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Pakistan’s 3-0 whitewash of England has not come as a surprise to some of the country’s ex-players and administrators

Umar Farooq06-Feb-2012Pakistan’s 3-0 whitewash of England has not come as a surprise to some of the country’s ex-players and administrators. At the beginning of the series England were 26 rating points ahead of Pakistan in the ICC’s Test rankings, but conditions in the UAE always made Pakistan favourites, according to former captain Rashid Latif.”If our side was playing in Australia, England or South Africa my point of view may have been different but when it comes to UAE conditions we always had an upper hand,” Latif told ESPNcricinfo. “However, whatever the case was, we have registered the finest victory in our history, and it will be remembered for long.”Zaka Ashraf, the PCB Chairman, said he had always been confident in Pakistan’ capabilities, and now they had given the world notice of what they can achieve. “I never doubted the ability of the Pakistan cricket team,” he said, “and the victory is a clear message to all cricket-playing nations that we have the capability to take on any cricket team in the world.”Latif said the significance of the win was such it would influence future generations of Pakistanis. “This series carries a unique importance as the circumstances surrounding Pakistan cricket in the past couple of years were not that pleasant,” Latif said. “We are missing three or four major players but have still been able to form a decent team.”The impact of this victory will drive new generations to play cricket instead of playing computer games. It will encourage more youth to play cricket and that is how talent in the country can remain alive.”Followers of Pakistan cricket, who may have been dismayed at the notorious incident of the past, will again tune into Pakistan cricket. Our brand of cricket can once again become one of the most popular in the world.”England are still ranked No. 1 in Tests, but are now just 10 rating points ahead of Pakistan, who are still in fifth position. Pakistan have moved up from 99 to 108 rating points, but remain behind England, South Africa, Australia and India. Former selector Saleem Jaffar, though, said a high ranking could actually be a burden for a team.”Realistically, ranking is an added pressure on a team,” Jaffar said. “A top team can be judged on present form and the way Pakistan played is outstanding. A series victory is, naturally, a big boost to Pakistan cricket and stamps its authority on the cricketing world.”Ashraf said the victory over England should be treated as a stepping stone to even bigger achievements for Pakistan. “We should not get overjoyed over this Test victory because our journey isn’t complete,” he said. “Our aim is to build a consistent and stable team for the next World Cup and I have already told all the cricket experts to ensure it.”

Having guided Australia through the turbulent first eight months of his captaincy, Michael Clarke is decidedly relieved to have a settled support staff

