SB News ISLAMABAD (March 7, 2020):-Carlos Brathwaite will stay with Peshawar Zalmi for the complete duration of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 after Kieron Pollard was ruled out of the tournament due to a niggle in his right thigh. Pollard, who was expected to join the Zalmi squad after the conclusion of West Indies tour of Sri Lanka, is experiencing occasional tightness at his right rectus femoris quad muscle because of an injury sustained earlier. Braithwaite was originally called-up as a cover for Pollard till 6 March. Kieron Pollard said: “With a heavy heart I wish my teammates at Peshawar Zalmi all the best for the remainder of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020. “I’m sorry I can’t be there in person this year but the team has some inspirational characters leading the charge and I’m sure can give Daren [Sammy] his first trophy as a head coach.” Pollard had turned out in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions of the HBL PSL. In 33 HBL PSL matches, the West Indian scored 650 runs, which include three half-centuries, at a strike-rate of 166.24. Peshawar Zalmi’s upcoming group fixtures: Tuesday, 10 March – Lahore Qalandars v Peshawar Zalmi, Qaddafi Stadium Friday, 13 March – Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi, National Stadium

By Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD (March 7, 2020):-Peshawar Zalmi overcame Islamabad United by 7 runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method on Saturday at Pindi Cricket Rawalpindi. Zalmi were 85 for two in nine overs – seven runs ahead of the par score – in their chase of 196 when rain brought the match to a halt at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. United put an impressive 195 for five as Colin Munro and Shadab Khan scored half-centuries. The pair crafted a 67-run partnership after Luke Ronchi (six) and Rizwan Hussain (five) were dismissed by Rahat Ali (one for 41) and Hasan Ali (two for 36). Both batsmen registered their third fifties of the season. Munro made 52 off 35, in which he hit four fours and two sixes, while Shadab smashed five fours and four sixes in his 42-ball 77. Shadab was later named man of the match. Colin Ingram was the other notable performer with the bat as he made 41 runs from 25 balls. Peshawar Zalmi were given a flying start by Kamran Akmal. The wicketkeeper-batsman made a 21-ball 37, in which he struck four fours and a six. Tom Banton and Haider Ali were batting at 20 off 16 and 16 off eight when the players were forced to walk off the ground due to rain. Scores in brief Islamabad Untied 195-5, 20 overs (Shadab Khan 77, Colin Munro 52, Colin Ingram 41; Hasan Ali 2-36) Peshawar Zalmi 85-2, 9 overs (Kamran Akmal 37, Tom Banton 20 not out) Result Peshawar Zalmi win by 7 runs (DLS)  

By Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD (March 6, 2020):-Owing to inclement weather in the capital city Islamabad, International Tennis Federation (ITF) Referee  Tom Kinloch has decided to call off Friday (today) matches of the World Group I Davis Cup Tennis Tie between Pakistan and Slovenia. According to scheduled the matches were being played at the grass courts of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). However, the rain in the twin cities Rawalpindi and Islamabad did not allow organizers to stage the tie. It is pertinent to mention here that rain may hit the second day too, as the weather forecast is not in favour of game.

SB News LAHORE (March 6, 2020):-As a part of its initiative to create awareness about breast cancer, the players featuring in the double-header of the HBL Pakistan Super League on Saturday, 7 March, will don pink caps. Teams fielding first during Islamabad United-Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars-Quetta Gladiators contests in Rawalpindi and Lahore, respectively, will be accompanied by young girls, wearing pink caps, to their fielding positions. In addition, Gaddafi Stadium and Pindi Cricket Stadium will be turned pink. The stumps will be coated in pink colour and messages for the awareness about the disease will be displayed on the in-stadia screens. The players, match officials and commentators will wear pink ribbons. Pakistan, amongst all Asian countries, has the highest burden of breast cancer, and this is the second instance in six months that the PCB is joining hands with Pink Ribbon Pakistan to observe the breast cancer awareness day. Previously, the PCB had turned Pakistan’s home of cricket, the Gaddafi Stadium, pink for the first time in history for the third T20I between Pakistan and Sri Lanka on 9 October. PCB Chief Operating Office Salman Naseer said: “Pakistan is one of the worst affected nations when it comes to breast cancer and, the PCB, being a responsible organisation has a duty to educate the populace about it. “Using the platform of HBL PSL, which is now counted amongst the top T20 leagues in the world, is a perfect way to create awareness about the disease. I request all cricket fans, who have made this league a success, to come to stadiums wearing pink and play a part in the awareness campaign.” Earlier in the ongoing HBL PSL 2020, which has seen enormous turn outs across all four Pakistan venues, the PCB, as part of its corporate-social responsibility, marked Childhood Cancer Awareness Day on 22 February.

By Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD (March 6, 2020):-As part of International Women’s Day celebrations (March 8), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will be acknowledging Olympics swimmer Kiran Khan  and Sarah Mahboob, Pakistan’s number-one ranked tennis player, for their services through the Hamaray Heroes platform. Kiran, also known as ‘golden girl’, represented Pakistan at the age of just 13 in the Commonwealth Games 2002 in Manchester, England. She has been recognised by the World Olympians Associations for serving Pakistan in multiple Olympic events and is a recipient of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s civilian award. Over the course of her career, Kiran has bagged 327 national gold medals and 47 medals in international competition. Sarah is the first woman tennis player from Pakistan to secure qualification in the main draw of an International Tennis Federation’s tournament – a feat that she achieved in 2010. In 2004, she became the youngest-ever Pakistan national champion, at the age of only 14, and the right-handed player is currently top-ranked in Pakistan. Hamaray Heroes is a user-based campaign, launched before the start of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020, in which fans and followers nominated the unsung heroes of the nation through the HBL PSL website. In an another initiative to promote, appreciate and highlight the integral and important role of women in our society, Pakistan national women’s cricket team members will attend the Lahore Qalandars and King Kings’ match and will lead the playing teams from the dug-outs to the middle. Separately and in continuation of the ongoing ‘March Madness’ special discount offer, the women buyers will also be awarded 30 per cent off on the tickets for the VVIP, VIP and Premium category enclosures for the last 11 HBL PSL 2020 group matches, which run from 7-15 March. The tickets can be purchased from the TCS outlets. PCB Director – Commercial, Babar Hamid, said: “Women are an integral part of any society and play an enormous role in its development. “The PCB being a responsible organisation has decided to use the HBL PSL 2020 platform to celebrate the women of our country and create awareness regarding the issues surrounding gender gap and to make our society more inclusive.”

SB News ISLAMABAD (March 6, 2020):-The International Cricket Council has named Pakistan’s Ahsan Raza as an on-field umpire for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 final, which will be played between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, 8 March. Ahsan’s on-field partner will be Kim Cotton, while Gregory Braithwaite will be the third umpire and Langton Rusere as the fourth umpire. Chris Broad of the Elite Panel of Match Referees will lead the playing control team. Ahsan, a member of the ICC’s International Panel of Umpires, was also appointed on-field umpire for the semi-final between India and England, which was washed-out in Sydney on Thursday. As a wicketkeeper-batsman, he played 21 first-class matches from 1993-2000, scoring 192 runs and dismissing 63 batsmen behind the wickets.

By Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD (March 5, 2020):-Shoaib Malik’s second half-century of the season and captain Wahab Riaz’s three-fer handed Peshawar Zalmi a 30-run win over Quetta Gladiators at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday. In a contest truncated to 15 overs per innings because of a delayed start due to rain, the 38-year-old smashed a 27-ball 54, playing a crucial role in taking his side’s score to a mammoth 170 for six after Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Quetta Gladiators captain, elected to field first. Malik crafted a 54-run partnership for the third-wicket with 19-year-old Haider Ali, who made 39 runs from 24 balls with four fours and two sixes, after the dismissals of both openers inside the Powerplay overs – the first five overs for this match. Zalmi lost Imam-ul-Haq, playing his first match of the season, in the second over and the pressure amplified on the batting side with the dismissal of Kamran Akmal, who scored 23 off 12 balls and struck two fours and two sixes, in the fifth over. But, the partnership between Malik and Haider followed by Lewis Gregory’s quickfire eight-ball 19 – coming on the back of two sixes – took Zalmi to a daunting total. Gladiators’ pacer Mohammad Hasnain starred with the ball with four wickets for 34 runs in three overs, the maximum allocation of overs for a bowler for this match. Gladiators were provided a flying start by the opening pair of Jason Roy and Shane Watson as they accumulated 27 runs in the first two overs. But, Hasan Ali brought Zalmi back into the contest in the third over of the match by giving away only six runs. In his next over, the fifth of the innings, Hasan put the first dent in the run-chase with the wicket of Watson (19 off 14). Roy, who made 45 from 26 balls on the back of five fours and two sixes, continued to attack the opposition but failed to get the desired support from the other end as Ahmed Shehzad (10 off 17) struggled to get going. The Englishman was bowled by Yasir Shah on the last ball of the eighth over. The turning point of the match, however, came in the 11th over. Wahab, the Zalmi skipper, struck on back to back deliveries, accounting for the wickets of Shehzad and Ben Cutting (17 off seven). The left-arm pacer bowled Sarfaraz on the last ball of the 13th over and returned three for 21 in three overs. Rahat Ali was the other bowler who shone with two wickets for 34 runs, while Hasan and Yasir finished with one wicket each in their accounts. For his match-defining innings, Malik was named man of the match. With this win, their third in seven matches, Zalmi have leapfrogged Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings to secure third spot with seven points next to their name, while Gladiators slip to the fifth spot with three wins and four defeats from seven matches. Scores in brief Peshawar Zalmi 170-6, 15 overs (Shoaib Malik 54, Haider Ali 39, Kamran Akmal 23; Mohammad Hasnain 4-34) Quetta Gladiators 140-7, 15 overs (Jason Roy 45; Wahab Riaz 3-21, Rahat Ali 2-34) Result Peshawar Zalmi win by 30 runs

