KARACHI: An unbeaten 58-ball 97 by Man-of-the-Match Babar Azam and a maiden half-century by Sunday’s debutant hero Hussain Talat helped Pakistan clinch the three-match T20I series 2-0 at the National Stadium on Monday.

West Indies were bowled out for 123, after Pakistan posted their highest-ever T20I total of 205 in the second match.

After facing a 143-run thrashing in the opening T20I, West Indies tried to put up a fight after losing Andre Fletcher for just 1 run to Mohammad Nawaz. Chadwick Walton resisted bravely with a 29-ball 40, but fell to Shadab Khan with Windies at 50-2 (8.1 overs).

Shadab struck again to remove Marlon Samuels 12 (22) with a catch by Asif Ali near the boundary. Wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin, after failing to click in the first T20I, hit out at the Pakistani bowling before departing for 21 runs off 20.

Mohammad Amir cleaned up the middle-lower order with wickets of skipper Jason Mohammed 15 (18), Powell 3 (4), and Paul 17 (10). Emrit was run out for 1. Hasan Ali knocked out Williams’ stumps. Hussain Talat took two wickets, including the last one, to hand Pakistan an 82-run victory.

Babar 97*, Talat 63 power Pakistan to 205

Babar Azam fell just short of his maiden T20I hundred as he reached his best T20 score of 97*, while Hussain Talat smashed 63 from 41 balls to take Pakistan to their highest-ever total in T20 internationals, after the home team won the toss and chose to bat.

Pakistan lost opener Fakhar Zaman for run-a-ball 6 in the second over of the match. But they lost no momentum as both Babar Azam and Hussain Talat anchored the innings and brought Pakistan back on course.

Talat’s Islamabad United teammate Asif Ali, who was out for a disappointing 1 run in his debut T20I, hit a couple of powerful boundaries before getting caught in the deep at 14 (8).

Shoaib Malik contributed 17 runs from 7 balls. For West Indies, debutant Odean Smith, Emrit and Williams took a wicket each.

Pakistan team was unchanged from the first T20I. An already depleted West Indies suffered another blow, with their bowler Veerasammy Permaul ruled out of the remaining games due to an ankle injury.

In the first T20I on Sunday, Pakistan thrashed the West Indies by 143 runs to record the second-largest margin win in the shortest format of the game.

The third and final T20I will be played at the same venue on April 3, Tuesday.

Playing XI

Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (c, wk), Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali

West Indies XI: Jason Mohammed (c), Andre Fletcher, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Keemo Paul, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kesrick Williams, Odean Smith, Chadwick Walton, Rayad Emrit, Samuel Badree

The post Brilliant Babar, Talat take Pakistan 2-0 up in Windies series appeared first on Sportslinkpk.

KARACHI: Pakistan thrashed West Indies by 143 runs to record the second-biggest margin win in T20I history as the tourists collapsed in the first match of the three-T20I series at National Stadium on Sunday.

West Indies batting collapsed at 60 after a sure-footed 41 by debutant Hussain Talat and a late cameo by veteran Shoaib Malik powered Pakistan to a mammoth 203-5.

Mohammad Nawaz struck in the inning’s first over after getting hit for six off his very first ball, removing Chadwick Walton for 6 (4). Mohammad Amir, in the inning’s second over, had Andre Fletcher caught on duck, leaving West Indies at 8-2.

Two balls later, Amir removed skipper Jason Mohammed for duck.

Wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin was out after a five-ball duck, off the first ball by Hasan Ali.

Shadab Khan caught and bowled Powell 5 (10), as Windies staggered to 27-5 in the seventh over. Marlon Samuels showed some resistance with 18 runs, but he was dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz as the collapse continued.

Shoaib Malik ripped through the lower order, removing pacer Emrit 11 (20) and Williams 0 (1).

Man-of-the-Match Hussain Talat, who took three catches in the field, took the last wicket to wrap up the match for Pakistan.

Talat, Malik blitz

Hussain Talat’s 37-ball 41 and a quickfire 37 by Shoaib Malik helped Pakistan put up their joint-highest score in the shortest format of the game. The previous best was also 203-5 against Bangladesh in 2008, also in Karachi.

West Indies put brakes on a flying start by Pakistan with two quick wickets after opting to bowl first, as the City of Lights lit up to welcome the return of international cricket after a hiatus of nine years.

West Indies had their first breakthrough as pacer Emrit removed Babar Azam for 13-ball 17, with Pakistan at 46-1.

Fakhar Zaman hit 39 off 24 balls before he was run out, leaving Pakistan at 65-2 in the eighth over.

Hussain Talat, who debuted today along with this Islamabad United teammate Asif Ali, fell short of a memorable fifty, getting run out after a 37-ball 41.

Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed contributed with a 22-ball 38, hitting some measured shots to steer Pakistan towards a respectable total.

Asif Ali, who rose to fame with his six-hitting ability in PSL 2018, had a forgettable debut with just 1 run.

Shoaib Malik smashed 37 off just 14 balls in the last overs, as West Indies struggled in the field with injuries and misfields.

