Tag: T20

  • Haris Rauf leads 2020 with most T20 wickets

    Haris Rauf leads 2020 with most T20 wickets

    Pakistani right-arm fast bowler Haris Rauf has ended his 2020 with a bang, taking as many as 57 wickets and becomes leading wicket taker in the Twenty20 format.

    This year has been lucky for three pacers, which leads with Rauf taking 57 wickets in 35 innings. Shaheen Shah Afridi follows him with 52 wickets in hand, which he took in 37 innings and Mohammad Amir has also taken 42 wickets in 36 innings in the calendar year.

    Among Pakistan players, only Wahab Riaz was able to grab 60 wickets in 2019 and Azhar Mahmood took 60 wickets in 2013 and have claimed more T20 wickets in a calendar year than Rauf.

    Though the year has been very difficult due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Rauf has managed to show his class and skills. The 150 kilometres per hour speedster joined the National T20 side in January 2020.

    The 27-year-old recently took three wickets in the three T20I matches against New Zealand. He has also taken second most wickets in T20I this year.

    To celebrate his big achievement, Haris shared a picture of himself and Afridi chilling in New Zealand.

  • Women’s T20 championship offers hefty incentives to players

    The National Triangular T20 Women’s Cricket championship is scheduled to kick off on Sunday at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. The championship will run from November 22 to December 1.

    Read more – Women cricketers travel to Karachi ‘in bags’

    As per details, 42 players will take part in the championship, which will be played on a double-league basis with the top two teams competing in the final on December 1.

    Following a 100 percent increase in their domestic match-fee, women cricketers will have an added incentive to bring out the best performances as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has doubled the prize money for the event from the last season.

    The top-run getter and player of the tournament in the last edition will be eager to defend the title with Rs 1million up for grabs for the championship winners. The runner-up will pocket Rs 500,000.

    Rs 50,000 will be awarded to the player of the championship, while player of the match will get Rs 20,000.

    Aliya Riaz , Ramin Shamim and Muneeba Ali will captain PCB Blasters , PCB Dynamites and PCB Challengers respectively.

    The championship will be live streamed on PCB’s YouTube channel through a nine-camera production. Keeping in view the COVID-19 situation special guidelines for media have also been issued by PCB.

  • ‘Sorry Lala’: Haris Rauf apologises to Afridi for dismissing him

    ‘Sorry Lala’: Haris Rauf apologises to Afridi for dismissing him

    Power hitter, Shahid Khan Afridi got clean-bowled on a duck by Haris Rauf’s yorker in a Pakistan Super League (PSL) match between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans. After dismissing the legend, Haris apologised to the senior player, the video of which went viral on social media.

    https://twitter.com/thePSLt20/status/1328038153790304256?s=20

    Afridi is nowhere close to the explosive big hitter he once was. There’s little need to get excited by him walking out to bat; he might once have been a trailblazer, but several around the world have mastered and bettered, the art. At 40, any exploits off Afridi’s bat are very much dying embers of a flame that once burned brightly, but Haris may just have snuffed them out in the eliminator match.

    In the 14th over when Afridi walked out to bat, Rauf bowled a yorker first up tailing into middle stump. Few might have kept it out, but Afridi was notably slow in getting his bat down, the ball, whistling through his legs and onto the base of middle stump.

    As Afridi began to walk off, Rauf clasped his hands together by way of apology. It was Rauf’s 50th T20 wicket this year and the 27-year-old is now the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket this year (50 wickets from 31 games).

    Later, in field when asked by the commentator via spider cam that why did he do that, on which he said: “He is a senior player and I came to play with this intention that if I’ll take Shahid bhai’s wicket, I will do this style.”

    VIDEO: ‘Family Guy’ features Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings joke in new episode

    Meanwhile, the biggest rivalry in PSL’s history is about to go down on Tuesday’s (November 17) match as both the teams [KK & LQ] will now get their first chance to snatch the trophy.

  • Are IPL’s Mumbai Indians the greatest domestic T20 side ever?

    Are IPL’s Mumbai Indians the greatest domestic T20 side ever?

    Mumbai Indians on Tuesday defeated Delhi Capitals in the final of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 becoming the most successful IPL team in history. The defending champions lifted the trophy of IPL for the fifth time, following which the International Cricket Council (ICC) asked their followers if the team was “the greatest domestic T20 side ever.”

    Soon after the post by ICC, a debate erupted in which some Twitter users pointed out that the council is forgetting Sialkot Stallions, the most successful Pakistani domestic team, which under Imran Nazir and Shoaib Malik’s captaincy has six National T20 Cup wins in Pakistan. This record is jointly held by Pakistan’s Sialkot Stallions and South Africa’s Titans.

