play-offs between them, they faced-off in the 2017 edition’s final, which was played at Pakistan’s home of cricket, Qaddafi Stadium, and was the first HBL PSL match on the Pakistan soil. Peshawar Zalmi, captained by Darren Sammy, were the comfortable winners in that match by 58 runs. Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Gladiators avenged the defeat last year as they secured an eight-wicket win over Zalmi in front of a rousing Karachi crowd at the National Stadium. Both Gladiators and Zalmi have played three finals each and there has been no HBL PSL final in which either of the sides hasn’t featured. Because of their brilliant record and star-power in the ranks, both teams enjoy massive fan following stretching across Pakistan and the two group-stage contests between them on 22 February in Karachi and 5 March in Rawalpindi are expected to fill the stadiums to their capacity. Past results (matches 14; Gladiators have won eight; Zalmi have won five; one ended in no-result): The two teams have produced some of the most epic battles in the play-off stages over the course of the four seasons. The rivalry between these two sides kicked-off when they met in the first-ever Qualifier of the HBL PSL – in 2016 – when Gladiators beat Zalmi by one run to secure a berth in the final. Entering that contest the two sides had honours even as both had come out victorious once in the two group matches. They met again in the 2017 edition’s Qualifier with the result eerily the same – Gladiators’ victory by one run. Zalmi, three days later, got better of Karachi Kings in the second Eliminator to secure a berth in the final and subsequently secured their first-ever HBL PSL title by beating Gladiators. The next season, they faced off in an Eliminator after Zalmi and Gladiators finished at third and fourth spots respectively. The margin of the result was the same – one run – as in the previous two editions’ Qualifiers, but this time Zalmi were at the winning end. Similar to the 2017 edition, the two teams met four times in the 2019 edition. Gladiators secured a 10-run win in the Qualifier and four days later they beat Zalmi, this time by eight wickets, to secure their maiden HBL PSL title. Major players in the two squads for the HBL PSL 2020 season: With an aim to add another HBL PSL trophy in their cabinet, the two sides have assembled strong squads. Peshawar Zalmi boast best performers of the HBL PSL in their side in the likes of Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz who have the most runs (1,286 in 47 matches) and the most wickets (65 in 45 matches) respectively. Zalmi’s batting unit is enhanced by the inclusion of Shoaib Malik - who has 2,309 runs in T20I cricket, the most for Pakistan – and Tom Banton, who on the back of prolific white-ball form made ODI and T20I debuts for England recently. Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy and Imam-ul-Haq, who finished as the fifth-highest run-getter in the last edition with 341 runs including four half-centuries, form the core of Zalmi’s batting unit. In the supplementary category Zalmi have included the exciting young opening batsman Haider Ali who represented Pakistan U19 in the recently concluded ICC U19 Cricket World Cup played in South Africa. The bowling unit will be spearheaded by Wahab. Hasan Ali, who will make return to competitive cricket after recovering from injury, and left-armer Rahat Ali will further add depth to the pace-bowling. Mohammad Mohsin is an exciting inclusion in the Zalmi line-up. The 26-year-old leggie took nine wickets at an average of 19.44 in the National T20 Cup in Faisalabad in October last year. They also have in their ranks two exciting teenage bowlers, left-arm-spinner Aamir Ali and fast-bowler Amir Khan, both featured in Pakistan’s U19 World Cup side that finished third in South Africa. Gladiators also have an equally exciting line-up with Shane Watson, who was the player-of-the-tournament in 2019, expected to deliver goods once again. Jason Roy, one of the most successful white-ball top-order batsmen in international cricket, Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad and captain Sarfaraz Ahmed form the batting core. In the bowling department all eyes will be on Naseem Shah, who will make his maiden HBL PSL appearance, and Mohammad Hasnain, who delivered the fastest ball of the previous edition and took three wickets for 30 runs in the final at Karachi’s National Stadium last year. The two youngsters will have the support of left-arm quick Tymal Mills, while the spin-attack will be led by Mohammad Nawaz and Fawad Ahmed. They also have an U19 rookie in their ranks. Karachi-born Aarish Ali Khan also represented Pakistan U19 in South Africa. He