Earlier, Hussain Talat and Asif Ali were handed their T20I debut caps by former captains Ramiz Raja and Waqar Younis ahead of the toss.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed said he was proud and excited to be leading his team on home soil, as international cricket returned to Karachi after a hiatus of nine years.

“It feels great to be playing on our home soil, in front of our home crowd,” the skipper said at the toss, adding that the pitch looked good for batting.

Playing XI

Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (c, wk), Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali

West Indies XI: Jason Mohammed (c), Andre Fletcher, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Keemo Paul, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kesrick Williams, V Permaul, Chadwick Walton, Rayad Emrit, Samuel Badree

The post Pakistan thrashed West Indies by 143 runs appeared first on Sportslinkpk.

KARACHI: Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2018 stars Asif Ali and Hussain Talat have both been named in the 12-member team to face West Indies in the first T20 international at National Stadium on April 1.

Both or either of Islamabad United’s hard-hitting batsman Asif Ali and his teammate, all-rounder Hussain Talat could make their debut for Pakistan on Sunday.

Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed confirmed the final 12 for the first T20I in a press conference today evening.

Ahmed Shehzad, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (captain, wicketkeeper), Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali.

Returning pacers Rahat Ali and Usman Khan Shinwari and Lahore Qalandars’ speed sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi have been omitted from the lineup for the opening T20.

The post Pakistan finalise 12-member team for 1st T20 against West Indies appeared first on Sportslinkpk.

KARACHI: Pakistan will take another significant step towards the revival of international cricket as World Twenty20 champions the West Indies feature in three back-to-back Twenty20 internationals in Karachi from Sunday.

The Pakistan Cricket Board have put in place stringent security arrangements for the West Indies team, with 8,000 policemen and paramilitary personnel guarding the visitors in and around the hotel and stadium.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee David Boon will supervise the series while ICC general manager cricket Geoff Allardice and umpires´ manager Adrian Griffith will also attend the matches to oversee arrangements.

The series comes as Pakistan is enjoying guarded optimism over the return of international cricket, driven from the country after a deadly militant attack targeting the Sri Lanka team in 2009.

Earlier this month Karachi successfully hosted the final of the popular Pakistan Super League (PSL), becoming the second major venue to host international matches after Lahore hosted Zimbabwe in 2015.

Lahore also hosted the PSL final in March last year, three World XI matches in September and one against Sri Lanka a month later.

This year´s PSL final was the first major cricket event in Karachi since 2009. Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed said he was overjoyed at the return of international matches to his home city.

“This is a great occasion,” said Sarfraz, the only player in the squad who has played a limited over international in Karachi before.

“We saw a big crowd in the PSl final so I hope they will come in big numbers for the Twenty20 series.”

The other two matches will be played on Monday and Tuesday.

Pakistan have done well in the shortest format of the game, having won 14 of the 17 Twenty20 internationals since Sarfraz took over as captain in September 2016.

That helped them reach the number one spot in Twenty20 rankings, having won 2-1 in New Zealand in January this year.

Sarfraz said he hoped his team would keep the momentum.

“Whatever team West Indies sends we have to play at our best because they have good shorter format players,” said the captain, whose team has only lost three of their 11 Twenty20 internationals against the West Indies.

Pakistan have included three newcomers in batsman Asif Ali, allrounder Hussain Talat and paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi — after the trio fared well in the PSL 2018.

West Indies will be without their regular Twenty20 captain Carlos Brathwaite, who opted out of the tour over security fears while openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis, all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, and spinner Sunil Narine were not available for selection due to their commitments to the Indian Premier League.

Middle order batsman Jason Mohammad will lead the side, which has four uncapped Twenty20 players in batsman Andre McCarthy, fast bowler Odean Smith, left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul and all-rounder Keemo Paul.

Teams:

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Usman Khan Shinwari, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

West Indies: Jason Mohammed (captain), Samuel Badree, Rayad Emrit, Andre Fletcher, Andre McCarthy, Keemo Paul, Veerasammy Permaul, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Odean Smith, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams.

ICC match referee: David Boon (Aus)

The post Pakistan revival strengthens with Windies T20s appeared first on Sportslinkpk.

The post Local players of Quetta Gladiators, Peshawar Zalmi arrive in Lahore appeared first on Sportslinkpk.

DUBAI: Quetta Gladiators won the toss and elected to field against table-toppers Multan Sultans at the Dubai International Stadium.

Both the sides have made changes in their final playing-11 as Kevin Pieterson, Asad Shafiq and Ben Laughlin have been included in place of Mahmudullah, Umar Amin and John Hastings.

Meanwhile, Umar Gul and Ross Whiteley are in for tonight’s game while Junaid Khan and Darren Bravo have been rested.

A 19-run victory over Peshawar Zalmi last night consolidated Multan’s top spot on the points table, powered by Sohaib Maqsood’s knock of 85 not out off 42 balls.

Multan have won 4 out of their 6 matches so far, with one loss and one washout. Earlier this tournament, the Shoaib Malik-led team outclassed Quetta Gladiators by 9 wickets.

Quetta, on the other hand, are lacking the spark which they carried with them last season. They have lost 3 and won 2 matches out of 5 matches, and sit at fifth position.

