National T20 Cup | Match 15 | Central Punjab [167/2] beat Northern [166/9] by 8 wickets

[MenInG]

Northern:

Imad Wasim (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Ali Imran, Asif Ali, Farzan Raja, Haider Ali, Hammad Azam, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Musa Khan, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Sohail Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Amin and Zeeshan Malik

Central Punjab

Babar Azam (captain), Saad Nasim (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafiq, Abid Ali, Ahmed Bashir, Ali Shan, Ehsan Adil, Irfan Khan Niazi, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Akhlaq, Naseem Shah, Qasim Akram, Rizwan Hussain, Sohaibullah, Usman Qadir and Zafar Gohar.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

I think we all know the result, always exciting to watch Haider and Rohail bat.

 

[MenInG]

I think we all know the result, always exciting to watch Haider and Rohail bat.

In Babar Azam we trust Lets see if CP get a win today

 

[MenInG]

Northern have won the toss and elected to bat first

 

[Baigel]

Why isn't Haider Ali playing?

 

[naseem]

Again Saad ..........it makes me sad

 

[Shafi]

Where the match is showing?

 

[asadee]

I dont understand sometimes PCB streams it live on Youtube and sometimes it doesn't

 

[MenInG]

Why isn't Haider Ali playing?

Imad Wasim takes his place?

 

[naseem]

Faheem is on fire

 

[MMHS]

I think, Haider is rested in this game, though not sure why. They are playing Hammad, therefore Imad’s return is not the issue here.

 

[naseem]

Who is more influential....

A. Misbah
B. Saad Nasim

 

[naseem]

I think, Haider is rested in this game, though not sure why. They are playing Hammad, therefore Imad’s return is not the issue here.

Probably rested .....NORTHERN is giving everybody chance......good

 

[Omer2002]

Shadab has come leaps and bounds in his batting which is good

 

[naseem]

Shadab has come leaps and bounds in his batting which is good

His ceiling as a batsman is high.......very high ....have noticed it during his test 50s...in UK

 

[angrypathan]

Fahim Ambrose

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

His ceiling as a batsman is high.......very high ....have noticed it during his test 50s...in UK

In five years time he will be a batting allrounder instead of a bowling allrounder. His batting has a lot of potential while his bowling is limited.

 

[shamaan]

This should be an excellent game come on nothern

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Just look at the shape rauf is getting; more than anybody in the competition, including known swing bowlers like Amir and Tanvir.
And clueless [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] calls him wahab who has never swung the ball conventionally.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Beautiful bowler. Should always bowl with the new ball. Wasim has identified him very well. giving him the new ball over amir. He is an extremely attacking bowler and will give you breakthroughs more often than not.

 

[Titan24]

Haider Ali, Ali Imran and Mohammad Musa are rested as Northern is pretty much through to the semis. Mohammad Wasim like to rotate his XI and give oppurtunities to everyone. He did the same in last match with Zeeshan Malik, Haris and Musa.

They will have to think who will Musa replace, Amir or Tanvir when he comes back.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

So the family is batting together (Babar and Kami)

 

[Titan24]

Babar already showing his class with these two 4s. He will need to be there for long to make it easy for CP.

 

[Titan24]

Kamran with two lives! A poor shot and Rohail dropped a simple one, probably due to lights or sunset but thats no excuse as he should be wearing glasses if thats the case.

 

[Titan24]

Amir welcomed with a 4 by Babar

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

So the family is batting together (Babar and Kami)

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Why isn't Haider Ali playing?

Imad Wasim takes his place?

I think, Haider is rested in this game, though not sure why. They are playing Hammad, therefore Imad’s return is not the issue here.

Probably rested .....NORTHERN is giving everybody chance......good

Imad said at the toss that Haider is slightly unfit and will be back next game.

 

[MHN1293]

Is it me or does rohail nazir look a lot like sarfaraz just by face.

 

[Titan24]

Babar makes batting look so easy, Azhar Ali rightly saying in the comm box.