has the pedigree to make an impression as an emerging force this season. With the HBL PSL being held in Pakistan for the first time, the excitement is at its peak and it continues to grow with every passing day. When these two sides come face-to-face, the fans are expected to be served with thrilling matches. And, if history is any measure, they will be in the play-offs, with the matches expected to shatter nerves again especially if they are decided on the last ball. Squads: Peshawar Zalmi: Platinum – Hasan Ali, Kieron Pollard (from 7 March) and Wahab Riaz Diamond – Kamran Akmal, Tom Banton, Shoaib Malik and Carlos Brathwaite (till 7 March) Gold – Darren Sammy, Imam-ul-Haq and Liam Dawson Silver – Umar Amin, Mohammad Mohsin, Rahat Ali, Lewis Gregory and Adil Amin Emerging – Amir Khan and Amir Ali Supplementary – Liam Livingstone and Haider Ali uetta Gladiators: Platinum – Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain) and Jason Roy Diamond – Shane Watson, Ahmed Shehzad and Ben Cutting Gold – Umar Akmal, Mohammad Hasnain and Fawad Ahmed Silver – Ahsan Ali, Naseem Shah, Sohail Khan, Tymal Mills, Abdul Nasir Emerging – Arish Ali Khan and Azam Khan Supplementary – Keemo Paul (from 7 March), Khurram Manzoor and Zahid Mehmood (till 7 March)

Chamara Atapattu The Sri Lanka captain is excited at the prospects of the young players in the squad and is hoping the matches ahead of the tournament will help her team perform better than in preceding tournaments A tournament like this always brings so much excitement, for the players and the supporters, and we’re all looking forward to seeing what these players can do. With five players over 30, there is also lots of experience in this team to allow the younger players to learn and show what they are capable of on the cricket field. The mixture of senior girls and up-and-coming juniors is something we’re really keen to look out for, so all in all we’re pretty happy with the team we are taking to Australia. As a country, we’ve always expressed the notion that if you’re good enough, you’re old enough, and that’s no different in this squad. We like to give players opportunities and at 21, Harshitha Madavi has shown she is capable of stepping up as a leader. She has impressed with the bat and in the field, and I’m excited to see what she brings to the team as vice-captain in this World Cup. A lot of this group is new but we won’t be short of experience together. We will have played 24 practice games before our first game of the tournament, so we are a team that is well-prepared. We’ve also had some recent experience in Australia as part of the ICC ODI Championship and we also played three-match T20I series, so we’re making sure our preparation is correct. That was a very good dress rehearsal for us – most of the players that will feature in the World Cup were on tour there, so we got used to playing in those conditions. We’ll be having a camp in Melbourne before we get going with the warm-up matches, we’ll be training and playing some matches out there which should be a really important part of preparation. As for the group, we know we have some difficult teams that we will be coming up against, but we are confident in our abilities and know that victories are achievable. First up, we are up against New Zealand and Australia, both games in Perth, which we know will be tough tests against teams that are well suited to the conditions. But these challenges are what we have been working for, we have been getting ourselves used to the pitches that we are going to be playing on to help us be as prepared as possible for the matches. Because we’ve done that, if we are able to play to our full capabilities then we can certainly put in some strong challenges to those teams. We’ll then be heading back across to Melbourne to face India and Bangladesh, two teams we know quite well, so we’re looking forward to all of the matches we have. We know that those two teams will be difficult but we are confident in what we do, we are playing on neutral pitches and I believe that will be the key to a good game of cricket. The first aim for us is making the semi-finals, getting in the top two in the group will get us there and we’re confident and happy with the preparations we’ve had to help get us there. We’ve never been beyond the first round and that’s a record we’re desperate to put right, especially having played in each of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cups so far. We have shown in previous tournaments – such as beating India in 2014 and South Africa in 2016 – that we are capable of putting in these big performances. For us now, the challenge is putting together multiple big games in the same tournament.