Sports Desk ISLAMABAD (March 5, 2020):-The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that the second series of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A set to begin on 16 March in Malaysia has been postponed due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The 11-day tournament was scheduled between 16 and 26 March and involves teams from Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, and Vanuatu. Due to a rapidly developing heath emergency with increasing travel difficulties between countries and potential uncertainty arising for individuals returning to their country of origin, the decision was taken to postpone the event to later in 2020. ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: “We have made the difficult decision to postpone the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A due to the Coronavirus outbreak. We have been monitoring the situation very closely and have concluded that the best course of action is to postpone the event owing to the increasing travel difficulties between countries and the potential uncertainty around teams returning home. “I would like to thank the Malaysian Cricket Association and all participating Members for their support. The wellbeing of everyone involved is our first priority and we look forward to the event being played later in the year.” The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A is three steps away from the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 to be hosted in India. 12 teams will compete in Challenge League A and B once a year respectively in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The league will see a total of 90 competitive 50 over List A matches for teams ranked 21-32. The top team in each league at the culmination of the competition will secure two of the six places in the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-Off to be held in 2022, alongside the bottom four of Men’s CWC League 2.

SB News LAHORE (March 5, 2020):-The fans attending the HBL PSL 2020 fixtures at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore have access to top-class first aid facilities as the Punjab Government has set up a 20-bed temporary hospital at the ground floor of the National Hockey Stadium. The 32-staff hospital, which is approximately 200 metres away from the stadia, will be operational till 23 March, a day after the HBL PSL 2020 final, and its operations are being looked after by General Hospital. The staff includes five doctors – a senior general physician, a general physician, a heart specialist, an orthopedic and an eye-specialist – and 12 paramedical staff. The temporary hospital is equipped with an operation theatre, a laboratory for tests, a pharmacy and a rescue ambulance. For the convenience of the fans, the medical services and the medicine are free of cost. Such facilities are also available at the other venues where the HBL PSL 2020 matches are being staged. Six-bed hospital at Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre,  Karachi A six-bed temporary hospital has also been set-up in Karachi at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre, which is adjacent to the National Stadium. The temporary hospital has been put in place by Sindh Government and includes a mini operation theatre, a pharmacy, a laboratory and equipment for X-ray scans. Three-bed hospital at ARID University, Rawalpindi A three-bed temporary hospital has also been set-up at ARID University near the Pindi Cricket Stadium to provide first aid to the fans coming in for the HBL PSL 2020 matches in Rawalpindi. The hospital has a staff of 10 doctors and four nurses and is run by Punjab Government. Similarly, during the Multan leg of the HBL PSL 2020, a 10-bed temporary hospital was established inside the Multan Cricket Stadium. PCB Chief Operating Officer Salman Naseer, who visited the temporary hospital at the National Hockey Stadium, said: “Having medical facilities of such a calibre available for the cricket fans is perfectly in line with the PCB and Government’s policies of keeping the fans’ health and safety at the forefront. “The PCB too has a duty of care towards the fans coming to watch the HBL PSL 2020 fixtures and it is collaborating with local authorities across the country to ensure all necessary steps are being taken to provide fans a safe environment. “The HBL PSL 2020 has turned out to be a massive success. The matches have been fought hard and the fans are filling the stadiums across Pakistan. With the competition entering its latter half from today, I am sure the fans will be served with enthralling cricketing action.” In case of an emergency during HBL PSL 2020 fixtures at the Gaddafi Stadium, please contact: Rescue 1122 – contact number: 1122 Dr Rana Shafiq – contact number: 03334232315 In case of an emergency during the HBL PSL 2020 fixtures at the National Stadium, Karachi, please contact: Dr Kamran Saeed Rizvi – 03332220760 In case of an emergency during HBL PSL 2020 fixtures at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, please contact: Dr Khalid Janjua – 03005151964