 

[Titan24]

Imad said at the toss that Haider is slightly unfit and will be back next game.

Thanks. Missed the start of the game.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Amir getting smashed makes me happy.
May it continue.

 

[Titan24]

With Fahim in, CP is looking much more balanced than before on paper.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

With Fahim in, CP is looking much more balanced than before on paper.

Don’t forget Babar, as well as Sohaib showing good skill with the ball while Abdullah showing skill with the bat.

All they need to do now is drop Saad Nasim and they have a fantastic team on their hands.

 

[asadee]

"khandaani shot"..funny commentary by Azhar Ali lol

 

[Titan24]

Abdullah should have created little partnership first before going for his shots and Babar was already set to accelerate if it was needed.

 

[Titan24]

Don’t forget Babar, as well as Sohaib showing good skill with the ball while Abdullah showing skill with the bat.

Absolutely. I mentioned Faheem in terms of his pace bowling option and some ability in the batting as well for that no 7 in between Qasim and Zafar.

 

[MHN1293]

The pcb youtube stream is running 2 overs behind.

 

[Bewal Express]

Babar is like a high school kid playing with primary kids.

 

[Titan24]

Abdullah just needed to do what Fahim is doing. Create a partnership and then try his shots.

 

[Titan24]

Another six for Babar

 

[MHN1293]

5th hundred on the cards for babar if he dosent get out.

 

[Ellipsism]

Amir getting smashed makes me happy.
May it continue.

Amen.

Nice to see I'm not the only one who felt that way.

 

[Titan24]

Credit to CP coach for sending Fahim at no 4 and to him that he responded well. Babar took the game singlehandedly away but Fahem was a good support.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Wow Babar's batting has transformed this CP side.

 

[Amirforpresident]

Not watching the match, but what did Faheem have for breakfast lol. He his amir for A 4 and followed it up with a 6 to finish the match

 

[MenInG]

 

[Sher Khan]

Not watching the match, but what did Faheem have for breakfast lol. He his amir for A 4 and followed it up with a 6 to finish the match

Both were top edges to bouncers. But good to see positive intent from Faheem.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Poor captaincy to not give Rauff more overs with the new ball. He was the only threat that could have potentially gotten rid of babar with the swing he was getting at the start.

 

[shamaan]

Babar is a beast

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Poor captaincy to not give Rauff more overs with the new ball. He was the only threat that could have potentially gotten rid of babar with the swing he was getting at the start.

Imad has no idea - at the toss he said “we’re making a couple changes... actually, to be honest I don’t know exactly who played the last match.” How would he know how to utilize Rauf?

I feel they should have let Shadab retain captaincy to ensure continuity.

 

[Arsal_AK]

Imad has no idea - at the toss he said “we’re making a couple changes... actually, to be honest I don’t know exactly who played the last match.” How would he know how to utilize Rauf?

I feel they should have let Shadab retain captaincy to ensure continuity.

Agred. Shadab has been excellent and has only gotten better since the PSL.

Imad on the other hand, the less said the better. Pretty poor job and then the fielding went to **** too today.

 

[Kaddy]

Babar Azam showed everyone who's the real BOSS.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Amen.

Nice to see I'm not the only one who felt that way.

Was a big time backer of his when he came back in 2016 and faught everyone who was against his inclusion.
However, now I literally despise him.
Not only is he an ehsaan faramosh, but also extremely soft and ignorant.
Instead of taking the difficult route by having a tough off season where he could have gained muscle and ironed out his technical issues, he chose the easier route by sitting on his bum and expecting everything to resolve just because he left test cricket.
Just look at the state of his bowling. Has lost everything that once made him special.
I have absolutely no sympathy for him.

 

[The Viper]

Babar Azam led from the front to guide Central Punjab to a commanding eight wicket victory over the defending champions Northern in the 15th match of the National T20 Cup for First XI teams and the first of the 19 matches scheduled at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Northern who entered the match on a 10-match winning streak in the National T20 Cup had no answers to Babar’s brilliance with the bat. Babar and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf (man-of-the-match) made their first appearance in the tournament a truly memorable one with match winning performances.