Sports Desk ISLAMABAD (February 13, 2020):-The International Cricket Council announced the match officials for the league phase of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020, with three match referees and 12 umpires set to take the reins for the 23-match tournament. Umpires Sue Redfern, Claire Polosak and Langton Rusere form part of the 14-member officiating team. A record six women match officials among 15 named for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia The complete league phase appointments can be found in the Resources section of our Online Media Zone The list of match officials includes a record six women. GS Lakshmi is set to become the first woman match referee at a global ICC event, with Lauren Agenbag, Kim Cotton, Claire Polosak, Sue Redfern and Jacqueline Williams the women umpires named for the eight-team competition. Williams will stand along with Shaun George in the high-profile tournament opener between Australia and India on 21 February, soon after becoming the first woman to officiate as a third umpire in a men's international cricket match, while other women officials too will be looking to build on recent achievements. Polosak, who became the first female umpire to officiate in a men’s ODI last year, will pair with Nitin Menon in the match between former champions West Indies and first-timers Thailand on 22 February, a fixture that will also see match referee Lakshmi officiate two months since becoming the first female match referee in a men’s ODI. Adrian Griffith, ICC Senior Manager, Umpires and Referees: “This is the largest compliment of women match officials at a single event, and the progress we have made is heartening. We have endeavoured to provide opportunities to women officials based on merit, and it is because of their skillset and hard work that they have graduated to the top level. “We appoint the best match officials for an event and are pleased we have the right mix. I wish all match officials at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup the very best and am confident we will have smooth adjudication of the matches.” Emirates ICC Elite Panel Match Referee Chris Broad will be the senior most match official at the event with Steve Bernard also a match referee. The other umpires at the tournament will be Gregory Brathwaite, Chris Brown, Ahsan Raza, Langton Rusere and Alex Wharf. The appointments for the semi-finals will be announced at the end of the league stage and those for the final will be finalised after the semi-finals. Match Officials at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 Match Referees: Steve Bernard, Chris Broad, GS Lakshmi Umpires: Lauren Agenbag, Gregory Brathwaite, Chris Brown, Kim Cotton, Shaun George, Nitin Menon, Claire Polosak, Ahsan Raza, Sue Redfern, Langton Rusere, Alex Wharf, Jacqueline Williams

Salman Khan LAHORE (February 13, 2020):-In a major boost to the coverage of HBL Pakistan Super League 2020, the Pakistan Cricket Board and Sports News Television (SNTV) reached an agreement which will provide news broadcasters around the world access to match highlights of Pakistan’s flagship tournament. Along with news highlights from all 34 matches, which will be played from 20 February to 22 March, SNTV’s network of global media organisations will also have access to coverage of all press conferences. Founded in 1996, SNTV is a world class sports video partner relied upon by over 1,200 media organisations to fulfil their content needs 24 hours a day, with 115+ territories reached worldwide. PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said: “The PCB is delighted to be partnering with a prestigious global sports news video agency like SNTV for the HBL Pakistan Super League. Through SNTV’s subscribers, the PCB hopes to reach out to millions of viewers and followers of Pakistan cricket across the globe. “With 36 foreign cricketers involved in the six-team 32-day competition, broadcasters in their territories will be able to highlight their players’ performances, which, in turn, will also showcase the passion and love for cricket in Pakistan. This is critical for our objectives to boost the image and profile of Pakistan, and attract more foreign teams, tourists and foreign investment in the country. “The powerful HBL Pakistan Super League brand will also help SNTV to generate and distribute more quality content to its subscribers and strengthen its global cricket output.” SNTV Managing Director James Dobbs said: “We are pleased to be able to partner with the PCB and offer increased reach and exposure of this year’s HBL Pakistan Super League via our unique distribution network. “SNTV already offers extensive international cricket coverage and adding to this, both highlights and news from the HBL PSL, will provide our broadcast partners even greater coverage.” About SNTV: For rights-holders and brands who want to connect with sports fans worldwide, SNTV is the dedicated sports video partner that expertly creates and delivers quality sports video content that matters. Our partnership of The Associated Press and IMG ensures our cameras and crews can be in place anywhere in the world, putting our global network of media partners inside every story, delivering more firsts and more exclusives than any other sports video agency. https://www.sntv.com    