Daniel Brettig23-Nov-2011Having guided Australia through the turbulent first eight months of his captaincy, Michael Clarke is decidedly relieved to have a settled support staff – even if the new head coach Mickey Arthur was not his personal choice for the job.Clarke returned home from a dramatic but ultimately satisfying tour of South Africa on Wednesday, and though he has a surfeit of injuries to contend with, can look forward to tackling the home summer with a strong network around him.Along with Arthur, the team performance manager Pat Howard, the national selector John Inverarity, selectors Rod Marsh and Andy Bichel, Clarke will dial into the first major phone hook-up for the new selection panel on Thursday evening, to deliberate on the team for the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane.The assembly of cricket experience and sporting intellect is striking, and Clarke also spoke warmly of the assistant coaches Steve Rixon, Justin Langer and Craig McDermott. Rixon was Clarke’s preference to become head coach, but pointed out that Arthur’s appointment would allow him to benefit from the knowledge of both.”I’m stoked we’ve got a coach. Mickey has done a fantastic job in the past with South Africa, and I’m really excited and looking forward to working with him,” Clarke said. “I’ve only spoken to him a handful of times either playing against him with South Africa or over the phone since he’s taken over with WA.”I think Australian cricket needed a coach to be appointed sooner rather than later and I’m stoked that James Sutherland and Pat Howard have put a certain amount of people through a process and Mickey Arthur’s come out on top, so I’m looking forward to working with him.”In my opinion I believe the coach needs to have the support staff around him that he wants and he needs, but if Stumper [Rixon] is the right man for the job, I’m sure Mickey will be more than supportive to see them around, as with Justin Langer and Craig McDermott.”They’re all under contract, I’m not sure how long to, but that’s a bonus for our team if you’ve got some very good cricket minds there, helping us out trying to get us to win games. I think really you’ve probably got the cake and eating it too with Mickey Arthur and Steve Rixon.”As Arthur’s predecessor Tim Nielsen observed, Clarke’s draining first few months in the job benefited from the enthusiasm of a new leader. The broadening of support beneath Clarke will now allow him to concentrate on his batting and tactical thinking as the captaincy starts to become less of a novelty.”It’ll probably make a few of our live a lot easier, that’s for sure. I’m as excited as anybody to get a coach on board,” Clarke said. “There’s been some things happening off the field for the last six months, but our job is to perform on the field.”The communication for me personally with James Sutherland has been outstanding, he’s kept me informed on everything that’s been happening, from the general manger to the selectors, to now the head coach, so they’ve tried to do their best and we’ve tried to do the same. It’s nice that it’s finished, we have our new general manager, our selectors and a head coach, so it’s another reason to be excited for what lies ahead.”Clarke delivered a chuckling “good luck” when informed that Arthur had likened the captain/coach relationship to marriage, but spoke frankly of the need to build a rapport in coming days. Only seven remain between now and the start of the first Test against New Zealand.”Since Mickey took over the job in WA, we’ve been in communication, talking about the WA player,s so there’s been back and forth communication for a while now,” Clarke said. “But the relationship is crucial, no doubt, straight away I respect him for everything he’s achieved as a player but also as a coach.”His success with the South African team is something that I’m sure would’ve played a part in him getting this job. He’s a true gentleman, a fantastic man, and I look forward to learning as much as I can from him and working together.”To me it doesn’t matter where you come from, if you’re the right man for the job, the best man for the job, then I believe you deserve to get it. The benefit of Mickey coming on board is he’s got some other great coaches around him in regard to Steve Rixon, Justin Langer and Craig McDermott. So some pretty smart cricket minds there, working together I can only see us having more success.”

Mushfiqur Rahim, who guided Bangladesh to victory against West Indies in the one-off Twenty20 with a penultimate-ball six, has said he is pleased that his tenure as captain is off to a positive start

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2011Mushfiqur Rahim, who sealed Bangladesh’s victory over West Indies on Tuesday with a six over midwicket, said it was a calculated shot he played to finish the game.”I was targeting the smaller side of the ground, and I was confident that even a mis-hit could travel for six,” he said.During Bangladesh’s recent tour of Zimbabwe, Mushfiqur was in a similar position in the third ODI. Bangladesh needed eight to win off the last over with one wicket in hand, and Mushfiqur, batting on 99, hit a couple of the first ball and holed out off the next attempting a six. Here, he said, he was not worried about repeating the mistake.”In Harare, as we only had one wicket left, I knew that even if I took a single we would have lost the match; in other words it was all left up to me. Here, since we had three wickets left, I knew that even if I mis-hit the shot and we ran one or two there would still be a chance to win.”The match was Mushfiqur’s first as captain of Bangladesh and he was glad everything went to plan. “Everyone wants the first match [of their stint in charge] to be memorable, and I couldn’t have asked for more. We won the toss, it was the plan to bowl first because dew might have been a factor and our bowling is spin-reliant. We saved 10-12 runs in the field and made a concerted effort to restrict them as much as possible.”With Bangladesh 93 for 6 in the 16th over, chasing 133, West Indies appeared to have the edge, but Mushfiqur found an able partner in debutant Nasir Hossain. At that point, Mushfiqur said, he was looking to play out 20 overs. “I believed that if Nasir and I stayed till the last over, even if we needed 10 or 15 runs [in the 20th], we would win.”We got some runs in the second-last over [14 off Carlos Brathwaite], which was a bonus for us. In the last over, I had the confidence that if I got the ball in my zone then I could hit it for a four or six. Fortunately, that is what happened.”The Bangladesh bowlers did well to restrict West Indies, he said. “I think we bowled fantastically well to restrict West Indies to 132. It was not a difficult total [to chase]. Rubel [Hossain] got hit for two sixes, but these things can happen in the Powerplays. What I liked was how he responded to the responsibility placed on him and came back well.”Darren Sammy, West Indies’ captain, said his side had made too many errors. “We could have scored more runs, and we could have stopped more balls in the field,” Sammy said. “In the end we made more mistakes than they did.”We knew it was going to be an interesting series. They held their nerve better than we did. We never took them for granted.”

