Northern beat Balochistan by eight wickets  SB Report KARACHI (November 28, 2019):-Impressive all-round performance against Balochistan at UBL Sports Complex handed Northern their second four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy win, which helped them climb to third spot on the points table. On the last day of the ninth round fixture, Northern chased down the 192-run target in 32.2 overs, scoring at an impressive run rate of 5.94. Ali Sarfaraz and Faizan Riaz remained unbeaten on 95 and 52, and cracked an undefeated 118-run partnership after openers Umar Amin and Zeeshan Malik fell for one and 37.  Ali cracked 15 fours and a six in his blistering knock, which lasted 87 balls. Faizan smashed four fours and four sixes in the 43 balls he faced. Earlier in the day, Balochistan added 44 runs to their overnight score of 189 for eight.  Wicketkeeper-batsman Bismillah Khan, after resuming his innings on 32, marched on to his first-class career’s 20th half-century and scored 69 off 101 balls with six fours and two sixes.  Northern captain Nauman Ali bagged his fifth five-wicket haul of the tournament – the most for any bowler this season. The left-arm orthodox returned five for 75. He was supported by Waqas Ahmed, who claimed for wickets at the expense of 72 runs.  After gaining 22 points from the match, Northern have jumped to the third spot on the table with 106 points. They were on ranked fourth before the commencements of the ninth round. Balochistan, at the bottom of the points table, are out of the race for the final.  Northern take on second-ranked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at State Bank Stadium in Karachi in the final round, which begins on 2 December. Balochistan play Sindh, ranked fifth and also out of the contention for final, at the National Stadium.  Scores in brief:  Balochistan 300 all-out, 90.2 (Imran Butt 124, Umar Gul 51, Imran Farhat 32; Sadaf Hussain 4-75, Nauman Ali 3-80) and 233 all-out, 79.5 overs (Bismillah Khan 69, Imran Farhat 55, Akbar-ur-Rehman 41; Nauman Ali 5-75, Waqas Ahmed 4-72)  Northern 342 all-out, 86.2 overs (Jamal Anwar 93, Sarmad Bhatti 86, Umar Amin 69; Taj Wali 6-89, Umar Gul 2-61) and 192-2, 32.2 overs (Ali Sarfraz 95 not out, Faizan Riaz 52 not out, Zeeshan Malik 37)

Sohail Tanvir reprimanded for code of conduct violation Abdullah Asjad ISLAMABAD (November 28, 2019):-Sohail Tanvir has been reprimanded for a Level 1 offence which relates to abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a match in Northern’s ninth round four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture against Balochistan at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi.  The incident occurred after the conclusion of the 41st over of Balochistan’s second innings when Sohail kicked the ball out of frustration for being unable to take a wicket. The Northern bowler was charged by on-field umpires Qaiser Waheed and Imran Jawed for the violation of Article 2.2 of the PCB’s Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. Sohail pleaded guilty and was reprimanded by match referee Ahmer Saeed.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Central Punjab by 211 runs SB News LAHORE (November 28, 2019):-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa handed Central Punjab their first defeat of the season as they recorded a 211-run win in the ninth round of the four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture at NBP Stadium. Central Punjab, chasing 325, were bowled out for 113 in the afternoon session on the last day of the match.  Mohammad Saad and Umar Akmal, who resumed their innings on the overnight scores of one and 0, showed resistance in the earlier part of the morning session, adding 45 runs for the fifth-wicket. But, Central Punjab began losing wickets, one after another, after drinks and were 89 for seven at Lunch. Umar top scored with 43 from 76 balls, hitting seven fours, while Saad made 12 from 50 balls. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dismissed the remaining three wickets in the earlier half of the second session with leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin doing most of the damage with three for 34. Middle-order batsman Usman Salahuddin was not out on 29 from 118 balls. He hit two fours and a six. That Central Punjab found themselves in a precarious situation at the start of the day’s play was due to Usman Shinwari’s fiery spell yesterday in which he took three wickets for two runs in 2.2 overs. This is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s second consecutive win in the tournament. Scores in brief: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 355 all-out, 123.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 96, Khalid Usman 72 not out, Mohammad Moshin 56, Israrullah 51, Ashfaq Ahmed 29; Zafar Gohar 4-143, Bilal Asif 3-98, Usman Qadir 2-60) and 197-7d, 54 overs (Israrullah 40, Sahibzada Farhan 36, Zohaib Khan 31 not out, Khalid Usman 21 not out, Fakhar Zaman 21; Zafar Gohar 4-82) Central Punjab 228 all-out, 84.1 overs (Mohammad Saad 49, Kamran Akmal 39, Umar Akmal 34, Usman Qadir 32 not out; Khalid Usman 4-67, Sajid Khan 3-55, Mohammad Mohsin 2-57) and 113 all-out, 59.5 overs (Umar Akmal 43, Usman Salahuddin 29; Usman Shinwari 3-20, Mohammad Mohsin 3-34, Sajid Khan 2-15)

Fawad, Sarfaraz score big hundreds against Southern Punjab SB News Islamabad 27 November 2019: Fawad Alam scored a double hundred and captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed a century as Sindh grinded down Southern Punjab on day-three of the four-day day first-class ninth-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match at the National Stadium on Wednesday. Fawad stroked his way to the fourth double century of his career making (211 from 309 balls) while Sarfaraz (131 from 174 balls) scored his first hundred in domestic cricket in five-years to put together a big partnership of 278 runs for the fifth wicket. Their partnership allowed Sindh to end on 486 in response to Southern’s 517 for 9 declared. Fawad achieved another personal milestone when he also crossed 12,000 first-class runs. Their stand effectively ended any hopes that the Southern team harboured of forcing a result in the match and trying to grab second spot in the points table when Sindh resumed on 142 for three this morning. The two forged their alliance and took Sindh to 253 for four at lunch after overnight batsman, Saad Ali fell early adding just four runs to his overnight score as he was caught for 60 from 106 balls on the bowling of Bilawal Bhatti who finished with four for 82. But Saad’s overnight partner, Fawad who resumed on 60 showed no intentions of giving up his wicket and he found an able partner in his captain as their century partnership came from just 138 balls in 107 minutes. Southpaw Fawad who is a prolific scorer in first-class cricket with an imposing batting average of 56 completed his third century of the season after lunch. Sarfaraz who last scored a century in domestic first-class cricket for PIA against ZTBL way back in 2014 was more aggressive reaching his hundred from 119 balls with 12 fours. As the two batted together the Southern bowlers wilted on an unresponsive pitch and even the second new ball didn’t produce the desired results for pacers, Bilawal, Zia-ul-Haq and Umaid Asif. Eventually it was the tall left-arm spinner, Muhammad Irfan who broke through when bowling consistently round the wicket he got one to bounce more from a bowlers run-up patch and Sarfaraz going forward to play a defensive shot top edged to the bowler. Sarfaraz’s innings of 131 spanned 174 balls and included 13 fours. Fawad, however, found Anwar Ali (28) to be a good partner and carried on reaching his double hundred by hitting off-spinner, Agha Salman to deep mid-wicket for a four to reach his personal milestone. He was finally caught at deep mid-on trying to hit the same shot against Irfan as his innings included 25 fours. Bilawal than trapped Hassan Khan leg before for nine and also picked up Anwar caught  at first slip and Waleed Ahmed to hasten an end to the Sindh innings while last man Shahnawaz Dhani was run out. Both teams took the 5 bonus points for batting as they scored 400 plus in their 110 overs. Scores in brief: Southern Punjab 517 for 9 declared, 133.3 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 133, Adnan Akmal 107 not out, Sohaib Maqsood 81; Anwer Ali 5-75, Hassan Khan 2-110) Sindh 486 all out, 132 overs (Fawad Alam 211, Sarfaraz Ahmed 131, Saad Ali 60; Zia-ul-Haq 3-105, Muhammad Irfan 2-129)  

