Tag: Sports

Balochistan registered their first win of the National T20 Cup 2021 as they defeated Southern Punjab convincingly. Southern Punjab on the other hand have yet to win a match in their first three outings in the competition.

Balochistan won the toss and invited Southern Punjab to bat first on a slow wicket. Their decision was fruitful as Southern Punjab batsmen failed to impress and faltered to the lowest score in the competition. Experienced leg-spinner Yasir Shah and all-rounder, Amad Butt took three wickets each as Southern Punjab were bowled out for 101 in 17.5 overs.

Balochistan chased down the target with utmost ease despite losing captain Imam-ul-haq early on in the innings. Abdul Wahid Bangalzai scored a brilliant half-century and put on an exceptional partnership along with Bismillah Khan in the middle phase of the innings, handing Balochistan a 7 wicket win.

Southern Punjab sit at bottom of the table with zero points in three matches while Balochistan climbed up to the fourth spot with their first victory in the competition.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s captain, Mohammad Rizwan scored yet another half-century to guide KP to their second consecutive win the National T20 Cup 2021. Defending champions, KP sit comfortably at the top of the table with four points in their first two matches.

Southern Punjab were put into bat first and they got off to a torrid start, losing opener Zain Abbas and captain Sohaib Maqsood cheaply. Mohammad Imran Randhawa was promoted up the order and repaid the faith of the management by scoring a magnificent century. A late flurry from all-rounder Hassan Khan helped Southern Punjab to put 152 on the board.

KP constructed their innings perfectly and chased down the target with relative ease. Mohammad Rizwan and Sahibzada Farhan both scored half-centuries and despite a good comeback by Southern Punjab bowlers later on in the innings, KP chased down the target with 7 wickets and 2 balls to spare.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Former England and Liverpool great, Micheal Owen, has signed a three-year contract with Global Soccer Ventures (GSV), a sports management agency, to become the Pakistan Football League’s brand ambassador.

In his opening remarks as PFL ambassador, Owen said, “I am looking forward to cross-promote and develop football between UK and Pakistan through the first-ever franchise model league.”

The Pakistan Football League is launching next spring with sides from Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Multan.

Daily Mail reports that these six teams will each form partnerships with an English club and might be allowed to adopt the same colors and nicknames as their Premier League counterparts.

The six Premier League clubs involved are still to be confirmed but it is understood advanced talks are taking place with at least one of the ‘Big Six’, as well as teams from areas with a high Asian population.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Northern won the first match of the 2021 National T20 Cup as they defeated Balochistan convincingly by 6 wickets. Northern won the toss and elected to field in the opening encounter of the tournament.

Northern’s experienced bowling line-up restricted Balochistan to a modest total of 139/7. Mohammad Nawaz and Haris Rauf picked up two wickets each as Balochistan batters were unable to take on the strong bowling unit.

The exciting young batter, Haider Ali, was exceptional with the bat as Northern chased down the target comfortably. Haider scored 58 runs off 41 balls and was ably supported by Asif Ali who scored 43 off 20 balls as Northern registered their first points on the board.

Northern move to the top of the table while Balochistan are at the bottom of the table after the first match of the tournament.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan’s left-arm spinner, Zafar Gohar, continued his impressive run of form as he picked up his second consecutive five-wicket haul in the ongoing County Championship. Zafar finished with figures of 5/50 in the first innings of the ongoing match between Gloucestershire and Durham.

Zafar’s incredible bowling spell helped Gloucestershire dismiss Durham for 140 in the first innings. Zafar followed up his heroics with a solid performance with the bat as well. He scored 30 runs, the second-highest of the innings, as Gloucestershire scored 218 runs in their first innings.

The 26-year old started the match by picking up the wickets of the top-order batsmen, Alex Lees and David Bedingham, before coming back to quickly wrap up Durham’s lower order. Zafar has also picked up two wickets already in Durham’s ongoing second innings.

The left-arm spinner has been brilliant so far in the championship. He has picked up 16 wickets at an average of 15.62 in 4* matches.

Earlier, Zafar had picked up six wickets in Gloucestershire’s previous encounter against Glamorgan, helping his team win by 10 wickets.

Gloucestershire currently sit at the second spot in the second division of the County Championship.

Source: ProPakistani

Famous English cricket journalist, Peter Oborne, lashed out at England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for their decision to call off their tour of Pakistan. Oborne opined that the decision was made to appease India and had nothing to do with the security situation of Pakistan.

Oborne called out the ECB chairman, Ian Watmore, and said he should explain the real reason behind the decision. He called ECB a cowardly cricket board that has damaged the reputation of England cricket and has caused significant harm to cricket in Pakistan.

The esteemed cricket journalist said that there was no reason for ECB to cancel the tour, as the security arrangements in the country were cleared by the British authorities and the British High Commission.

The 64-year old said that ECB had to decide due to player power as they would rather play in the Indian Premier League than for their international team. He said this is not the first time players have opted to play for IPL, as he recalled that the captain, Eoin Morgan, decided to skip their tour of Bangladesh a few years ago to take part in the IPL.

Oborne stated that England owes Pakistan cricket an enormous debt in gratitude as they toured the country despite COVID-19 last year. He said that ECB has kicked in the teeth of one of their closest cricketing allies.

Source: Pro Pakistani