India are set to be without Virender Sehwag for the first two Tests against England and there is still no definite timetable for his return to the side

Andrew McGlashan at Taunton14-Jul-2011India are set to be without Virender Sehwag for the first two Tests against England and there is still no definite timetable for his return following the shoulder surgery that ruled him out of the West Indies tour.It had already been announced that Sehwag will be joining the tour two weeks late after being given extra time to recover at home but uncertainty remains over the seriousness of his problem. “We’ve heard that he’ll be over here for maybe the third and fourth Test, so we’re crossing our fingers for that,” Duncan Fletcher, the India coach, said.On the recent tour of West Indies, India had an entirely new opening combination with Gautam Gambhir also missing out with an injury. Abhinav Mukund partnered Murali Vijay for the three matches and did enough to secure a berth to England having made 147 runs at in six innings.Mukund now faces the prospect of joining forces with Gambhir to face England’s new-ball attack at Lord’s and Trent Bridge. MS Dhoni wants his side to be given a solid platform but knows Sehwag’s boots are tough to fill. “We are a side that relies on our openers quite a bit,” he said. “If we get off to a good start then we can really capitalise with the middle order we have.”As far as Virender Sehwag is concerned, there aren’t many cricketers in the world who can have the impact he can. Of course we’ll miss him, but the good thing for Indian cricket is it gives a chance to a youngster like Mukund who can have a look at international cricket and see what areas he needs to improve. Viru will be back at some point, but it’s good to have Gautam back as well.”Sehwag, though, is just one part of a formidable batting line-up that will include the returning Sachin Tendulkar along with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Fletcher also believes that the tough batting conditions India faced in West Indies will stand them in good stead for the series ahead.”In West Indies, without some top players, they played on some spicy wickets – two like I’d never been involved with before – it was really quick, it bounced and seamed,” he said. “They handled it well. So we feel they are in a good space at the moment and can carry on.”Dhoni, meanwhile, isn’t overly concerned that India only have their three-day match against Somerset as preparation because the team are coming off their hard-fought series in the Caribbean, although he may have been lulled slightly by the warm day on Thursday. The forecast isn’t so promising.”The West Indian climate is quite different but there’s nice weather here for cricket. I don’t think there’s too much pressure on us to acclimatise,” he said. “The last two days we’ve had fantastic net sessions. In West Indies, wickets were slightly different. It was a challenge for the batsmen because shot-playing wasn’t very easy. Over here it might be a bit different because the outfield should be miles faster than what we had in West Indies.”

