PHF TO ABOLISH SELECTION COMMITTEE

LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) executive committee has decided to abolish the hockey selection committee during a meeting on Wednesday.

The executive committee also decided to make Hanif Khan the coach of the national side till 2014.

PAKISTAN READY FOR INRERNATIONALS

KARACHI: Players from the visiting International World XI Monday said overseas teams should return to tour Pakistan soon, after two Twenty20s against an all-star home side passed off successfully at the weekend.

The exhibition games were the first appearances by high-profile foreign players in Pakistan since deadly militant attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009 led to the suspension of international matches in the troubled country.

The visitors' captain Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka said international cricket should return to Pakistan.

"After these two matches I hope people will believe that Pakistan is a safe country for cricket," he told reporters on his departure.

"We had two great days with good crowds coming and I am sure that with more efforts international cricket will return to Pakistan."

Security was tight as capacity crowds of 32,000 packed into Karachi's National Stadium -- evidence, if it were needed, of the Pakistani public's desperation to see top level cricket at home.

Jayasuriya, the dashing left-hander who was instrumental in Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup win, said he felt sad for the deprived people of Pakistan.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, which distanced itself from the matches initially, said it hoped a platform had been set for the revival of the game.

 "I hope these matches, despite being private, are a good step," board chairman Zaka Ashraf told reporters on Sunday night. "We are doing our efforts and hope that we are able to convince teams to tour us."

T20: PAKISTAN TO TAKE ON AUSTRALIA TODAY

COLOMBO: After being defeated by India in their second Super Eights match, team Pakistan is in a critical do or die situation as they will face Australia in their last Super Eight match in World Twenty 20 in Colombo while India will take on South Africa Tuesday, Geo News reported.

The Pakistan vs Autralia match will begin at 3:00 pm and India vs South Africa at 7:00 pm according to Pakistan Standard Time.

Pakistan will have to device a comprehensive strategy to come up with an impeccable performance against the unbeaten Australia, which is almost assured a semi-final berth after the commanding eight-wicket victory over South Africa in their last game on Sunday.

Pakistan will face an exit from the tournament in case of losing match against Australia, therefore, Pakistan is in a do or die situation to gain a safe place in the semis.

The fight for the second semi-final slot from Group 2 is indeed intriguing as both India and Pakistan have a fair chance of making their place in the semis, with the Aussies enjoying a healthy run-rate of +1.712.

In case Pakistan (-0.426), who are a shade ahead of India (-0.452) in terms of net run-rate happen to win against Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men will then have to win comprehensively against the South Africans in order to make it to the last four.

South Africa has lost both their matches in contrasting manner - a close defeat to Pakistan and a comprehensive one against Australia.

Even if they win on Tuesday, it is an unlikely proposition for AB de Villiers's side to seal a semi-final berth as their inferior run-rate (-0.605) at this stage of the tournament makes their case weak

PAKISTAN BEAT AUSTRALIA BY 32 RUNS

COLOMBO: Pakistan defeated Australia by 32 runs in a key group two Super Eights match of the World Twenty20 here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday.

However, Australia reached the semi-finals on the basis of a better net run rate.

Both Australia and Pakistan ended the Super Eights on four points each, which knocked winless South Africa out of the tournament.

Australia advanced to the semi-finals despite the defeat due to having the best net run-rate in the group. The result left India needing an emphatic win over South Africa later on Tuesday to stop Pakistan's progress.

Sri Lanka and the West Indies have already qualified from group one.

Chasing 150, Australian batsmen mesmerized by Pakistan’s five-man spin attack, could make 117 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Off spinner Saeed Ajmal claimed three for 17, but it was 20-year-old Raza Hasan who was declared man of the match for conceding just 14 runs and taking two wickets in four overs of steady left-arm spin.

Veteran Mike Hussey was Australia's saviour with an unbeaten 54 off 47 balls as none of the other batsmen managed to cross 15 against the rampaging spinners.

Australia never looked comfortable after their in-form openers, Shane Watson and David Warner, were dismissed by the fifth over with only 19 runs on the board.

ICC World T20 2012: Former Cricketers Concerned Pakistan's Batting Firepower

The Pakistan team might be on a winning streak in the ICC World Twenty20 but some former greats have their concerns over the batting of the team.

Former Test captain Zaheer Abbas expressed apprehensions over the inconsistent batting performances by the team.

"We won a big match against South Africa on Friday but the way the batsmen made a hash of chasing a small total is worrying for me. Hats off to Umar Akmal and Umar Gul who played heroically to get us across the finishing line," Zaheer said.

Known as the 'Asian Bradman' for his stylish batting, Zaheer said that Pakistani batsmen now needed to fine tune themselves for the remaining matches of the event.

"The remaining games are against India and Australia in the super eight and I don't think if our batting keeps on struggling like this all the time we can escape. The batsmen need to show more responsibility and understand that T20 matches can also be won by playing sensible cricket shots."

Terming Pakistan as a front runner for the title Zaheer said the game against India will decide what happens next.

"It is a big pressure match and if our batsmen click than we can go all the way. The batsmen need to understand you can?t play shots on every ball. They need to pace their innings properly."

Another former test batsman, Mohsin Khan also expressed concerns over the volatile nature of the Pakistani batting.

"One day we are chasing down 187 the next day we are struggling to get past 134. The consistency is a source of concern as we go into the knockout stage of the tournament," he said. 