    Many teams have registered pretty long winning streaks in recent times but have fallen a long way behind the biggest winning streak ever recorded in Twenty20 cricket but Stallions hold the record as they won 25 consecutive matches in the T20 format which they played across six domestic competitions. The dream run came to a tragic end in October 2010 when Sialkot fell 14 runs short of a 198-run chase against Rawalpindi Rams.

    Mumbai now needs only one more title to equal the aforementioned record. Though Mumbai has two Titles of Champions trophy, it does not fall under the domestic radar. Hence, it is premature to announce them the greatest domestic T20 side ever.

    Meanwhile, check out some arguments on Twitter below:

  • Mother-daughter duo plays T20 match together

    Mother-daughter duo plays T20 match together

    The ongoing National Triangular T20 Women’s Cricket Championship at Karachi’s National Stadium saw a mother-daughter duo take to the field together.

    While daughter Kainat Imtiaz, a Pakistan international, donned the PCB Dynamites’ colours, her mother Saleema Imtiaz is carrying out match officials’ duties.

    Saleema was passionate about cricket and played it in the
    streets while growing up. She couldn’t play it on the grounds but it was her
    love for the cricket that brought her towards the profession of umpiring in
    2006.

    “Kainat is fulfilling my dream,” says Saleema. “My childhood dream was to represent Pakistan. She is not only a good daughter but also a great cricketer.”

    Kainat, who made her Pakistan debut in October 2010, said her mother inspired her to pursue this profession.

    “I feel proud when I look at my mom. She took up umpiring to fulfill her passion to be in the ground,” said the cricketer. “Growing up there was a lot of interest in cricket in my house as my both parents are sports instructors. They used to be at my school so all of my sporting activities have been under them right from the beginning.”

    The duo has not been involved in the same match played under the auspices of the PCB but Kainat has played with her mother as an umpire in local matches.

    “There is more pressure on both of us when we are involved in the same match,” says Kainat.

    “I have been umpiring since 2006 and I want to be in ICC’s umpiring panel. I wish to preside international matches and make a name for my country,” Saleema remarked. 

  • ‘Babar Azam is a classy player’; Ricky Ponting all praise over ‘extraordinary batting skills’

    Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has labelled Pakistani batsman and skipper Babar Azam a “classy player” and praised him for his “extraordinary batting skills”, Cricket Pakistan reported.

    According to the details, Ricky Ponting while speaking during an interview said, “We have not seen the best of him [Babar Azam] yet. 20 odd Tests for an average of 35 – he is better than that. He averages 54 in one-day cricket at a strike-rate of about 90. He is a very, very classy player”.

    He added, “He is a really exciting talent and probably the guy I am looking forward to seeing the most this summer. I have seen the Aussies a lot and I have seen a lot of the Kiwis, but I am really excited to see him”.

    The former Australian skipper believes that Pakistan need to utilise Babar in a better way in the longer format, adding that Australia needs to be wary of him in the upcoming two-match Test series between the two sides.

    After scoring back to back fifties in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia, Babar played a brisk 157-run knock in the four-day practice match against Australia A in Perth.

    It remains to be seen whether the 25-year-old can perform well in the Test series against the hosts, starting from November 21 at Gabba, Brisbane.

  • ICC features Pakistani American couple watching cricket during wedding ceremony

    ICC features Pakistani American couple watching cricket during wedding ceremony

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) has featured on its social media a Pakistani American couple watching the first T20 match played between Pakistan and Australia on Sunday.

    “Here’s a message we got from a fan in the US [United States],” ICC wrote as it shared the couple’s picture as well as the groom’s message.

    “As a die-hard cricket fan, I wanted to submit a photograph from my wedding this past weekend. As per tradition, after the completion of the wedding, the bride is brought home for a little traditional welcoming ceremony among the close family,” Hasan Tasleem wrote, adding that as they reached back home around midnight in Detroit, the game was underway.

    “Over the years, residing in North America, I’ve stayed up at all sorts of odd hours at night to catch Team Pakistan play. Even though it was my wedding night, I wasn’t going to miss the game,” he added.

    On Sunday, rain abandoned the first T20I between Pakistan and Australia in Sydney. The hosts were motoring along at 41-0 in just 3.1 overs as they chased 119 in 90 balls. The match was, however, abandoned after rain interrupted play for the second time.

    Australia won the second T20 on Tuesday by seven wickets with nine balls remaining.