Netherlands are delighted that the ICC Board has “seen sense” and overturned the decision to reduce the 2015 World Cup to a 10 team tournament

Firdose Moonda28-Jun-2011Netherlands are delighted that the ICC Board has “seen sense” and overturned the decision to reduce the 2015 World Cup to a 10 team tournament. The event has been expanded to 14 teams with space for four Associate nations to qualify. The Dutch are the only Associates to have played in four World Cups and are confident of securing a spot in the 2015 event.”We thank and congratulate the President Mr Sharad Pawar for taking up this matter with his fellow Directors to reach this satisfying conclusion,” said Richard Cox, KNCB chief executive. “The decision comes after months of delicate and dedicated work to overturn the decision which has involved numerous consultations and interaction with the other High Performance Countries in particular.”Netherlands have only recorded one victory over a Full Member in their history, when they beat Bangladesh by six wickets in June 2010. They left the 2011 World Cup winless after challenging England in the first group-stage match they played, amassing a total of 292 for 6 but being unable to defend it. They went on to lose to West Indies, South Africa, India, Bangladesh and fellow Associates Ireland.”Looking at the way we performed in India, there is certainly reason to be very positive,” Roland Lefebvre, former Dutch captain, told ESPNCricinfo. “We will look forward to improved performances and that first win against a Full Member at the tournament.”Despite none of the Associates qualifying for the quarter-finals in 2011, the tournament was a hailed as a success for a so-called minnows and their proposed exclusion from the future editions was widely criticised. The ICC was called insular and elitist and after mounting pressure have reversed that decision, earning the praise of the smaller teams.”The format of 14 teams with a qualifying process is entirely appropriate for a sport which has 105 member countries that in a meritocratic environment should have the opportunity to achieve the highest levels of performance,” add Cox. “We look forward over the coming months to ensuring that the Netherlands team is part of that and plays its part fully in the ICC Cricket World Cup qualification process.”With teams such as Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates emerging as competitive Associates, qualification will not be easy for the Dutch, where cricket is still very much a developing sport. “We have two players on the county scene, Ryan [ten Doeschate] and Alexei [Kervezee]. For the Dutch team to be successful we need at least five or six,” Lefebvre said.The country’s proximity to England and their inclusion in the CB40 tournament could assist with getting more players absorbed into counties, which Lefebvre thinks will improve cricket at national level. “For the most talented players it is important to move overseas where they can play on grass all the time, play against strong opponents and be involved in more serious training programs,” Lefebvre said.Lefebvre led the team to the 2003 World Cup, where they beat Namibia, and said that he noticed an increase in skills development, funding and competitiveness in the 2011 squad. He hopes that trend can continue now that the team has a chance to play in another World Cup. “There is a more professional attitude of modern day players,” he said. “There is also more money available for prep tours and an increased playing program.”Meanwhile, the World Twenty20, which will take place in Sri Lanka next year and was originally supposed to consist of 16 teams, has been reduced down to 12. Lefebvre still thinks the twenty-over format will be the entry point for people to become interested in cricket in Europe, a sport that is still, largely, foreign to them.”If we want to make cricket accessible to the masses than we have to make it interesting,” he said. “They [The Dutch] don’t know cricket and the only impression is those people in white standing still on the field. Cricket is hardly ever on telly. We have to change people’s perception and the shorter version is the way forward. Short, fast, lots of noise and excitement. Just the format people can handle in a fast and furious society.”