Set a 166-run victory target, Central Punjab coasted to 167 for two in a mere 17 overs with Babar returning unbeaten with a typically elegant 86 off 52 balls (11 fours, two sixes). Faheem followed his four-wicket bowling spell to make 52 off 26 balls; his innings included two sixes and seven fours. The two added 105 runs for their unbroken third wicket partnership in a mere 51 balls.

Central Punjab had lost Kamran Akmal for 21 and Abdullah Shafiq for three when Faheem joined Babar at the crease.

Reflecting on his performance, Faheem Ashraf said: “My performance today is due to prayers, especially since I was struggling recently. Our team’s mindset today was to try and win the game, my aim when batting with Babar was to ensure that we bat till the end, Babar asked me to stay till the end as that will ensure a comfortable victory for us.”

Batting first after winning the toss, Northern made a fine recovery to post 165 for nine after their top-order was removed by an inspired spell of pace bowling by Faheem who took three wickets in his two over opening burst conceding a mere seven runs.

Faheem sent back Zeeshan Malik (9), Sohail Akhtar (17) and Rohail Nazir (4) to leave Northern tottering at 52 for four. Left-armer Sohaibullah had made the first breakthrough when he dismissed Umar Amin for a duck.

Northern were rescued by an 87-run (56 balls) stand for the fifth wicket between Asif Ali and Shadab Khan. Asif hit five sixes and four fours in his 40-ball 67-run effort. Shadab scored 39 off 25 balls, striking five fours in his innings. Northern were however finished a few runs short at the end as the lower-order failed to sustain the momentum provided by Asif and Shadab.

Faheem added Hammad Azam’s wicket in his second spell to finish with four wickets for 18 runs. Usman Qadir (two for 36) and Ehsan Adil (two for 37) were the other main wicket-takers for Central Punjab.
Meanwhile for Northern captain Imad Wasim and Sohail Akhtar made their first appearances of the tournament while Haris Rauf was brought back in the playing eleven.

Scores in brief

Northern 165-9, 20 overs (Asif Ali 67, Shadab Khan 39; Faheem Ashraf 4-18, Usman Qadir 2-36, Ehsan Adil 2-37)

Central Punjab 167-2, 17 overs (Babar Azam 86 not out, Faheem Ashraf 52 not out, Shadab Khan 2-39)

Result – Central Punjab won by eight wickets

Player of the match – Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab)

Saturday’s fixtures:

1500 PST - Balochistan v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Ahsan Raza and Imtiaz Iqbal (on-field umpires), Rashid Riaz (third umpire), Imran Jawed (fourth umpire); Nadeem Arshad (match referee).

1930 PST – Central Punjab v Sindh. Asif Yaqoob and Saqib Khan (on-field umpires), Shozab Raza (third umpire), Ghaffar Kazmi (fourth umpire); Mohammad Anees (match referee)

 

[naseem]

Kya ye wahi Faheem hai

 

[Afhan Ali]

Northern bowling line up is almost similar to Pakistan t20 bowling line up ( Just missing Wahab or Shaheen ) but they were put into cleaners with ease by Pakistan only World Class Batsman.

Not surprised our bowling line up is poor. What these team will do to Pakistan in t20s which consists of more than one world class batsman.
India Have Kohli, Rohit, Dhawan and Rahul.
Australia have Warner, Smith, Finch, Maxwell.
England have many.
NZ have Taylor and Williamson.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Northern bowling line up is almost similar to Pakistan t20 bowling line up ( Just missing Wahab or Shaheen ) but they were put into cleaners with ease by Pakistan only World Class Batsman.

Not surprised our bowling line up is poor. What these team will do to Pakistan in t20s which consists of more than one world class batsman.
India Have Kohli, Rohit, Dhawan and Rahul.
Australia have Warner, Smith, Finch, Maxwell.
England have many.
NZ have Taylor and Williamson.