SB News KARACHI (February 13, 2020):-Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoon Kawa (KPK) have won their match in the Blind Cricket Super League One Day Tournament at two different venues of Karachi City. Islamabad Vs KPK: (Venue: Rashid Latif Cricket Academy, Karachi) Islamabad won the toss and decided to bat first. Riding on the tons of Mohammad Safdar 112 off 61 balls featuring 13 (4’s) and 1 six and Mohammad Rashid’s 103 off 56 balls with the help of 17 boundaries, Islamabad made mammoth 440 for 7 runs. Anees Javed also played exceptionally well for his 95 runs off 60 balls, missed his century just by mere 5 runs. For KPK Riasat Khan took 2 wickets while Matiullah, Abdul Rasheed, Mohammad Akram and Mohammad Ali claimed a wicket a piece. The target of 441 runs, apparently an unsurmountable task, made easy by the veterans Mohammad Akram and Tahir Ali. Mohammad Akram played another gem of an innings, he got out after scoring 211 runs off 93 balls featuring 37 boundaries. Tahir Ali kept his head cool after the departure of Mohammad Akam and took his team home with unbeaten 78 runs. KPK chased the target in 37.4 overs for the loss of 6 wickets. Ahtesham, Safdar, Idrees and Kamran shared a wicket each. Result: KPK won by 4 wickets Man of the Match: Mohammad Akram ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Balochistan Vs Sindh (Venue: PAF Faisal Airbase Ground) Event’s 8th match was played between Balochistan and Sindh. Sindh outplayed rocking Balochistan by 78 runs. Sindh batted first after winning toss and made huge total of 428 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in 40 overs. Sanauallah played an incredible knock of unbeaten 235 runs off 132 balls, he hit 29 boundaries and 3 big sixes. Two double centuries were scored today, each in both matches. Sanauallah became the first to score double ton in this event. For Sindh the 2nd highest scorer was Shahzaib Hyder, he made 52 runs not out. Sajid Nawaz was the only successful bowler for Balochistan, he took 2 wickets. Balochitsan in reply lost early wickets, Akmal Hayyat, Badar Munir and Sajid Nawaz fell cheaply. Shahzaib Hayder with deadly bowling ran through the batting order of Balochistan, he took 4 wickets. Balochistan was in deep trouble as half of their side was sent back to pavilion at the score of 73 runs. Thereafter, Mohammad Usman and Mohammad Arsalan rescued the sinking ship and together knitted 233 runs partnership for 6th wicket, but wasn’t enough to reach the uphill target. Mohammad Usman made 129 runs off 81 balls and Mohammad Arsalan scored unbeaten 89 runs. Balochistan made 350 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 40 overs. Result: Sindh won by 78 runs        Man of the Match: Sanaullah

Ayaz Raza Afridi PESHAWAR (February 13, 2020):-Although, Test Cricketer from Khyber Pakhtoon Kawa (KPK) Naseem Shah achieved a great mark in the history of cricket by getting hat-Trick at Pindi Cricket Stadium while another guy from same region Waqas-ur-Rehman, an 18 years old journalist, made a history after covering  International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Championship matches at Pindi Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi. A young journalist associated to Radio Tazeeb Waqas-ur-Rehman covered a test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh for the Radio Tazeeb, at the age of 18 years and 2 months and the match was held at Rawalpindi stadium from February 7 to 11, 2020. Waqas said that it was not just a test match but it was a Test Championship and it had great importance. ”I am very lucky that I am covering an International Sports event at the age of 18. He said that he really enjoyed by doing work with the seniors and ideal journalists. On the other side the President of Khybar Pakhtoon Khawa Sports Writers Association and the sports journalist Ijaz Ahmad Daudzai claimed that it was an honor and it will be useful for Waqas to cover this match. He said that as a player feels honored by playing cricket for himself as it is same for a journalist to cover a big event. He was optimistic for the youngest journalist that he would continue sports journalism. General Secretary of KPK Radio Broadcasting Foram named Afsar Afghan claimed that sports journalism is such a difficult beat and especially coverage of a test match is quite difficult. He added more that “by covering of this teat match the youngest journalist waqas has proved that nothing is difficult in the world”. It is very being appreciated to cover the match for the radio and make people informed, also thanked to the Radio Tazeeb to give opportunity to a youngster, the secretary concluded.        