Trent Johnston has stressed on the importance of beating Pakistan in Belfast, saying that another Full-Member scalp will strengthen Ireland’s case to be considered for the 2015 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff29-May-2011Trent Johnston, the Ireland allrounder, has stressed on the importance of beating Pakistan in the second ODI in Belfast, saying that another Full-Member scalp will strengthen Ireland’s case to be considered for the 2015 World Cup. Ireland are 0-1 down in the two-match series after losing the first game, in which they were dismissed for 96, by seven wickets.”It’s important we put in a performance because Ireland and the next World Cup are in the limelight,” Johnston told the BBC. “The issue is on the tips of people’s tongues that the Associates and Ireland should be allowed a qualification process [for the 2015 World Cup]. Because of that we really need to keep the fire burning and produce a performance against Pakistan.”We know it is not the be all and end all, because we have been consistent in our performances for a while now and think we deserve a chance. But at the same time we can help our cause if we beat Pakistan tomorrow and get another Full-Member scalp.”The ICC will re-evaluate its decision to limit participation in the 2015 World Cup to the Full Members at its annual conference in June, after there was widespread criticism over their move to axe the Associates from one-day cricket’s showpiece event. Ireland were the best Associate team in the 2011 World Cup, beating England and Netherlands, and running West Indies and Bangladesh close.Ireland’s cause, and that of the Associates, received a boost at a recent meeting of the ICC’s Cricket Committee, which unanimously supported a qualification system for the 2015 World Cup. Johnston was the Associates representative at the meeting at Lord’s and was encouraged by what he heard.”It was pretty resounding among the people at the meeting that they were happy with a 10-team World Cup, but they were uncomfortable with it being a closed-shop,” he said. “The consensus was that it is unfair and that there should be some sort of qualification process.”You look at the last World Cup and while there were some lop-sided results with the minnows, ourselves and Holland had some pretty good performances, while a young emerging team like Afghanistan should be given a chance as well. It was pretty unanimous and we even had the CEO of New Zealand [Justin Vaughan], which is a Full-Member nation, back us as well so that is reassuring.”The final decision, however, will be down to the same people who took the initial decision to shut out Ireland and the other Associates from the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. “The committee that will discuss it next month is the one that made the decision for a ten-team, closed-shop World Cup,” Johnston said. “Obviously the talk around the cricket world has been they got the decision wrong initially, so hopefully they look at what’s been said and decide differently this time.”There is a lot of backing for us, people have come out and said it is unfair. The only thing we can do now perhaps is help our cause with a better performance against Pakistan on Monday.”

Sri Lanka’s batting coach Marvan Atapattu has said there is a big gulf between the batting ability of senior batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene and remaining batsmen in the national side

Sa'adi Thawfeeq17-May-2011Sri Lanka’s batting coach Marvan Atapattu has said there is a big gulf between the batting ability of senior batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene and remaining batsmen in the national side.”Just because a batting coach has been given to a national side it doesn’t mean you are going to be No. 1 tomorrow, “Atapattu told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve got to work ourselves up and at the same time the batsmen that we have, the two senior-most are one hundred times better than the others. They have been the best for a number of years in the top five.”Atapattu’s first assignment with the team is the tour of England and while he acknowledges there is still “room for improvement” within the Sri Lankan side, he says will look at giving “options” to batsmen to help make them “better players” and work towards “getting their contribution” which is best suited to the team. “What I am focusing on is not to put myself under too much of pressure and more importantly not put too much pressure on the players,”Atapattu, who played 90 Tests and 268 ODIs for Sri Lanka, said it was important to keep a fresh inflow of ideas and constantly innovate to get the best out of the players. “As a unit we’ve got to make the best use of the individuals, to get the best we want and then try and improve the individuals to get the best out of them by way of technique, mental plus skill.”Coaching is not all about how to play a back foot or a forward defence or a cover drive but about knowing somebody’s routines and what is best suited for the individual.”Sri Lanka beat Middlesex by four wickets, in their first tour match. They next play the England Lions in a four-day tour match that begins on Thursday. The first Test against England starts on May 26 in Cardiff.

Mark Taylor and Doug Walters will become the latest inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne on Monday