Multan Sultans

Head coach: Tom Moody

Captain: Shoaib Malik

Squad: Shoaib Malik (c), Ahmed Shehzad, Darren Bravo, Abdullah Shafique, Saif Badar, Nicholas Pooran, Kumar Sangakkara, Sohaib Maqsood, Kashif Bhatti, Shan Masood, Thisara Perera, Mohammad Abbas, Umar Siddiq, Ross Whiteley, Imran Tahir, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Hardus Viljoen-

Quetta Gladiators

Head coach: Moin Khan

Captain: Sarfraz Ahmed

Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Rilee Rossouw, Jason Roy, Kevin Pietersen, Rameez Raja, Asad Shafiq, Shane Watson, Umar Amin, Mohammad Nawaz, Mahmudullah, Jofra Archer, Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel, Rashid Khan, Anwar Ali, Hassan Khan Mohammad, Mir Hamza, Rahat Ali

The post Gladiators win toss, to field first appeared first on Sportslinkpk.

Sharjah:-Peshawar Zalmi 143-5 (Tamim 36, Watson 1-16) beat Quetta Gladiators 141-8 (Watson 47, Asif 2-18) by six wickets.

Skipper Sammy—who picked injury in the first innings of the match—hammered 16 runs of just four deliveries to take Zalmi home after a brief collapse.

Following Akmal and Smith departure, calm Tamim and experienced Hafeez were guiding Peshawar Zalmi to a comfortable win over Quetta before a short collapse made things difficult in the middle for Zalmi’s batsmen.

Both added 54 runs for third wicket.

Smith also made useful contributions with the bat by scoring 23 runs on just 14 deliveries. Sammy, with some fierce hitting in the end, took his team home and also earned two useful points.

Earlier, in the tenth fixture of Pakistan Super League, Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and opted to bowl first against the Quetta Gladiators as the latter eye top position on the points table.

Wickets in regular intervals and and impressing fielding show have kept things under control for Peshawar Zalmi as Gladiators’ batsmen found it hard to score runs in the middle.

Despite Watson and Rossouw blitz, Quetta managed to post only 141 at the cost of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

In the first quarter, Zalmi bowlers proved the decision of their captain right.

With boundaries not coming easily, Sameen Gul dismissed out-of-form Asad Shafiq who managed just 9 runs on 10 balls.

As the pressure kept on soaring, Watson looked to break the circle by targeting lose deliveries. In the eighth over, Watson hammered three huge 6s while 22 runs came in that over.

Just when things started to look good for the Gladiators, skipper Sammy removed Amin on a length ball. The left-hand batsman only managed to secure 11 runs from 16 balls.

To add insult to the injuries, Watson was removed by left-arm spinner Khalid Usman in the very next over.

After Watson’s departure, Rossouw hit some massive 6s to lift the morale but he was eventually dismissed on 37. Skipper Sarfraz—who scored 17 runs—was clean bowled Wahab Riaz.

Sammy, Wahab and Asif picket two wickets each to keep things under control as Gladiators were curtailed to 141.

Zalmi squad: Tamim Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, DR Smith, Mohammad Hafeez, Sabbir Rehman, Khalid Usman, DJ Sammy, Sameen Gul, Umaid Asif, Wahab Riaz

Gladiators squad: Asad Shafiq, SR Watson, Umar Amin, KP Pieterson, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed, RR Rossouw, JW Hastings, Hassan Khan, Anwar Ali, Rahat Ali

The post Valiant Sammy cameo takes Zalmi home against Gladiators appeared first on Sportslinkpk.

SHARJAH: Quetta Gladiators, boosted by their two successive victories, will look to extend their winning streak when they take on a wobbly Peshawar Zalmi at the Sharjah Cricket Ground tonight.

After losing their first match to Karachi Kings, Sarfraz Ahmed’s XI made a whirlwind comeback to beat Lahore Qalandars by 9 wickets and Islamabad United by 6 wickets.

Defending champions Peshawar Zalmi, on the other hand, have had a lacklustre campaign so far this season. They lost to Multan Sultans in the tournament opener, made a brief comeback to beat Islamabad United by 34 runs but lost again to Karachi Kings.

Quetta Gladiators

Head coach: Moin Khan

Captain: Sarfraz Ahmed

Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Rilee Rossouw, Jason Roy, Kevin Pietersen, Rameez Raja, Asad Shafiq, Shane Watson, Umar Amin, Mohammad Nawaz, Mahmudullah, Jofra Archer, Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel, Rashid Khan, Anwar Ali, Hassan Khan Mohammad, Mir Hamza, Rahat Ali

Peshawar Zalmi

Head coach: Mohammad Akram

Captain: Darren Sammy

Squad: Darren Sammy (c), Tamim Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Andre Fletcher, Riki Wessels, Hammad Azam, Haris Sohail, Dwayne Bravo, Khushdil Shah, Umaid Asif, Saad Nasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Shabbir Rahman, Liam Dawson, Sameen Gul, Hasan Ali, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Asghar, Wahab Riaz.

The post Quetta Gladiators take on Peshawar Zalmi tonight appeared first on Sportslinkpk.