Shahid Afridi on comeback trail as Twenty20 Cup blasts off

KARACHI: Pakistan discard Shahid Afridi renews his resolve to return to national colours as he enters the field in the role of Karachi Dolphins captain, in their opening match of the newest edition of the ABN-AMRO Twenty20 Cup cricket tournament, against Faisalabad Wolves here at the National Stadium at 5.00pm today (Thursday).
Four matches have been lined up here in Karachi on the inaugural day of the six-day competition, the first two starting at 10.00am at the two other major grounds in the city. The fourth will get under way at 8.30pm at the National Stadium under floodlights.
Eight of the 13 regional teams of the country will be seen in action today. There are four groups, with four sides in Pool A and three each in the other three, Pools B, C and D. Each group will provide a team for the semifinals while the final will be played next Tuesday to decide the champion side.
All Pakistan national team players have been urged to appear for their home sides in the 2006-07 Twenty20 Cup Championship, however, skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq — who had been named captain of Multan Tigers — is expected to stay away due to personal commitments that have already been made known to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Peshawar Panthers meanwhile are being led by Pakistan vice-captain Younis Khan while Mohammad Yousuf will be in charge of the Lahore Lions outfit. The Islamabad Leopards have as their leader the Pakistan pace ace Shoaib Akhtar.
In the first match of the day today, Karachi Zebras — being captained by Hasan Raza — will meet Hyderabad Hawks at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1, as proceedings start at 10.00am in this Pool B fixture.
The matches that start at 10.00am will be played in two 80-minute sessions and are due to end at 12.55pm. At the National Stadium, the matches that begin at 5.00pm will end at 7.55pm under lights while the ones scheduled for an 8.30pm start will continue until 11.25pm each day.
Also getting off to a start at 10.00am today is a Pool A match between Lahore Eagles and Abottabad Rhinos at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex Stadium. The other Pool A match of the opening day is between Karachi Dolphins and Faisalabad Wolves at the National Stadium, beginning at 5.00pm.
Later at 8.30pm, Peshawar Panthers will come face to face with Multan Tigers in their Pool C fixture at the National Stadium. The other five teams will swing into action from Friday (tomorrow).
The first national Twenty20 Cup tournament, also sponsored by the ABN-AMRO Bank in its inaugural season, was played in 2004-05 and Faisalabad Wolves became its first winners after beating Karachi Dolphins in the final. In 2005-06, Sialkot Stallions took the title away defeating Faisalabad Wolves in the decider.
The Twenty20 concept of cricket, with each side limited to batting for 20 overs and the games finishing in three hours’ time, took off in the home of cricket — England — in the summer of 2003. South Africa followed suit in 2003-04 with their own Standard Bank Pro20 Series.
Sri Lanka, with their Twenty20 Cup, were next in 2004-05 while Pakistan joined in the same season with the ABN-AMRO Twenty20 Cup. New Zealand’s State Twenty20 began in 2005-06 while Australia introduced the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash in January 2006.
The West Indies entered the fray with their lucrative Stanford Twenty20 competition in July this year, but Bangladesh, India and Zimbabwe have not yet started a domestic Twenty20 contest of their own.
The first Twenty20 International was played between New Zealand and Australia at Auckland’s Eden Park on February 17, 2005, with Australia emerging victorious by 44 runs.
Since then, a total of 10 Twenty20 International cricket matches have been played, every Test-playing nation having been featured in at least one. Australia and South Africa (4 each) have played more such matches than any other side, with New Zealand and England having played three each and the other six one each.
Pakistan beat England by five wickets in their first Twenty20 International, at the County Ground Bristol on August 28 this year. Appropriately, the hard-hitting Shahid Afridi was declared Man of the Match, his blitz of a knock of 28 coming off just 10 balls with five fours and a six.
The inaugural Twenty20 World Cup is now next on the International Cricket Council (ICC) agenda as a regular international feature. South Africa has already been decided as the venue with dates, etc., soon to be disclosed.
A display of the kind of batting that can be expected in Twenty20 cricket was given by the Karachi Dolphins captain Moin Khan when scoring the Pakistan competition’s first hundred. Playing against Lahore Lions at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on April 25, 2005, he blasted 112 runs off a mere 59 balls with eight fours and six sixes.
After winning the first national Twenty20 Cup, Faisalabad Wolves were invited to England to play in a six-team International 20:20 Club Championship in the September of 2005. They won the title beating Sri Lanka’s champions Chilaw Marians Cricket Club in the final at Grace Road Leicester by five wickets!
Fixtures for today (Thursday): 10.00am — Karachi Zebras v Hyderabad Hawks (UBL Sports Complex Ground No.1, umpires Iqbal Butt and Zaheer Ahmed, match referee Saadat Ali, official scorer Syed Imran Ali). 10.00am — Lahore Eagles v Abbottabad Rhinos (NBP Sports Complex Stadium, Akbar Khan and Islam Khan, Khalid Niazi, Salman Siddiqi). 5.00pm — Karachi Dolphins v Faisalabad Wolves (National Stadium, Kaukab Butt and Z I Pasha, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Mohammad Ahsan). 8.30pm — Peshawar Panthers v Multan Tigers (National Stadium, Ahsan Raza and Shakeel Khan, Khatib Rizwan, Salman Hussain).

Afridi’s selection uncertain for final ODI

KARACHI: The fate of Shahid Afridi hangs in the balance ahead of the fifth and final one-dayer against the West Indies here at the National Stadium tomorrow.
Given a lifeline in the fourth One-day International (ODI) in Multan, Afridi flopped again with the bat and is now doubtful for the Karachi game.
The playing eleven for Karachi’s match would be finalised by the team management and chief selector Wasim Bari this evening and it remains to be seen whether Afridi manages to get another chance following the return of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf.
“We are keeping our options open,” said a non-committal Bari. “Afridi has been struggling to get some runs and once again failed to impress so lets see what the coach and captain (of the Pakistan team) have to say about him,” he added.
Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and Bari will sit down this evening to decide the line-up for the final one-dayer and will have to take some tough decisions.
At least two players who featured in a seven-wicket defeat in Multan on Wednesday will have to sit out to make way for Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf.
“Yousuf has informed us about his availability for the Karachi match while Inzamam is also fit and I believe he will play too,” said Bari who pointed out that picking an eleven would be a tricky task.
Comeback batsman Yasir Hameed found instant form in Multan and was Pakistan’s top scorer. Middle order batsman Faisal Iqbal, coming in for the injured Inzamam, also played sensibly.
“Yasir played really well while Faisal did a good job considering the fact that he batted during a difficult phase. Mohammad Sami also bowled pretty well,” said Bari. Sami came in for in-form medium pacer Umar Gul who was rested for the Multan match.
Gul is expected to return for the Karachi game while the team’s think tank will also have to consider rookie left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman. He did a great job in Faisalabad and Lahore but was rested in Multan to make room for Afridi.