Pakistani Bowlers on Top

Pakistan’s golden girls proud of Asian Games triumph

Pakistan’s victorious women’s cricket captain Sana Mir said Friday their historic Asian Games gold medal was welcome good news for a country where the men’s game is mired in scandal.

The emphatic 10-wicket win over Bangladesh was Pakistan’s first gold of the Games and comes amid fixing allegations swirling around the men’s team.

Pakistan, whose president congratulated the team after their victory, is recovering from catastrophic floods and has been hit by a series of devastating militant attacks over the past few years, leaving thousands dead.



“Whatever is happening in men’s cricket I don’t know how much is true and how much is false,” said Sana Mir, adding that Pakistan was not alone in having people who did not play by the rules.

“The way the women’s team has played and the way they have handled themselves on and off the field is really wonderful for Pakistanis living in Pakistan and abroad,” she said.



Sana, who took two wickets for 23 runs, said the media often focused on the problems besetting Pakistan but the nation “must be proud of us.”

“There are lot of good things happening in Pakistan and this is one of them,” she said.

Sana denied the women’s team was breaking new ground, saying it was thanks to powerful female role models .

“We are not the pioneers. We are just following in the footsteps of the strong women of Pakistan,” she said.

The 24-year-old said it had become more acceptable for men to watch the women’s game and the women’s team improved by playing against under-19 and under-25 men’s teams.

RaMpAnT Razzaq StUnS South Africa

 

There are match-winning centuries and there are Match-winning Centuries. You will travel far and wide, maybe even go back in time, but you will struggle to find a more remarkable game-stealing hundred than the one the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi saw tonight. An outrageous 72-ball 109 from Abdul Razzaq dragged Pakistan to a series-levelling target of 287 against South Africa, one ball and one wicket left.

It was scarcely-scriptable and only when Razzaq hit his tenth six in the last over, slogging Albie Morkel over midwicket to climax an unimaginable orgy of power-hitting, was a Pakistan win even worth contemplating; until then he had played to a backdrop of impending, imminent doom. To even get to that point needing 14 was a feat because for 99 overs Pakistan looked a distant second best; a solid, now-to-be-forgotten century from Colin Ingram, hands from Hashim Amla and JP Duminy and the continuing refusal of Pakistan's top order to turn up, the distinct story till then.

Shahid Afridi and Fawad Alam had tried gamely to make something of the disaster of 70 for 4 in the 19th over. The spinners were on, Afridi was around so inevitably some fun was had. When Afridi went in the 30th, the score at 136, still the best they could hope for was an honourable scrap.

Razzaq began quietly, expressive as a stone, and even a dance-down six off Robin Peterson four overs after Afridi left felt decorative. Alam, meanwhile, was getting bogged down by his own inability to clear a field. But South Africa relaxed, the pair stuck at it. Alam suddenly got going and Razzaq smoked a couple more sixes. By the 40th over, at 200 for 5, theoretically it looked possible - in this age of Twenty20 at least - even if, in reality, it didn't feel gettable.

But for once, Pakistan timed their Powerplay right and when Johan Botha was taken for 11 in the very first, a little tension crept in. Only a little though, for Alam went soon, Morne Morkel bowled two fine overs, there was the inevitable run-out and even though Razzaq had reached his fifty, it was done and dusted.

The 47th over, bowled poorly by Charles Langeveldt, was pivotal. Razzaq launched a sequence of length balls for three sixes in his favourite areas - flat-batted over extra cover, high over long-on and down the ground. Eighteen runs but no expression. Wahab Riaz's run-out off the last ball was merely collateral damage as 53 from 24 became 33 from 18.

Razzaq had decided at the fall of Alam that if the match was to be won, it would be by him alone, so with the tail in, several singles were turned down. With 25 needed from 12, Langeveldt was lofted down the ground and then pulled with cartoonish violence to midwicket. By the time Razzaq had taken the 14 needed off the last over he had scored 63 of the last 65, effectively from the 45th over onwards. Six sixes came in the last four overs, and only at the very end, after crashing a drive through point, did he let his emotions out, dropping his bat and trying to run but not knowing where to go.(cricinfo)

SPOT FIXING DRAMA FLOPS !

Spot fixing drama erupted by English media at Oval has come to an end.

"Following extensive investigations into allegations about the one-day international between England and Pakistan at The Oval in London on 17 September, the ACSU(Anti-Corruption and Security Unit) has verified all the available information and concluded that there was no compelling evidence to suspect individual players or support staff," the ICC statement read.

Captain Afridi welcomed the decision of Oval clearance.

Shahid Afridi of Pakistan leads his team off the field after winning on September 17

All the videos were fake and a big propaganda has become unsuccessful.Yasir Hameed was also black mailed by English media.Unpopular cricketers were using this issue to gain attention of the people(like Sarfaraz nawaz) and many foreign players like Vettori ,Watson and Kumble were try to promote the fake scandal .The cheesy Veena Malik also used spot fixing issue to get fame.

Pakistan Cricket Board legal adviser Taffzul Rizvi said the ruling was a "positive development" but added any decision on whether to take legal action against British newspapers would wait for the outcome of the Lords spot-fixing inquiry.

We could have called police on Trott: Afridi

Newspapers reports said Trott and Riaz had an altercation minutes before the fourth one-day at Lord’s, with Trott grabbing Riaz by the throat after both exchanged heated words in the net area.



Reports said the incident started when Trott accidentally struck Riaz with his pads as he took them off.

“When Riaz was returning after warming up Trott called him a ‘match fixer’ and that he (Riaz) was up to harming Test cricket and hit his face with the pad,” Afridi told Geo television in London.

“It could have been a police case because it is crime to hit someone, but we showed a big heart and did not press for it.”

Trott was also involved in an ugly exchange of words with Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal during the first one-day game at Chester-le-Street on September 10.



Riaz, 25, was one of four Pakistani players interviewed by Scotland Yard earlier this month over claims in the News of the World that spot-fixing took place during last month’s Lord’s Test.

The three others were Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif. That trio have been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

No charges have yet been levelled against any Pakistani player.

“The case is being investigated by the ICC and its anti-corruption unit and there are efforts to pressurise the Pakistan team on that,” said Afridi.

After the altercation between Trott and Riaz, Afridi confirmed that there were suggestions Pakistan should not play the match in protest.

“But we finally decided that it wouldn’t be appropriate,” said Afridi, praising his team for their spirit.

“There is a conspiracy to finish the Pakistan team, but Pakistani people are different, they rise under such a situation,” said Afridi.

courtesy Dawn.com

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