LAHORE: Lahore Whites’ pacer Ubaid Shah ran riot with the ball as he took 8-79 against Larkana on the first day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy’s fifth-round match on Tuesday.

In the round’s other matches, Lahore Blues’ Qasim Akram and Abbotabad’s Mohammad Bilal struck centuries, while Quetta’s Jalat Khan and Islamabad’s Musa Khan and Fata’s Arshadullah registered five-wicket hauls.

At Islamabad’s Marghzar Cricket Ground, Ubaid, taking his maiden five-wicket haul, helped his team bundle out Larkana for 202 before Lahore Whites went on to post 121-1.

Meanwhile, Qasim’s quickfire 109 off 87 balls, which featured 18 fours and two sixes, saw Lahore Blues score 287 against Fata at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi as Arshadullah bagged 5-89. At the close of the day’s play, Fata were 52-2.

At Islamabad’s Diamond Cricket Ground, Bilal’s 102 proved crucial for Abbotabad to post 290 against Hyderabad. He received able support from skipper Usman Khalid (62 off 76, nine fours and six) for an 88-run seventh-wicket stand to lift his team from 139-6.

In turn, Hyderabad were 59-1 at stumps.

Jalat, against Dera Murad Jamali at the Railway Cricket Ground in Haripur, bagged 5-28 as he ran through the opponents’ batting line-up to bowl them out for 144 after Abid Ali top-scored with 67 off 176 balls. In response, Danish Aziz took four wickets to reduce Quetta to 73-4 before stumps were drawn.

At Islamabad’s National Cricket Ground, Musa (6-51) bagged his third consecutive first-class five-wicket haul as he helped Islamabad to skittle Faisalabad for 202. In reply, Islamabad were 72-5 by the close of play.

Elsewhere, at Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Ground in Rawalpindi, Peshawar notched 351-7 as Sajjad Ibraheem, Zubair Khan and Israrullah hit half-centuries.

In Charsadda, Multan had a productive day against Azad Jammu & Kashmir, closing the day unscathed with 117 runs on the board in reply to AJK’s 188.

Sialkot bundled out Karachi Blues for 171 before closing the day with 59 runs on the board for the loss of one wicket. Karachi Whites dismissed Bahawalpur for 248 in 72.3 overs as Mohammad Sheharyar top-scored with 95.

Scores in brief:

Lahore Whites vs Larkana, Marghzar Cricket Ground

LARKANA 202 in 58.4 overs (Faraz Aziz 36, Akbar-ur-Rehman 35; Ubaid Shah 8-79); LAHORE WHITES 121-1 in 26 overs (Attyab Ahmed 61 not out, Gauhar Hafeez 50 not out)

Islamabad vs Faisalabad, National Ground

FAISALABAD 202 in 47.5 overs (Atiq-ur-Rehman 61, Faheem Ashraf 39; Musa Khan 6-51, Nusratullah 3-48); ISLAMABAD 72-5 in 21 overs (Faizan Riaz 25 not out; Faheem Ashraf 2-9, Shehzad Gul 2-31)

Abbottabad vs Hyderabad, Diamond Cricket Ground

ABBOTTABAD 290 in 62.5 overs (Mohammad Bilal 102, Khalid Usman 62; Mustafa Nasir 3-50, Mohammad Waqar 3-57, Shehryar Baloch 3-84); HYDERABAD 59-1 in 13 overs (Haris Khan 30 not out)

Peshawar vs Rawalpindi, Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium

PESHAWAR 351-7 in 93 overs (Sajjad Ibraheem 73, Zubair Khan 69; Mehran Mumtaz 3-91, Mohammad Faizan 2-49)

Bahawalpur vs Karachi Whites,

Abbottabad Cricket Stadium

BAHAWALPUR 248 in 72.3 overs (Mohammad Sheharyar 95, Muhammad Imran 60; Mohammad Asif 4-88, Aftab Ibrahim 3-41)

Multan vs AJK, Ashfaq Cricket Ground Sirdheri

AJK 188 in 55.2 overs (Hasan Raza 82, Usman Salahuddin 25, Qazi Muhammad Arbqan 23; Huzaifa Ayub 4-64, Tahir Hussain 3-26)

MULTAN 117-0 in 22 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 57 not out, Zain Abbas 56 not out)