SB News ISLAMABAD (February 12, 2020):-Five changes have been made in the Pakistan Shaheens’ line-up for a 50-over contest against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Aitchison College on 16 February after HBL PSL franchises called-up players for the preparations in the lead up to the tournament. Ehsan Adil, Imran Butt, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Asghar and Sajid Khan will replace Akif Javed, Haider Ali, Mohammad Mohsin, Saif Badar and Umar Khan respectively in the 12-player squad which will be captained by Saud Shakeel. The replacements have been made on the basis of performances in the domestic events with an aim of providing exposure and opportunities to top performers of the domestic events. Pacer Ehsan Adil took 18 wickets in nine first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019-20 matches at an average of 32.67 for Central Punjab, the eventual winners of the tournament. With 934 runs in nine matches, 24-year-old Imran Butt was the highest run getter in the same tournament.   Mohammad Irfan Khan, a 17-year-old batsman, has been in the Pakistan U19 set-up since Pakistan’s tour of South Africa in June last year. He donned the national colours in the ACC U19 Asia Cup in September 2019 and during the recently-concluded ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. In the domestic circuit, the right-hander made 475 runs in 10 three-day non first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy contests at an average of 47.50. For their outstanding run with the ball in the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, 21-year-old Mohammad Asghar (27 wickets in eight matches) and 26-year-old Sajid Khan (25 wickets in six matches) have also been drafted in the 12-member line-up. Asghar and Sajid, the two spinners, were at the fourth and fifth spots in the list of highest wicket-takers that tournament. Meanwhile, Northern, who play a T20 match against the MCC at the same venue on 17 February, have also made a change in their line-up for similar reasons. Musa Khan, who graduated to the highest level by making his Test debut Down Under in Novermber last year, has been replaced with Munir Riaz, who took 14 wickets in six matches in the National U19 Three-Day Tournament 2019-20. Updated squads: Pakistan Shaheens Saud Shakeel (captain) (Sindh) Ehsan Adil (Central Punjab) Hassan Mohsin (Sindh) Imran Butt (Balochistan) Imran Rafiq (Southern Punjab) Mohammad Irfan Khan (Central Punjab Second XI) Mohammad Asghar (Balochistan) Omair Bin Yousaf (Sindh) Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper) (Northern) Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Sameen Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Zeeshan Malik (Northern) Northern Rohail Nazir (captain, wicketkeeper) Faizan Riaz (vice-captain) Ali Imran Haider Ali Mubashir Khan (Northern U19) Munir Riaz (Northern U19) Nuaman Ali Sarmad Bhatti Shahzad Azam Shiraz Khan (Northern U19) Zaid Alam Zeeshan Malik  

LAHORE (PR):-The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB on Wednesday concluded its proceedings into an alleged misconduct involving Umar Akmal during a fitness test. After listening to all the parties involved, it was established that the incident happened due to a misunderstanding. After Umar Akmal offered his regrets for his actions, the PCB reprimanded him and also reminded him of his responsibilities as a senior cricketer. The matter is now closed. The PCB and Umar Akmal will offer no further comments.  

Sports Reporter ISLAMABAD (February 11, 2020):-The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has expressed its grief and sorrow over the passing of former Test batsman Waqar Hasan in Karachi this morning. He was 87. Waqar, born in Amritsar on 12 September 1932, was the last surviving member of the Pakistan’s first-ever Test side that played against India in New Delhi in October 1952. On that tour, Waqar had scores of eight, five (in New Delhi), 23 (in Lucknow), 81, 65 (in Mumbai), 49 (in Chennai) and 29 and 97 (in Kolkata). He was also the member of the Pakistan side which recorded a historic win over England at The Oval in 1954 by 24 runs. As an attractive batsman, Waqar ended his 21-Test career in 1959 after scoring 1,071 runs. His only century (189) came against New Zealand at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore in October 1955. His 189 was then a Pakistan record, which was broken next day by Imtiaz Ahmed, who scored 209 as the two batsmen put on 308 for the seventh wicket - a Pakistan record. Following retirement, Waqar continued to serve Pakistan cricket in various administrative roles, including chair of the national selection committee in 1982-83. PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said: “It is a sad day for Pakistan cricket as today we have lost our last hero who put us on the world cricket map in 1952. He was from that elite group cricketers that laid the foundation of what turned into a proud cricket nation. “I had the privilege of knowing him personally and I have nothing but utmost respect for Waqar. “Waqar was not only an outstanding cricketer but a thorough gentleman who set very high standards. He was an articulate and smart cricket administrator who contributed in Pakistan with his wisdom and progressive approach and vision. “On behalf of the PCB, I offer my deepest condolences to Waqar Hasan’s family and friends, and assure them that Waqar will always be remembered for the immense contribution he made to Pakistan cricket.”