Shah Hussain Shah Jumps up five more steps Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD (November 27, 2019):In his pursuit for the place for Tokyo 2020, while playing in Osaka Grand Slam, Olympian Judoka Shah Hussain Shah reached to 39th position in recently updated Olympic ranking list. According to Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF), this is ever highest any South Asian judoka could earn.  He lost against world number 4 and world champion of 2017 Aaron Wolf from Japan in pre quarterfinal. He secured 160 points in this highest level of contest after World championship. With this he accumulated 904 points thus far ahead of his rivals of this Asian continent. Col (Retd) Junaid Alam, President PJF expressed entire satisfaction over his unprecedented marvelous performance. “Pakistan Judo Federation is holding all his expenditure of his Olympic run by giving him full priority. We are not sending anyone else anywhere other than Shah who is being sent alone even without coach, “he said. “Judo qualifying for Olympic is unlike other sports where there are 3-4 Olympic qualifiers, contested by an athlete or a team. Here it is entirely a different game which poor federations simply cannot afford. A Federation has to field him in maximum number of IJF Calendar events of last 2 years qualifying period with each having different weightage. Usually there are more than 10 events in half of a year.  If you miss any event the others get full benefit and their ranking go up against you. In last four months, he was sent by PJF to participate in 7 different championships round the globe, “he said. It is pertinent to mention here that Shah had missed Australian Grand Prix Nov 2019 due to visa issue. In start of next year he would suffer another setback as the first Grand Slam is being held in Israel, which he cannot participate due to obvious reason. This is likely to harm his standing, but nothing could be done in this regard. However PJF has planned to send him to a 6 weeks tour of Europe in Feb to March where he would not only attend IJF training Camp but will also participate in all grand prix and grand slam tournaments. In this crucial time unfortunately, there is no support from any quarter so far despite so many requests to all concerned. Even routine monetary grants given to the National Federations were stopped due to ongoing sports reforms. However, on request of President PJF as well as Shah’s father (Boxing Legend Olympic medalist Hussain Shah) one month ago, Federal Minister IPC Fahmida Mirza has reportedly approved 1.5 million RS for his participation in qualifiers from August to December 2019 but nothing is released so far.  Same way, there is no sponsor found as these are usually attracted to the popular sports like cricket, football, hockey and Kabaddi.

Balochistan lead Northern by 147 runs with two wickets remaining Abdullah Asjad Islamabad, 27 November 2019:Bowlers dominated day three of the ninth round four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture between Balochistan and Northern at the UBL stadium as Balochistan were 189 for eight in their second innings. Thirteen wickets fell on Wednesday as Northern, continuing their first innings, were skittled out for 342 after adding only 45 runs to their overnight score before Nauman Ali and Waqas Ahmed shared Balochistan’s seven out of eight wickets. In the first session of the day, Balochistan's paceman Taj Wali ripped through the Northern's batting line-up to claim his 15th five-wicket haul in first class cricket. The left-arm medium-fast