Misbah-ul-Haq has hailed Pakistan's maiden ODI series win against South Africa as a "really big achievement". Pakistan also became the first subcontinent team to win a series in South Africa when they edged the hosts by one run in Port Elizabeth to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead with one game remaining.
"It is a really, really big achievement for us, especially for this young team," Misbah said. "They are going to start believing that they can perform well. I think that is what we were lacking in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and lost few games which we should have won. It is a good comeback for the confidence of the team. In the future we can come with better confidence, and winning a first bilateral one-day series in South Africa means something to us."
Misbah praised Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan for bringing Pakistan back after AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla had taken South Africa to a winning position. The hosts needed 36 off 38 deliveries with six wickets in hand after de Villiers fell to Junaid for 74 off 45. It came down to 11 off the last two overs, but Ajmal gave away only two in the penultimate over and also dismissed Amla for 98. Junaid then delivered a series of yorkers in the last over to seal the win for Pakistan.
"I was saying to everybody that take it to the last over," Misbah said. "I know that for the batting side, no matter how many wickets you have, how good a situation you are in, the last over is always a bit of pressure. That is what we were thinking, and when we got nine runs in the last over, the way Junaid Khan was bowling, we had hope. Both Saeed Ajmal and Junaid did really well and were well supported by the field.
Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz has been booked by police for breaching local laws against excessive wedding celebrations.
ReplyDeleteThe 28-year-old left-arm paceman, who got married on Saturday, was accused after Lahore district magistrate officials raided his house on Thursday.
The Punjab authorities passed a rule late last month banning marriage ceremonies beyond 10:00 pm in the night and barring more than one dish in meals.
The law is widely condemned in Lahore, a vibrant city where marriage ceremonies are the most lavish in the country and renowned for running late into the night.
Riaz's father Sikander said his son was granted bail from the additional session judge until December 9.
"It's a baseless case against us and Riaz has been granted bail until December 9 and after that we will file a defamation case against those who raided our house," Sikander told reporters.
Mohammad Amir, inspector in the city government, said Riaz's house was raided on reports of violation.
"We raided his house at around 11pm and found that five dishes were served in meals which was a violation and an FIR (first information report) was lodged against Riaz," Amir said.
If proven guilty Riaz will be fined in the range of 100,000 to 150,000 Pakistani rupees ($1,000 to $1,500).
Riaz has played seven Tests, 39 one-dayers and six Twenty20s for Pakistan. He was dropped from the team for this month's short tour of South Africa and has not been selected since.
Afghanistan will get another boost as a fledgling cricketing nation when they play former world champions Pakistan for the first time in a Twenty20 international in Sharjah on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThe Afghans learnt the game in Pakistan as refugees during the Russian invasion of their country in 1979 and have since had a fairytale rise in the game.
They received one-day status during their narrowly missed opportunity to qualify for the 2011 World Cup before progressing to two back-to-back World Twenty20 tournaments in 2010 and 2012, helping themselves to Associate membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) this year.
The war-torn nation got a tremendous boost earlier this year when for the first time they qualified for the 50-over World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2015.
Last month they once again lived up to their billing of one of the best Associate teams by qualifying for the World Twenty20 to be held in Bangladesh next year.
Afghanistan's Pakistan coach Kabir Khan said his team is hugely excited for Sunday's game.
“It will be a historic match for us,” Kabir, who played four Tests and 10 one-days for Pakistan in 1990s, told AFP.
“Besides being historic, it will be a challenging match and if we do well then the world will take more notice.”
Kabir said Pakistan have always provided his team with golden opportunities.
“Pakistan have helped us a great deal. They gave us a one-dayer last year,” said Kabir of Afghanistan's first-ever ODI against a full ICC member last year in Sharjah, which Pakistan won by seven wickets.
That followed another one-dayer against Australia in September last year, which they also lost by 66 runs.
Sunday's Twenty20 will be Afghanistan's fifth against a Test playing country as they lost to India and South Africa in the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean and then went down against England and India two years later in Sri Lanka.
For Pakistan, Sunday's game will tune them for two tougher Twenty20s against world number one Sri Lanka in Dubai on December 13 and 15.
They also play five one-dayers and three Tests against the Islanders, also in the UAE.
Pakistan's T20 captain Mohammad Hafeez refused to take Afghanistan lightly.
“They are a dangerous side,” Hafeez told AFP. “They have qualified for the 2015 World Cup and the World Twenty20 through hard work and since they are a dangerous side we will not take them lightly.”
Pakistan have slipped to fourth in the T20 rankings after losing three of their last four games against South Africa.
They will miss the wily Saeed Ajmal in Sunday's game as the off-spinner opted to take a rest back home.
Hafeez admitted Ajmal, who has most T20 wickets (77 in 57 matches) will be missed.
“Ajmal is a world class bowler but his absence will give others a chance to take responsibility,” said Hafeez, himself under pressure for his miserable batting form.
Teams (from):
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Zulfiqar Babar, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Anwar Ali, Haris Sohail.
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (capt), Merwais Ashraf, Hamid Hassan, Amir Hamza Hotak, Afsar Khan, Nawroz Mangal, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Shahzad, Asghar Stanikzai, Hashmatullah Shaidi, Samiullah Shinwari, Najeebullah Zadran, Shapor Zadran, Dawlat Khan Zadran, Izzatullah Dawlatzai.
Umpires: Ahsan Raza (PAK) and Shozab Raza (PAK) TV umpire: Zameer Haider (PAK) Match referee: David Boon (AUS)