Lahore Blues vs Fata, Gohati Cricket Stadium

LAHORE BLUES 287 in 64.2 overs (Qasim Akram 109, Imran Butt 46; Arshadullah 5-89, Afaq Afridi 2-72); FATA 52-2 in 15 overs (Jamshed Ali 19 not out, Mohammad Usman 17 not out; Mohammad Abbas 2-17)

Karachi Blues vs Sialkot, Mirpur Cricket Stadium

KARACHI BLUES 171 in 47.4 overs (Fawad Alam 60, Saifullah Bangash 33; Mohammad Ali 4-51, Amad Butt 3-33, Shoaib Akhtar 3-51); Sialkot 59-1, 14 overs (Azan Awais 23, Ashir Mehmood 17 not out; Tabish Khan 1-13)

Quetta vs DM Jamali, Railway Cricket Ground

DM JAMALI 144 in 69.4 overs (Abid Ali 67, Taimur Ali 39; Jalat Khan 5-28, Najeebullah Achakzai 4-36); QUETTA 73-4 in 21 overs (Abdul Wahid Bangalzai 22 not out; Danish Aziz 4-22)

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024

ISLAMABAD: While strongly criticising the last interim government over its decision to put the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) under the ambit of the Cabinet Division, National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter-provincial Coordination on Tuesday recommended the PCB to be placed under the IPC ministry again.

The IPC committee, which met here at the Pakistan Sports Complex with MNA Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel in the chair, unanimously recommended that the PCB should be put under the ambit of IPC ministry, noting 44 other sports federations were operating under it.

Sanaullah said that the caretaker government, in violation of its mandate, decided to remove the PCB from the IPC domain and placed it under the ambit of the Cabinet Division.

“All decisions [related to the PCB] made by the caretaker government stand dissolved,” the chairman of the committee said while adding that only elected representatives could make any such decision.

Sanaullah said that just a few days before the formation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government this year, the interim government on Feb 19 through a notification placed the PCB under the Cabinet Division.

“We want to know the reasons [as to] why the PCB is a holy cow,” he wondered as the committee decided to write a letter to the PM to withdrew the Feb 19 notification issued by the interim government.

Expressing his displeasure over the absence of PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi in the NA committee meeting, Sanaullah said he should be summoned to the next meeting.

“We know he [PCB chairman] is the [federal] interior minister as well but he will have to attend [the] committee meetings,” the MNA maintained.

Later talking to media, Sanaullah urged India to send its cricket team to Pakistan to play the ICC Champions Trophy insisting politics should not be mixed with sports.

Giving a briefing to the committee, Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) director general Yasir Pirzada informed the committee about the progress made by the PSB during the last five years.

According to Yasir, the PSB during the said period trained over 4,000 athletes while facilitating their participation in international competitions in which Pakistan won 154 medals, including 38 gold.

Initiatives such as the establishment of the Arshad Nadeem High Performance Academy and the upgrading of sports infrastructure highlight PSB’s commitment to excellence, he added.

The PSB director general further said that a new sports policy had also been forwarded to the government for approval.

He added that a new award policy had also been made under which national champions of a sport would now be given Rs1 million as prize money. Under new rules, the PSB official said, Paris Paralympic Games bronze medallist Haider Ali will get a reward of Rs5 million.

Yasir also informed the NA committee that the PSB in the past five years disbursed grants exceeding Rs1 billion to national sports federations and awarded Rs45.25 million to medal-winning athletes.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has brought back Shahid Aslam as the batting coach of the national white-ball squads, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported on Tuesday.

Shahid, who is a qualified coach, has worked for a number of years with the Pakistan team in different capacities including assistant coach, fielding coach and assistant manager. But for the last two years he has been working in a coaching capacity at the High Performance Centre in Lahore.

Previously, former Test captain Mohammad Yousuf was working as the batting coach with the national team and was then made a national selector. But Yousuf then not only stepped down as selector but also as batting coach and was working at the HPC.

Yousuf recently also resigned from his position at the HPC but the Board has rejected his resignation.

Now Shahid has been brought in as batting coach on the recommendation of Aaqib Javed, the interim white-ball coach.

The PCB on Monday appointed Aaqib as the white-ball head coach until the ICC Champions Trophy early next year after Australian Jason Gillespie turned down a chance to become all-format coach.