took three more wickets on day three to return six wickets for 89 runs in 20.2 overs. Sarmad Bhatti and Jamal Anwar added three and 32 runs, respectively, to their overnight scores. Sarmad made 86 off 176, hitting nine fours and a six, while Jamal cracked 11 fours in his 93 from 120 balls. With a deficit of 42 runs, Balochistan's openers failed to provide the desired beginning as both openers Imran Butt (28) and Azeem Ghumman (eight) were back in the dressing room by Lunch. Akbar-ur-Rehman and skipper Imran Farhat consolidated the innings to escort Balochistan to 113 at Tea. The pair stitched an 84-run partnership for the third wicket with Akbar scoring a 114-ball 41 and Imran recording his 70th first-class half-century with a 114-ball 55. In the final session of the day, Northern's bowlers came into the act, snapping up quick wickets to squeeze Balochistan. Wicketkeeper-batsman Bismillah Khan put up resistance with 32 not out from 41 balls (4x4s). Balochistan are 147 runs ahead and will be relying on Bismillah – who is joined by Mohammad Asghar (three) – to help them post a decent target. Scores in brief: Balochistan 300 all-out, 90.2 overs (Imran Butt 124, Umar Gul 51, Imran Farhat 32; Sadaf Hussain 4-75, Nauman Ali 3-80) and 189-8, 65 overs (Imran Farhat 55, Akbar-ur-Rehman 41, Bismillah Khan 32 not out; Nauman Ali 4-62, Waqas Ahmed 3-54) Northern 342 all-out, 86.2 overs (Jamal Anwar 93, Sarmad Bhatti 86, Umar Amin 69; Taj Wali 6-89, Umar Gul 2-61)  

Quaid-e Azam Trophy Second XI Final: Mukhtar and Tayyab score centuries Abdullah Asjad Islamabad 26 November 2019: Opening batsman Mukhtar Ahmed and middle-order batsman Tayyab Tahir struck centuries for Southern Punjab against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on day-one of the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2nd XI tournament being played at State Bank Stadium in Karachi. Southern Punjab electing to bat first, managed to score 369 for five in 83 overs. Anas Mustafa and Mukhtar Ahmed contributed 137 runs for the first-wicket partnership. Anas’ innings of 61 from 90 balls included seven fours and a six. Mukhtar scored 103 off 183 balls. His 223 minutes stay at the crease included eight fours and a six. Tayyab Tahir coming to bat at number four scored a quick-fire unbeaten 90-ball 107, hitting four fours and six sixes. He contributed an undefeated 141-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Umair (45 off 52 balls). For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, left-arm spinner Asif Afridi took two wickets for 87 runs in 27 overs. In return, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were 27 for no loss in five overs when stumps were drawn. Scores in brief: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Southern Punjab, State Bank Stadium, Karachi Southern Punjab 369-5, 83 overs (Tayyab Tahir 107 not out, Mukhtar Ahmed 103, Anas Mustafa 61, Mohammad Umair 45 not out; Asif Afridi 2-87) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 27-0, five overs -ENDS-

Western Warriors crowned U18 Women’s T20 Champions Abdullah Asjad ISLAMABAD ( November 2019):-Western Warriors beat Northern Renegades by eight wickets to win the inaugural Skills 2 Shine U18 Women’s Cricket T20 Championship at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. The tournament is part of Pakistan Cricket Board’s efforts to identify and develop a pool of cricketers ahead of the 2021 ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup and promote the sport amongst young girls.  The tournament included four teams, which were finalised by the national women’s selection committee after trials all over the country. A total of seven matches, including the final, were played with the group matches staged at the Bagh-e-Jinnah Ground.  