Sohail Tanvir and Amir were the main bowlers targeted today - both of them are past it and should never make Pakistan team again (Amir has showed alarming decline, otherwise I wouldn’t have expected to say this about him just two months ago).

 

[Afhan Ali]

Haris, Imad and Shadab were playing in Pakistan last t20.

 

[shamaan]

Sohail Tanvir and Amir were the main bowlers targeted today - both of them are past it and should never make Pakistan team again (Amir has showed alarming decline, otherwise I wouldn’t have expected to say this about him just two months ago).

Agreed also amir isnt improving on fitness or speed he has no determination

 

[shamaan]

Northern bowling line up is almost similar to Pakistan t20 bowling line up ( Just missing Wahab or Shaheen ) but they were put into cleaners with ease by Pakistan only World Class Batsman.

Not surprised our bowling line up is poor. What these team will do to Pakistan in t20s which consists of more than one world class batsman.
India Have Kohli, Rohit, Dhawan and Rahul.
Australia have Warner, Smith, Finch, Maxwell.
England have many.
NZ have Taylor and Williamson.

They have performed in every game baring 1 its t20 anyfink can happen

 

[Mamoon]

Just look at the shape rauf is getting; more than anybody in the competition, including known swing bowlers like Amir and Tanvir.
And clueless [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] calls him wahab who has never swung the ball conventionally.

As I told you the other day, there is no point in tagging/quoting me when you are not going to like what I have to say. It is better for you and your delusion.

Rauf will achieve nothing of note in international cricket. He will not have a better career than Wahab no matter how beautiful you find his bowling and how excited you get with the shape that he is getting with the new ball.

So again, you have to make peace with the bitter reality that Rauf will not have the career that you are fantasizing for him. He will not be where you expect him to be in let’s say 6-7 years in terms of wickets, average, strike rate etc.

But don’t worry, there is always the easy option of blaming Misbah, Waqar and whoever else is in charge at the time. It is always the convenient way for deluded Pakistani fans to curb their disappointment.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

As I told you the other day, there is no point in tagging/quoting me when you are not going to like what I have to say. It is better for you and your delusion.

Rauf will achieve nothing of note in international cricket. He will not have a better career than Wahab no matter how beautiful you find his bowling and how excited you get with the shape that he is getting with the new ball.

So again, you have to make peace with the bitter reality that Rauf will not have the career that you are fantasizing for him. He will not be where you expect him to be in let’s say 6-7 years in terms of wickets, average, strike rate etc.

But don’t worry, there is always the easy option of blaming Misbah, Waqar and whoever else is in charge at the time. It is always the convenient way for deluded Pakistani fans to curb their disappointment.

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] out of curiosity which players would you develop instead for the 2023 World Cup?

 

[Markhor]

Right lads, I had no internet for the last 4 days and ran out of mobile data, and I missed you all. Went crazy watching rubbish Daytime TV.

I've literally just seen this scorecard now, Faheem Ashraf broke the Northern Streak )

With some help from Babar Azam of course. Central Punjab should be a transformed side now.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

As I told you the other day, there is no point in tagging/quoting me when you are not going to like what I have to say. It is better for you and your delusion.

Rauf will achieve nothing of note in international cricket. He will not have a better career than Wahab no matter how beautiful you find his bowling and how excited you get with the shape that he is getting with the new ball.

So again, you have to make peace with the bitter reality that Rauf will not have the career that you are fantasizing for him. He will not be where you expect him to be in let’s say 6-7 years in terms of wickets, average, strike rate etc.

But don’t worry, there is always the easy option of blaming Misbah, Waqar and whoever else is in charge at the time. It is always the convenient way for deluded Pakistani fans to curb their disappointment.

You are a sad sad man.
I just love these depressing posts from you. Just showcases how much of a surface viewer you are, with no ability to read and feel signs.
I hope you develop a taste for raw eggs because you are going to get a truck load of them when Pakistan cricket rises during the middle of this decade. InshaAllah!
Your doom and gloom narrative will be put to bed for good. I can see it. You will too.