NAT Discussion and Announcements

[MOD-wmchamps]

Unfortunately we could not earn promotion as we lost against Zimbabwe.

They had a rested batting line-up which got them runs on the board, and their bowlers did well to defend the total, so credit to them on the win.

[MOD-wmchamps]

T20 World Cup Time!!!

After a long absence, the National team has qualified to the T20 World Cup.
We are in Group 2 with USA, Canada, Netherlands, India, and Australia.
The Group stage is from 02-06 November.
Zimbabwe is hosting the World Cup, and matches will be played at 13:00.

As always, head on over to the association for squad discussions.

[Boom83]

Alhamdulillah, good effort, and best of luck dear

[MOD-wmchamps]

T20 World Cup Squad

Batsmen:

Saeed Amjad (16 caps)
Manzoor Ansari (4 caps)
Aamer Munaf (11 caps)
Ahsan Waqas (T20 Debut)
Ammar Cheema (6 caps)
Shah Saeed (15 caps)

Keepers:

Jafar Vohra (2 caps)
Masood Gulzar (9 caps)
Ilyas Khanum (6 caps)

All Rounders:

Aaqib Estijaab (LFS) (T20 Debut)

Bowlers:

Nawaf Laeeq (RFS) (NAT Debut)
Sarfraz Waqas (RFS) (8 caps)
Muslim Rauf (LWS) (9 caps)
Tasleem Agha (LWS) (9 caps)
Misbah Burfat (RM) (4 caps)
Hashmat Habib (RFM) (T20 Debut)
Junaid Jamshed (RFM) (6 caps)
Nawaz Abubakar (RF) (3 caps)

Pitches:

vs Canada: Slow
vs Netherlands: Crumbling
vs Australia: Dry
vs India: Dry
vs USA: Hard

[MOD-wmchamps]

First match vs Canada, played in Slow/Sunny conditions

Won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Their openers made a quick start, but Sarfraz Waqas pulled things back with a brilliant spell of bowling, getting 4 wickets for just 13 runs.
The other bowlers looked to gain inspiration from Sarfraz, and bowled well to restrict Canada to 116/9.

Ilyas Khanum fell second ball, but Masood Gulzar led the chase with an unbeaten 49 from just 42 balls to guide the team home to a 6 wicket win.

Player of the Day goes to Sarfraz Waqas for his figures of 4-0-13-4 and 1 catch as well.

Match Ratings
Pakistan Canada
Batting - Top Order 15,141 15,273
Batting - Middle Order 11,047 13,455
Batting - Tail 4,931 4,787
Bowling - Seam 15,696 (8) 14,764 (8)
Bowling - Spin 15,466 (12) 15,057 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 18,614 18,047
Overall 253,180 258,116

[MOD-wmchamps]

2nd match of the WC was played against the Netherlands in Crumbling/Sunny conditions.

We won the toss again and elected to bowl first.

2 wickets in the first 3 overs gave us a good start, but a fighting 64 from their keeper Abendanon contributed to them putting up a competitive 142 runs on the board. We were able to pick up wickets around him though with Junaid Jamshed and Muslim Rauf getting 3 each and Abubakar chipping in with 2. Best bowler was Muslim Rauf for his figures of 4-0-24-3 and for getting the crucial middle order wickets.

Our openers gave us a solid start, scoring 47 runs in the first 6 overs. Ilyas Khanum led the way with 54 runs off just 43 balls and though we suffered a middle order collapse, Manzoor Ansari and his Finisher talent came to the party and guided the team home to a 4 wicket win. Player of the Day is shared between Muslim Rauf and Ilyas Khanum for their contributions.

Netherlands v Pakistan >> Match Ratings
Match Ratings
Netherlands Pakistan
Batting - Top Order 15,232 14,826
Batting - Middle Order 13,393 12,223
Batting - Tail 6,453 5,679
Bowling - Seam 14,831 (12) 15,760 (8)
Bowling - Spin 14,828 (8) 14,601 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 17,159 17,557
Overall 259,483 253,229

[MOD-wmchamps]

It was a busy week so I could not post reviews of the remaining 3 matches of the T20 World Cup.

In short, we lost to Australia, won against India, and faced the USA in a virtual quarter-final as the winner was guaranteed a semi-final spot.

It was a thrilling match but we ended up on the losing side and missed out on the semis due to having a lower NRR than Australia.
Our heavy defeat to the Aussies cost us in the end, but overall it was a good campaign as we qualified for the T20 World Cup after a long absence, so hopefully these are good signs.