In the final on Sunday, Western Warriors chased down the 87-run target in 14.4 overs as their captain Ayesha Naseem top-scored with an unbeaten 34 from 17 balls, while other notable performance came from opener Saima Malik who scored 26 not out from 48 balls. Northern Renegades’ right-arm medium Misbah Gul and slow left-arm Anoosha Nasir picked up three and two wickets respectively. Earlier, Northern Renegades, after electing to bat, made 86 for six in 20 overs on the back of 28 off 42 by opener Shawal Zulfiqar and 15 not out from 17 balls by Humna Bilal. Western Warrior’s Nazish Rafique played a crucial role in keeping the flow of runs in check as the slow left-armer took three wickets for 13 runs in four overs. For their match-winning performances, Nazish and Ayesha shared the player of the final award.  Northern Renegades’ Aima Saleem picked up the player of the tournament award for being the highest run getter in the tournament with 150 runs in four matches. She also picked up two wickets.  The top players of the tournament will go through a specialised academy programme, which will focus on skills, fitness and athlete development training. The details of the programme will be announced shortly.  Scores in brief:  Northern Renegades 86-6, 20 overs (Shawal Zulfiqar 28, Humna Bilal 15 not out; Nazish Rafique 3-13)  Western Warriors 90-2, 14.4 overs (Ayesha Naseem 34 not out, Saima Malik 26 not out)  Result: Western Warriors won the final by eight wickets

National U16 Three-Day Tournament to commence from November 25 Abdullah Asjad ISLAMABAD(24 November 2019):-The National U16 Three-Day Tournament 2019-20 is scheduled to be held from November 25 to 10 December in Faisalabad, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. A total of 90 players, finalised by the junior selection committee which is headed by Saleem Jaffar, will participate in the six-team competition.  The six teams have been divided into two pools. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Southern Punjab have been placed in Pool ‘A’, while Balochistan, Central Punjab and Northern have been placed in Pool ‘B’. All Pool ‘A’ matches will be placed at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium. Islamabad’s Shalimar Cricket Ground and KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi will host Pool ‘B’ fixtures. The final will be played from 8-10 December 2019; the venue will be announced in due course.  Each team will play two three-day matches at group-stage and the top two teams from both groups will play the final. PCB Senior GM - Academies, Ali Zia, said: “The U16 programme was initiated in the year 2007-08 from the district level. With the passage of time, and due to its huge success, the programme became a permanent feature of the academy program.  “The programme is a pathway for the players to groom and get a chance to feature in U19, Second XI and later in the first-class cricket before they ultimately make it to the international level. “If you see most of the players that feature for Pakistan U19 in international events come from U16 level. After the restructuring of domestic cricket, we have introduced the system at the junior level, which includes U16 and U19 stages.  “The PCB has recently completed three-day and one-day tournaments at the U19 level consisting of six associations, and now the upcoming U16 tournament will also consist of the same format. The three-day matches will give exposure to the young players to adapt to the variable conditions and make them technically, tactically, physically and mentally strong.”  The participating teams’ squads are as follows:  Balochistan  Abdul Wakeel (Quetta), Adil Ahmed Khan (Quetta), Arbaz Khan (Hub), Bashir Ahmed (Quetta), Basit Ali (Naseerabad), Faizullah (Quetta), Ikramullah Tareen (Quetta), Khalid Khan (Quetta), M Uzair (Naseerabad), Mohammad Nasir (Naseerabad), Muhammad Usman (Quetta), Nabeel Ahmed (Quetta), Safiullah (Naushki), Shahid Ali (Jaffarabad), Yasir Hussain (Naseerabad)  Central Punjab  Afzaal Manzoor (Sialkot), Ali Asfand (Faisalabad), Ali Zuraiz Asif (Lahore), Aram Nawab (Faisalabad), Azan Awais (Sialkot), Faham ul Haq (Lahore), Ibrar Afzaal (Lahore), Muhammad Haseeb (Faisalabad), Muhammad Ibtisam (Faisalabad), Muneeb Wasif (Lahore), Musa Azeem (Sialkot), Obaid Shahid (Lahore), Osama