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2011Mark Taylor and Doug Walters will become the latest inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne on Monday. Taylor, who captained Australia in 50 Tests for 26 victories, and the middle-order star of the 1970s, Walters, will be the 33rd and 34th men added to the group, which began in 1996 with 10 inductees.”This year’s inductees are two Australian cricketing icons who both originated from country New South Wales and who in their own distinctive way, have had an enormous impact on Australian cricket,” Bob Lloyd, the chairman of the selection panel, said. “Both have outstanding playing records; Mark with over 7500 runs as an opening batsman, brilliant slips fieldsman and one of Australia’s greatest captains and Doug as an exciting and entertaining batsman who averaged 48.26 over his 74 Tests.”Averages in excess of 50 are quite common now but up until the time Doug retired there were only two batsmen in Australian cricket who averaged more than 50. Off the field, Mark continues his involvement in cricket at the highest level as a Cricket Australia board member and as a Channel Nine commentator.”Doug chose a different path post cricket and he has been one of Australia’s most popular entertainers on the speaking circuit over many years. There are many thousands of sports loving Australians who’ve enjoyed listening and laughing with Doug at one of the hundreds of functions he has attended in all parts of Australia.”Hall of Fame inductees Fred Spofforth, John Blackham, Victor Trumper, Clarrie Grimmett, Bill Ponsford, Sir Donald Bradman, Bill O’Reilly, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee, Warwick Armstrong, Neil Harvey, Allan Border, Bill Woodfull, Arthur Morris, Stan McCabe, Greg Chappell, Lindsay Hassett, Ian Chappell, Hugh Trumble, Alan Davidson, Clem Hill, Rod Marsh, Monty Noble, Bob Simpson, Charles Macartney, Richie Benaud, George Giffen, Ian Healy, Steve Waugh, Bill Lawry, Graham McKenzie, Mark Taylor, Doug Walters.

The game against Pakistan will give Ricky Ponting an indication of where his men sit

Brydon Coverdale in Colombo18-Mar-2011A delayed flight, a midnight arrival at their hotel in Colombo and one afternoon training session on Friday might seem like a rushed preparation for Australia’s match against Pakistan on Saturday. In fact, their build-up has been anything but hurried. Ricky Ponting’s men have spent more than a month travelling around India and Sri Lanka, but in between rounds of golf and elephant rides, they’ve hardly got out of second gear on the field.So far, they haven’t needed to, and they enter Saturday’s game unbeaten and with first place in Group A there for the taking. Wins over Zimbabwe and a lacklustre New Zealand were followed a fortnight later by victories against Kenya and Canada. At times their opponents have surprised them with fireworks but overall it has been a slow burn, dampened by the wash-out against Sri Lanka, which was poised to be their first major challenge.Meanwhile, Pakistan have spent a month in Sri Lanka, stumbling once when Ross Taylor took a liking to the short boundaries in Pallekele, but otherwise steering themselves through to the quarter-finals with relative comfort, including a win over the home team. All that this match will determine is who Pakistan and Australia face in their first knockout game, and whether they play it in Colombo, Dhaka or Ahmedabad. But it will also give Ponting an indication of where his men sit.”We really do start to feel that the tournament is kicking off now,” Ponting said. “We’ve had our games along the way and the other big game we had in our pool matches was the game against Sri Lanka, which was washed out, unfortunately. We’ve been really excited about playing this game against Pakistan for quite a while.”During those longer breaks, we’ve trained exceptionally hard and trained very, very well. We just haven’t had the continuity we would have liked with our games. But we got a couple of good results in Bangalore last week. At this stage we’re the only undefeated team in the tournament, which is nice for us, but I think we’ll get a better feel tomorrow at the end of the game for just where we’re at and how well we’re placed in this World Cup.”The Australians will fancy their attack against Pakistan, who have been bowled out for 184 by Canada and 192 by New Zealand in their past three games. But the big challenge will be overcoming a Pakistan bowling group led by Umar Gul, with his swinging yorkers, and the captain Shahid Afridi, who is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.The last time the teams met in an ODI, Afridi stuck the ball in his mouth. This time, he’ll be looking for bite off the pitch and at the Premadasa, where even Steven Smith was turning the ball sharply before the rain came against Sri Lanka, Afridi could be a handful.”He has been the standout bowler, wickets-wise, in the tournament so far,” Ponting said. “He tends to control the middle of their bowling innings particularly well. He doesn’t go for a lot of runs, either, which is probably the main reason he’s taken the amount of wickets that he has. He builds up pressure, and if he builds up pressure from his end you can guarantee that the guy at the other end is more likely to strike and take wickets as well. That was one of the big things we spoke about this morning, making sure we play him well.”They’ve got a number of match-winning players in their team. If you look through their better-performed player through the tournament so far, you’d look at Afridi and Gul as the two guys who have been their standout players. We know we’re going to have to play those guys well tomorrow if we want to win the game. They’re a dangerous side. They proved that last time they played Sri Lanka here at this venue, how good a side they can be.”Pakistan were also the last team to beat Australia in a World Cup match, at Headingley in 1999, and Ponting’s men have now extended their streak to 34 games without a loss. Making it 35 will be their toughest challenge so far in this tournament, but after a month in second gear, they’ll be pleased to finally put the foot down.