Thank you to everyone for their support over the past season, and hopefully we can progress this season to end the term on a high.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Solid performance by our younger players against Bangladesh in today's friendly getting us a comfortable 7 wicket win

Pakistan v Bangladesh >> Match Ratings
Match Ratings
Pakistan Bangladesh
Batting - Top Order 13,952 15,100
Batting - Middle Order 10,911 13,449
Batting - Tail 3,764 6,844
Bowling - Seam 13,313 (20) 13,987 (30)
Bowling - Spin 14,353 (30) 15,335 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 16,418 17,281
Overall 229,687 259,205

[MOD-wmchamps]

First ODI tour of this season and we will be starting in Division 3.

Tour Dates 07 Dec 2020 - 11 Dec 2020
Hosting Rights Won By Scotland
Hosting Country Scotland
First Preferred Pitch Hard
Second Preferred Pitch Flat
Third Preferred Pitch Uneven

Promotion is crucial for WC qualification, and squad discussions as usual will be held in the Association forums.

[MOD-wmchamps]

ODI Tour Division 3
07 Dec 2020 - 11 Dec 2020

Touring Squad

Batsmen

Manzoor Ansari (3 caps)
Ahsan Waqas (9 caps)
Jahangir Badshah (Debut)
Ammar Cheema (19 caps)
Allah Jamil (Debut)
Sajid Jan (Debut)

Keepers

Jafar Vohra (6 caps)
Masood Gulzar (21 caps)
Ilyas Khanum (16 caps)

Bowlers

Nawaf Laeeq (RFS) (ODI Debut)
Sarfraz Waqas (RFS) (21 caps)
Tasleem Agha (LWS) (18 caps)
Misbah Burfat (RM) (7 caps)
Junaid Jamshed (RFM) (17 caps)
Hashmat Habib (RFM) (6 caps)
Kashaan Abbasi (LFM) (Debut)
Abdul Basit Abdus Samad (RF) (Debut)
Nawaz Abubakar (RF) (8 caps)

Pitches

vs South Africa: Hard
vs Netherlands: Flat
vs Zimbabwe: Hard
vs Scotland: Uneven
vs USA: Uneven

[MOD-wmchamps]

The first match of the ODI tour was against South Africa in Hard/Sunny conditions.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first.

An early strike in 2nd over helped us exert pressure on their batsmen early on, and we had them at 99/4 at one point. A 111 run partnership followed by a 51 run partnership had them in a good position for the death overs, but our bowlers finished well conceding only 45 runs in the last 7 overs and getting 4 wickets to keep them to 307. Pick of the bowlers was Junaid Jamshed for his 5 wicket haul.

307 is a very good total in these conditions, so it was important to get off to a good start.
Our batsmen did the total opposite, as we slipped to 98/5. What followed then can only be described as a miracle, as Ammar Cheema and Manzoor Ansari combined excellently for a record breaking 206 run partnership for the 6th wicket to guide the team home to an unlikely 4 wicket win. Cheema scored an unbeaten 134 off just 117 balls and Ansari provided brilliant support with 91 from just 93 balls.

This is also the first time that I am going to award 3 players as joint Player of the Day, with Junaid Jamshed, Ammar Cheema, and Manzoor Ansari all deserving of the recognition as their contributions helped us win.

Match Ratings
Pakistan South Africa
Batting - Top Order 15,090 15,557
Batting - Middle Order 11,356 13,070
Batting - Tail 5,494 5,519
Bowling - Seam 15,321 (40) 14,732 (40)
Bowling - Spin 15,404 (10) 15,751 (10)
Fielding/Keeping 18,306 17,643
Overall 253,873 258,669

[Shahzaday11]

Its a majestic performance by both batters.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Second match of the tour vs the Netherlands.

We won the toss and elected to bowl.

The management team would like to apologize to all the supporters for failing to set orders for this match and we have no excuse for this.

Our bowlers did well but we had a batsman bowling so his figures ruined what was a good bowling performance.
Netherlands got to 306, which was the same total we chased yesterday and the pick of the bowlers was Tasleem Agha with figures of 9.3-0-43-3.
Debutant Kashaan Abbasi also bowled well and picked up 2 wickets for only 46 runs.

Our chase got off to a great start, but the presence of bowlers in the middle order put pressure on the batsmen as the RRR kept climbing.
Manzoor Ansari our Finisher tried his best, but it was game over once he got out as the target proved to be too much for the bowlers to chase, and we ended up losing by 7 runs.

Player of the Day was Tasleem Agha for his bowling.

We will work extra hard as a management team to ensure that what happened today does not occur in the future.

Match Ratings
Netherlands Pakistan
Batting - Top Order 14,717 11,845
Batting - Middle Order 12,726 10,748
Batting - Tail 6,005 7,983
Bowling - Seam 14,977 (40) 14,116 (20)
Bowling - Spin 15,429 (10) 10,759 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 17,472 17,419
Overall 255,549 227,092