Aaqib, who will continue as senior national selector has left to join the players in Zimbabwe where they play a series of three ODIs and three T20 Internationals before moving on to South Africa for another white-ball rubber.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024

HONG KONG: Japan are on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup after a 3-1 win at China on Tuesday while Son Heung-min scored again as South Korea were held by Palestine.

Indonesia meanwhile stunned Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jakarta to boost their unlikely hopes of reaching the tournament in North America in 2026.

Headers from Koki Ogawa and Ko Itakura put runaway group leaders Japan two goals up at half time before Lin Liangming pulled one back for China early in the second half.

Ogawa snuffed out China’s hopes of a comeback with his second to silence a crowd of 45,000 in Xiamen, where fans without tickets gathered outside the ground to watch the action on their phones.

Loud booing greeted the Japanese national anthem before kick-off and the game was briefly stopped in the first half when a fan invaded the pitch.

“It was tough at times and we knew that the opening goal was going to be key,” said Dutch-based striker Ogawa.

Japan were playing their first senior international in China in nine years and there is a long history of rivalry between the two countries.

There was a heavy police presence outside the Xiamen Egret Stadium, where about 750 Japan fans were expected to be in attendance.

“All the players got us this win today,” said Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu. “The players on the pitch, the players on the bench and those that weren’t on the bench today — it was down to their energy that we won.”

The convincing victory gave Japan five wins and a draw in Asian qualifying Group C and took them to within touching distance of a place at the World Cup.

The top two teams in each of the three groups will reach the showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Second place in Group ‘C’ is wide open after Indonesia beat Saudi Arabia with Marselino Ferdinan scoring either side of half time.

It left Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and China all on six points ahead of the Socceroos’ visit later Tuesday to Bahrain, who have five.

In Group ‘B’, Palestine — nominally hosts for a game taking place in Jordan — grabbed a surprise 12th-minute lead over South Korea thanks to Zaid Qunbar.

The advantage lasted just four minutes, talisman and skipper Son firing in from close range to bring the Koreans level with his 51st goal for his country.

It was all South Korea after that and Son had a goal chalked off for offside late on, but Palestine held on for a valuable point that helps keep them alive.

Despite the 1-1 stalemate the Koreans are firmly on course for the World Cup at the top of the group with four games to go.

In Group ‘A’, talented 21-year-old Abbosbek Fayzullaev scored the only goal to give Uzbekistan a 1-0 win over North Korea in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

It cemented the Uzbeks’ place in the top two in the group, along with table-toppers Iran, who were 3-2 winners at Kyrgyzstan.

Teams finishing third and fourth in the three Asian groups will go through to a further round of qualifying. North Korea are rooted to the bottom of Group ‘A’ and have yet to win in six games in this phase of qualifying.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024

The chief of Pakistan’s blind cricket association said on Tuesday that the T20 Blind World Cup would take place in the country even without the Indian team amid reports from Indian media that the team was pulled out of participating in the tournament.

India confirmed their participation in the Blind World Cup previously in May. Earlier this month, India’s Ministry of Sports permitted its blind cricket team to tour Pakistan for the event, set to be held from November 23 to December 3 in Multan and Lahore.

However, earlier today, India Today reported that the cricket team withdrew from the tournament after India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) “denied permission” to travel to Pakistan.

Indian Blind Cricket Association General Secretary Shailendra Yadav confirmed to the outlet that the MEA did not give the team permission to travel to Pakistan and told them to pull out.

“Yadav also revealed that they’re yet to get the official denial letter from the government and have been told verbally about not being granted permission to travel to Pakistan,” the outlet reported.

“It’s a bit sad for cricket in general as cricket is a game for everyone. The match between India and Pakistan is watched intently by fans and both are really good sides. Now Pakistan will get a free walkover and it’s also tragic for the players who’ve been working hard for a long time,” Yadav was quoted as saying by the outlet.

Responding to the development, Pakistan Blind Cricket Council chief Sultan Shah told Dawn.com on Tuesday that the tournament would go on without the Indian team.

“India’s blind cricket council has not yet informed about the withdrawal in writing,” Shah said.

Shah also pointed out that for the T20 Blind World Cup in 2022, the Indian government did not issue visas to the Pakistan team.

The development comes amid uncertainty surrounding next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan as well after the Board of Cricket Control in India informed the International Cricket Council earlier this month that it would not send its team to Pakistan for the tournament scheduled for February 19 to March 9.

MALAGA: Rafael Nadal will not dwell on his impending retirement at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga and only focus on helping Spain claim the trophy this week should he be called into action, the 38-year-old said on Monday.