Zahid (Lahore), Sumama Riaz (Faisalabad), Zohaib Khan (Lahore)  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa  Aamir Khan (Peshawar), Abbas Ali (Peshawar), Ahtsham ul Haq (Lower Dir), Arfat Afsar (Peshawar), Asif Tehsin (Mardan), Azmat Ullah (Upper Dir), Haseeb Khan (Khyber Agency), Ismail Khan (S.Waziristan), Muhammad Farooq (Mohmand Agency), Muhammad Irfan (Khyber Agency), Muhammad Tahir (Peshawar), Muhammad Umar (Swabi), Muhammad Zulkifal (Charsada), Shahabuddin  (Lower Dir), Usama Alam  (Peshawar)  Northern  Abdul Basit (Rawalpindi), Amir Hassan (Rawalpindi), Arman Khan (Rawalpindi), Aseer Mughal  (Rawalpindi), Asadullah Khan (Islamabad), Atif Khan (Islamabad), Hammad Rafiq (Chakwal), Haseeb Imran (Jhelum), Irshad Ahmed (Rawalpindi), Muhammad Ibrahim (Jhelum), Rabeel Ahmed Khan (Attock), Saad Masood (Rawalpindi), Shahmeer Ali (Rawalpindi), Shamyl Hussain (Islamabad), Sudais Ulfat (Islamabad)  Sindh  Ali Hassan (Karachi), Aliyan Mehmood (Karachi), Asif Ali (Ghotki), Awais Qarni (Karachi), Hassan Asim (Karachi), Huzaifa Ahmed (Karachi), Kashan Fahim (Karachi), Maaz Khurram (Karachi), Mirza Saad Baig (Karachi), Mohammad Meesam (Hyerabad), Mohammad Sikandar (Hyerabad), Shayan Saad (Karachi), Syed Taha Ali (Karachi), Umar Aijaz (Karachi), Wahaj Riaz (Karachi)  Southern Punjab  Abdullah Yaseen (Rahimyar Khan), Aftab Haider (Okara), Alamgir (Multan), Alamzaib  (Multan), Ali Haider (Vehari), Arafat Ahmed (Multan), Asad Abbas (Vehari), Bilal Ahmed (Sahiwal), Harib Moen (Lodhran), Haseeb Nazim (Multan), Mohammad Shehzad (DG Khan), Mohammad Ammar (Okara), Mohammad Bilal (Sahiwal), Sharjeel Hassan (Lodhran), Zulkaif Chishti (Pakpatan)

Shane Watson’s return to Pakistan on cards By Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD:-Australian star Shane Watson is expected to return to Pakistan next year after he was included in the Platinum category for HBL Pakistan Super League 2020. Watson, the most-sought after T20 cricketer, has featured in all four editions of the HBL PSL. His best run, however, came in the 2019 edition in which he was awarded player of the tournament and played a crucial hand in helping Quetta Gladiators secure their maiden title. Watson was the highest run-getter in the tournament as he piled up 430 runs in 12 matches at a blistering strike rate of 143.81. The hard-hitting batsman averaged 43 – the highest amongst the top five run-getters in the edition – and cracked four half-centuries with 91 not out being his highest score. Though he kept Quetta Gladiators fans on their feet throughout the tournament with his riveting knocks with the bat, his moment of the tournament came with the ball. Asked to bowl the last over, his only rotation of the arm in the tournament, against Peshawar Zalmi in the Qualifier, with the opposition requiring 21 and a destructive pair of Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy on strike, Watson bowled Pollard to seal a berth in the final for his side. Shane Watson, while recalling his experience of playing in Pakistan earlier this year, said: “I can't wait to come back to Pakistan and play in season five. I had an amazing experience in Karachi during the last HBL PSL. “To be able to connect with the cricket-loving fans in Pakistan and experience Quetta Gladiators winning their first HBL PSL was an amazing experience and one of the highlights of my career.” Earlier this month, Watson, who has 316 T20s under his belt, was announced as the president of the Australian Cricket Association and his eagerness to return to Pakistan underscores the popularity of the HBL PSL amongst elite T20 cricketers. He will be joined by Nicholas Pooran (West Indies) and Mitch McClenaghan (New Zealand) in the Platinum category. McClenaghan played four matches for the Qalandars in HBL PSL 2018 while Pooran was part of the Sultans rosters in 2018 and 2019, respectively. English bowler Steven Finn has also joined the HBL PSL Player Draft and will be part of the Gold category. The lanky pacer was part of the Islamabad United team in 2017 and 2018.