Round-up of the second day of the ninth round of Division Two of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2010Khan Research Laboratories moved to the top of the table after they beat Quetta by an innings and 171 runs in less than two days at the Khan Research Laboratory Ground in Rawalpindi. Quetta’s miserable season continued, as they followed up their total of 45 in the first innings with 106 in the second. KRL seamers Yasir Arafat and Mohammad Irfan once again did the early damage as Quetta tried to recover from a 277-run first innings deficit. Arafat finished with 5 for 37 in the second innings and nine wickets in the match. Captain Mohammad Wasim had built on the advantage KRL had from the first day, getting to 152 on Monday and helping his team reach a total of 322 for 7 declared. With a game in hand, KRL are almost sure to make the finals. Abbottabad can only equal them on points if they beat Karachi Whites.Double-centuries by Khalid Latif and Asif Zakir put Karachi Whites in control of their match against Abbottabad at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Karachi scored 583 for 3 declared in their first innings and had already reduced the hosts to 60 for 4 by the end of the second day thanks to two strikes from Mohammad Sami, the fast bowler who has played 35 Tests for Pakistan. Khalid had retired hurt when on nought on the first day, and only returned towards the end of the day. On Monday, he hit 26 fours and four sixes to reach 200 not out in just 150 balls. Zakir, who was 106 not out overnight, carried on to score 219. Karachi are still in with a chance of claiming the second slot in the finals.After leading the pack for much of the season, State Bank of Pakistan could see their berth in the finals slip away after they were reduced to 199 for 5 by Pakistan Television at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad. Wicketkeeper Gulraiz Sadaf was SBP’s only half-centurion as Pakistan Television seamers Saad Altaf and Mohammad Ali took two wickets each. Pakistan Television weren’t able to add much to their overnight score of 372 for 6 and were all out for 426, which means SBP still need another 78 runs to avoid the follow-on. With Karachi Whites closing in on their points tally, a loss may cost SBP a place in the finals.Peshawar have been set 175 to win by Lahore Ravi in a low-scoring match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The hosts got themselves back in to the match by bowling Peshawar out for 168, after they had been knocked over for 193 on the first day. But they could only manage 149 in their second innings after collapsing from 119 for 2. Openers Junaid Jan and Abid Ali gave Lahore Ravi a solid start with their contributions of 55 and 43 respectively, but the middle-order could not deal with Riaz Afridi’s seamers and Akbar Badshah’s offspinners. Riaz took a five-for, which gave him nine wickets for the match and took him to the top of the season’s wicket-takers chart. Seamers Abdul Ghaffar and Asif Raza took four wickets each for Lahore Ravi as none of Peshawar’s batsmen got a half-century in their innings.A century by Usman Salahuddin and a half-century by legspinner Saad Nasim at No.8 helped Lahore Shalimar recover and then move into a position of strength against Hyderabad at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. The hosts were at 190 for 6 at the start of the second day, but Salahuddin’s 134 and Nasim’s 75 took them to 355 in their first innings. Salahuddin is now the leading run-getter in Division Two, this season. Lahore Shalimar reduced Hyderabad to 100 for 4 by the end of the second day, with seamers Emmad Ali and Hasan Dar taking two wickets apiece.