Sports Desk ISLAMABAD (March 5, 2020):-Australia will face India in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 final after the hosts came through a nerve-shredding semi-final against South Africa in Sydney. Meg Lanning led from the front to score 49 before taking two brilliant catches in the Proteas’ chase of 98 in 13 overs, adjusted by the DLS method following rain at the SCG. Dane van Niekerk’s side gave it their all but fell five runs short of a maiden Final, with Australia now just one win away from a fifth Women’s T20 World Cup title. They’ll face India at the MCG on 8 March – International Women’s Day – after their semi-final against England was abandoned without a ball bowled. “We’ve had a lot thrown at us this tournament and to be able to come together at a really big moment is certainly special,” said Lanning. “We’ll enjoy the win knowing there’s something massive coming up in the next few days. “You can never rest and think you’ve got it in the bag, not even with the last few balls. South Africa played really well and took it right to the end. "We never came into this World Cup thinking it would just happen and it was going to be easy. We knew it was in for a fight and that's exactly what happened. “We weren't owed anything. We're not here to defend it, we're here to win it. “We were confident if we bowled well we would get a result. We had our moments of good and bad but we managed to hold on until the end.” Van Niekerk elected to bowl first with further bad weather forecast but Australia openers Alyssa Healy (18) and Beth Mooney (28) started in good fashion. Ayabonga Khaka broke the partnership on 34 with Van Niekerk snaffling Healy at midwicket, though Mooney and captain Lanning avoided any further damage early on. South Africa dried up the runs with nearly six overs between boundaries after Mooney’s dismissal, bowled by Nadine de Klerk – playing just her second game of the tournament. She wasn’t done there either, having Ashleigh Gardner caught behind before bowling Rachael Haynes (17) to finish her four overs with three for 19. Jess Jonassen also fell cheaply as Australia lost three wickets for three runs to sit at 71 for four in the 11th over. Lanning, who boasts a superb record in T20I knockout cricket, then continued her form to guide the innings with Haynes and then Nicola Carey. Australia finished on 134 for five but the Proteas’ chase was initially halted by rain, with Van Niekerk and Lizelle Lee preparing for a revised target when the weather relented. A superb slog sweep from Van Niekerk got them going but when the captain was bowled by a wonderful Megan Schutt (two for 17) in-swinger, her side were 23 for two at the end of four overs. Lee had earlier fallen in Molineux’s first over of the Women’s T20 World Cup before Mignon du Preez was dismissed by Delissa Kimmince, thanks to a wonderful low catch from Lanning. It was then up to Sune Luus and Laura Wolvaardt (41 not out) to strive for the 43 needed from 24 balls, with the latter picking up where she left off against Pakistan with some glorious cover drives. Luus then holed out to long-off off Schutt, while skipper Lanning again took a blinder to dismiss the dangerous Chloe Tryon as South Africa fell agonisingly short of their maiden Final. “We’ve only been in three knockout games, Australia have been in countless,” said Van Niekerk. “I have to give them credit for getting from where they started the tournament to where they are now. You can never write off the number one team in the world and they showed tonight why they are. “It comes with experience and confidence. They are the deserved number ones at the moment. “I can’t take anything away from anyone. The culture of this team is incredible. “I really hope we can get a win over Australia soon. I thought tonight was the night but it wasn’t meant to be. I was really calm when I arrived at the ground. I really hope the final gets the 90,000 people the tournament deserves.” Never before have India reached the Women’s T20 World Cup Final but their bid for history won’t stop there as they look to upset the four-time champions in Melbourne. No play was possible in their match with England, with India progressing on account of finishing atop Group A, while Heather Knight’s side were Group B runners-up behind South Africa. The Final match-up also offers a repeat of the very first game of the tournament, a contest India won to launch their unbeaten campaign and reach the MCG. “We knew from day one when we were going to start this tournament that we would have to win all our games,” said captain Harmanpreet Kaur. “If we didn’t get a match, we knew whoever is at the top in the group would play in the Final and that’s how we started. “We were all ready to play. We all were hoping the rain would stop, these games are very important because everybody was looking to watch. “We were looking to play because a semi-final against England is a high-quality game and we didn't want to miss out.” Scores in brief India v England – match abandoned, Sydney Cricket Ground Australia beat South Africa by five runs (DLS method), Sydney Cricket Ground Australia 134-5, 20 overs (Meg Lanning 49 not out, Beth Mooney 28; Nadine de Klerk 3-19) South Africa 92-5, 13 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 41 not out, Megan Schutt 2-17) ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 Final: 8 March: India v Australia, 18h00, Melbourne Cricket Ground