Nadal will call time on his glittering career spanning more than two decades at the team competition and the 22-time Grand Slam champion said previously he may only play doubles if it gives the team a better chance of winning a seventh title.

“If I’m on the court I hope to control my emotions. I’m not here to retire. I’m here to help the team win. It’s my last week in a team competition and the most important thing is to help the team,” Nadal told reporters.

“The emotions will come at the end. Before and after I’ll be focused on what I have to do.

“I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time. I’ve been trying to give myself a chance and I decided over time. I’m enjoying the week, I’m not paying much attention to the retirement thing.

“It will be a big change in my life after this week. I’m very excited and happy to be here.”

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2024

GROS ISLET: England’s fifth and final T20 international of their series in the Caribbean was rained off on Sunday, leaving the tourists with a 3-1 series win.

West Indies were 44 without loss after five overs with Shai Hope on 14 and Evin Lewis on 29 when the heavens opened.

England had won the opening three games of the series before West Indies enjoyed a morale-boosting five-wicket win on Saturday with Hope and Lewis both making half-centuries as the home side chased down a target of 219.

“We’re delighted with the series win. We’ve played some brilliant cricket and we’ve got the winning habit back,” said England skipper Jos Buttler.

West Indies captain Rovman Powell said his team had not been able to produce enough consistently good cricket.

“It was a tough series, a lot of credit to Jos and his team. We played good cricket in patches but not for long enough periods,” he said.

“We have a template to work with as Caribbean cricketers. We wander off and play in different leagues. We have to keep our communication and make sure we’re ready to go.”

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2024

LONDON: Harry Kane’s 69th international goal sparked a second-half scoring spree that fired England back to the top tier of the UEFA Nations League on Sunday, while Adrien Rabiot scored twice as France beat Italy.

In temporary head coach Lee Carsley’s final game in charge before the arrival of Thomas Tuchel as manager, a 5-0 win against 10-man Republic of Ireland secured promotion and ensured England will be back among Europe’s leading nations in the next edition of the competition.

“I wanted the England team to be exciting to watch and attacking,” Carsley told ITV. “I see them do it day in, day out on the training ground. And now we’ve seen it [on the field]. I can only do what I was in control of. It’s not a gamble with some of these players, they are excellent players.”

Euro 2024 runners-up England won Group B2 on goal difference ahead of second-placed Greece, who beat Finland 2-0 in the other game in the group and will head into the playoffs in March.

England struggled to break down a resolute Ireland in the first half at Wembley, with Noni Madueke twice having efforts blocked after threatening bursts into the box.

The game changed shortly after the interval when Liam Scales brought down Jude Bellingham after a fine pass from Kane, conceding a penalty and being sent off for a second bookable offence.

Kane stepped up to slot his spot-kick past Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

England doubled their lead in the 56th minute, as Tino Livramento’s deflected cross found its way to his Newcastle team-mate Anthony Gordon who volleyed home his first international goal.

Carsley’s side scored their third goal in the space of five minutes when Conor Gallagher stabbed in a Marc Guehi flick-on from a corner to also net for the first time for his country.

Jarrod Bowen joined the party, sweeping home his first England goal with his first touch just seconds after coming on as a substitute.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis, on as a sub for his England debut, headed in Bellingham’s cross in the 79th minute to round off the scoring.

“A really important win for us,” Kane said. “It was a tough first half, but we came out second half with a lot more energy and we finished it off.”

England needed to match Greece’s result to top the group.

Anastasios Bakasetas had put Greece ahead in the 52nd in Finland, with Kane’s England opener coming a minute later. Christos Tzolis scored the second for Greece.

After five wins from six games, Carsley will now return to his permanent role as head coach of England’s under 21s. Tuchel begins in January and will lead the campaign to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

He should have plenty of options when he selects his first squad after Carsley handed debuts to eight players during his short reign.

“Lee has achieved the main objective from the six fixtures this autumn: securing promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League,” English Football Association CEO Mark Bullingham said. “The players have really enjoyed working with Lee and his team — they have made a real impact in their interim roles.”

RABIOT DOUBLE

France snatched top spot in Group A2 from Italy with a 3-1 success at the San Siro.

Les Bleus knew a two-goal win would see them finish first ahead of Italy in an otherwise dead rubber with both teams already through to the quarter-finals in March.