Mohsin who was coach of the national team until March this year said that the coach needed to talk to the players on batting itself.

Pakistan Vs Australia: 1st T20 Today

DUBAI: Following some hard-fought battles in the 50-over version, Pakistan and Australia take their rivalry to the shorter version in a bid to seek fluency ahead of the World T20, locking horns in the first of three T20Is , played today, September 5, 2012, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Measuring their respective progress in this arena on the back of their current rankings could be a misleading research, where the green army occupies the sixth spot, while their opponents are ranked a lowly 9th.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, Pakistan Captain Mohammad Hafeez said that his was a balanced team, which has the ability to defeat Australia. In this series, we have to give a final shape to our preparations for ICC World T20 and constitution of our team by overcoming our shortcomings.

Australian Captain George Bailey said that winning the one-day series has boosted confidence. Saeed Ajmal is a dangerous spinner, but we have made a strategy of attacking Saeed Ajmal, who can bowl only four overs in T20, therefore the danger is minimized, he said.

Mohammad Hafeez said that it was good to be in form in one-day match and hoped that he would continue this form in T20 series also.

Three T20 international cricket series between Pakistan and Australia are being held for the first time. Pakistan and Australia have so far played seven international T20s of which Pakistan had won four and Australia three.

SUPERB JAMSHED lEVELS ODII SERIES

ABU DHABI: Pakistan, led by an aggressive 97 from opening batsman Nasir Jamshed, cruised to a seven-wicket win in the second One-day International against Australia on Friday to level up the series at 1-1.

                                                                          

Jamshed’s innings, which spanned just 98 balls and included 11 fours and two sixes, helped Misbah-ul-Haq’s side make light work of what looked set to be a testing target after Australia made 248 for nine.

The 22-year-old shared partnerships of 66 with fellow opener Mohammed Hafeez (23) and 101 with Azhar Ali before miscuing a drive at Mitchell Johnson to be caught at mid-off by Mitchell Starc just three runs short of his second ODI hundred.

Australia’s bowlers were handicapped by heavy dew in the second innings of a match that spanned two days and finished in the early hours of the morning local time.

Australia’s batsmen were once again shackled by Pakistan’s spinners with off-spinner Saeed Ajmal again proving the key bowler.

Ajmal, who took 3-30 in the previous match in the previous match in Sharjah, once again tormented the Australia batsmen and finished with 4-32.

“He’s our number one bowler and he’s the number one in the world,” said Misbah. “He is playing his role, helping us win matches but the other spinners are doing that too.”

Ajmal tormented David Warner (24) and the opener laboured for 68 balls before being put out of his misery when he tried to work the spinner on the on-side and was adjudged leg before wicket.

     Murray struggles in US Open sweatshop

NEW YORK: Third-seeded Andy Murray, the 2008 US Open runner-up to Federer, needed almost four hours to clinch a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) victory over 30th-seeded Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez here on Sunday.

Olympic champion Murray will next face 15th-seeded Milos Raonic, who defeated American wildcard James Blake and 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 (7/3) on the back of 29 aces to become the first Canadian to make the last 16 in 24 years.

Murray, four times a Grand Slam runner-up, had lost only one set in six prior matches against Lopez but had to come back from trailing in all three tie-breakers on Saturday.

Murray's 250th career match victory on hard courts, and his seventh in seven meetings with Lopez, came when the Spaniard netted a backhand.

 

CT 2013: Pakistan, India in same group

lONDON: Rivals Pakistan and India have been put in the same group in the 2013 Champions Trophy scheduled to be played in England and Wales, according to draws announced here on Tuesday.

 The sub-continental rivals will clash in Birmingham, which has one of Britain's largest South Asian populations, on June 15.

Meanwhile hosts England will begin the tournament by playing defending champions and old rivals Australia at Birmingham's Edgbaston ground.

The Champions Trophy, the "mini World Cup", features the world's eight leading nations in 50-over cricket.

Group A will include Australia, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka while India, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies will compete in Group B.

As well as Cardiff and Edgbaston, The Oval in south London will also stage Champions Trophy fixtures, with the final at Edgbaston on June 23.

"This will be a terrific opportunity for fans to see the world's very best one-day sides in action over the space of less than three weeks and the fixture schedule has thrown up a host of exciting head-to-head contests," said tournament director and former South Africa seamer Steve Elworthy, after the England and Wales Cricket Board released the fixtures on Tuesday.

Next year's edition will be the seventh and last Champions Trophy, with the tournament being replaced by the International Cricket Council's new World Test Championship instead.

Officials had hoped to launch the World Test Championship in 2013 but sponsor and broadcast agreements meant they had to continue with the Champions Trophy.

England fall short at Lord's

South Africa wrapped up a 2-0 Investec series victory over England after the hosts went down by 51 runs on a thrilling final day at Lord's.

Chasing a record 346 to win and tie the three-match series with openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook already out, England gave the tourists a fright before being bowled out for 294.

Jonathan Trott, Jonny Bairstow and Matt Prior all struck half-centuries as England gradually closed on their victory target into the late afternoon.

When Trott (63) was sixth man out with the score on 146 it looked as though England would submit meekly, but Prior (73) along with Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann would have none of it.

The trio lashed the ball to all parts of the ground before Broad skied one, Swann was run out and Prior succumbed to the second new ball.

It meant South Africa deservedly took their place at the top of the Test rankings after dominating large periods of the series, with England dropping to second in the table.