Rabiot headed in a second-minute opener from Lucas Digne’s corner.

France shocked San Siro into silence in the 33rd when left-back Digne curled in a magnificent free kick from 25 yards that went into the top left corner via the underside of the bar and the back of Guglielmo Vicario. It went down as an own-goal from the Italy goalkeeper, who was a late replacement after Gianluigi Donnarumma fell ill with a stomach bug.

Italy pulled a goal back two minutes later when Andrea Cambiaso volleyed past Mike Maignan but Rabiot brilliantly headed home another Digne set-piece midway through the second half to mark his 50th France appearance with a brace.

While the match had started with the Italy fans booing the French anthem, it finished with France supporters proudly singing the same song in triumph.

It was the first time Italy had lost a home game by two or more goals since 1983, according to football statistician Opta.

“It had been a while since we’d put in a performance like that. The fight and the team spirit should be highlighted,” Rabiot told TF1. “This is the true face of the French national team.”

The other game in the group saw sixth-ranked Belgium fall to a surprise 1-0 loss against Israel — ranked 81st.

Yarden Shua’s goal settled the game, which was held in Budapest, Hungary, in the 86th but Israel failed to win by the three-goal margin they needed to avoid automatic relegation to League B.

Belgium must now face a playoff to try to avoid relegation.

HAALAND HAT TRICK

Erling Haaland was at his destructive best, hitting a hat-trick as Norway brushed aside Kazakhstan 5-0 to finish top of Group B3 ahead of Austria who were held to a 1-1 draw by Slovenia.

The Manchester City star broke the deadlock, pouncing on a rebound in the 23rd minute.

Haaland nodded in his 37th international goal 14 minutes later, before Antonio Nusa added a Norwegian third of a dominant first half.

Haaland completed his fourth treble for Norway with 19 minutes remaining, turning away from his marker on the edge of the area and finishing low into the bottom corner with his right foot.

Haaland leads the Nations League scoring charts, taking his total to seven goals and is two clear of Viktor Gyokeres, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benjamin Sesko, who are all tied on five.

Nusa scored again as Norway snatched automatic promotion from Austria, who conceded a late equaliser to Slovenia in Vienna.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2024

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi reiterated on Monday that the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy 2025 would still be held in the country amid India’s refusal to send its team for the tournament.

Pakistan, who won the last edition of the Champions Trophy staged in England in 2017, will host the Feb 19-March 9 tournament. Due to their soured political relations, India have not visited Pakistan since 2008 and the rivals play each other only at multi-team events. Pakistan also hosted the Asia Cup last year but eventual winners India played all their matches in Sri Lanka under what the organisers called a “hybrid model”.

It was conveyed to the PCB last week by the ICC that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had informed the world governing body that its national team would not visit Pakistan for the eight-nation event.

It may be mentioned here that time is running short as the ICC by Nov 20 has to announce the Champions Trophy schedule, with all its matches set to be held at three venues in Pakistan — Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore.

Speaking to the media at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium today regarding the situation, Naqvi said: “We will achieve our target and God willing safely hold the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.”

Questioned about any correspondence from the ICC regarding Pakistan’s stance of refusing to adopt a hybrid model, he said: “We wrote a letter and await a response. We only have interaction with ICC and are awaiting its response.”

The PCB chairman said that politics should be kept separate from sports and no country should mix them, adding that he still hoped for the best.

“I think the ICC will need to think about its own credibility, that it is a body of all cricket bodies,” Naqvi added. “All the other teams who qualified for the Champions Trophy are ready to come here, no one has any issue.

“I say right now as well, that if India has any concern, they should come and talk to us, and we will alleviate their concerns because I don’t think there’s any reason for them not to come to Pakistan,” he said.

“Our stance is clear, we have said it before and we will stick to that stance.”

The PCB chairman noted that the ICC had yet to announce the match schedule, adding that he hoped it would be done soon so the PCB could make arrangements accordingly.

He also acknowledged that the PCB appointed Aqib Javed as the interim white-ball head coach after it had refuted a media report which claimed that Javed was set to replace Jason Gillespie as the head coach for all formats.

The Champions Trophy tour kicked off at a graceful ceremony in Islamabad on Saturday with the glittering trophy being displayed at various prominent landmarks in the federal capital, including Dama­n-e-Koh, Faisal mosque and Pakistan Monument.