.jpg?im=Resize,height=373 "Indian Players Fail To Make A Cut As ICC Announces Player Of The Month Nominees For October")
Williamson & co. continue batting parade, New Zealand gain marginal lead
Latham-Conway's unbroken stand answers back Pakistan on Day 2
SL vs PAK 2022 | Saqlain Mushtaq claims Pakistan bowlers will miss Shaheen Afridi in the 2nd Test
SL vs PAK | 'We are trying to change the way we play Test cricket'- Babar Azam
Pakistan's batting came in for heavy criticism during the Australian series earlier this year for their lack of intent despite playing on flat tracks.
PAK vs AUS | 1st Test | Day 5: Nauman Ali picks six-fer as Pakistan take first innings lead
Pakistan spinner Nauman Ali added a couple of wickets more to his tally in the first session of the first Test on Day 5 against Australia in Rawalpindi to end the proceedings with a six-for. Nauman had four wickets to his name at the end of the penultimate day and followed it with the dismissals of Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon in the morning of the final day. He eventually returned with figures of 6/107 in 38.1 overs. Talking about the game, the hosts managed to take a 17-run lead in the first innings on a track that certainly had nothing on offer for the bowlers. Australia were bowled out for 459 in reply to Pakistan’s 476/4 (D). Opener Usman Khawaja top-scored with 97 for Australia while Marnus Labuschagne also missed out on a ton by just 10 runs as he was dismissed for 90. Apart from these two, David Warner and Steve Smith also notched up individual fifties during the course. Australia began the day at 449/7 and could only manage to add 10 runs before getting bundled out eventually.
WI vs PAK | 2nd Test: Shaheen Afridi, Nauman Ali break Windies' resistance to level series
The West Indians didn’t give up as easily as Pakistan would have expected them to on the last and fifth day of the second Test between the two sides at Sabina Park, Jamaica. Batters like Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder, Karaigg Brathwaite and Joshua da Silva at times made the Pakistani players feels that the match might just slip out of their hands. However, Shaheen Afridi and Nauman Ali made sure that Pakistan remained in the hunt at every hour in the game. It was courtesy of their four and three wickets respectively that the Babar Azam led team was able to bowl the Men in Maroon out and win the match by 109 runs and level the series 1-1, having lost the first match narrowly by one wicket. Starting on their overnight score of 46-1, Alzarri Joseph and Brathwaite looked in good touch, but it took only one good bouncer from Shaheen Afridi to break the 31 runs stand as Joseph was caught by Mohammad Rizwan trying to pull head high, rising ball. Nkruma Bonner was then trapped before the wicket by Hasan Ali before a stunner by Imran Butt at the stunner resulted in Roston Chase’ demise. At 73-4, the team was struggling to survive even the first session when Jermaine Blackwood got together with Brathwaite and the duo added 28 for the fifth wicket, most importantly stopping the barrage of wickets. However, it was short-lived as Blackwood nicked one to the wicketkeeper off a Nauman Ali straighter one giving the left-arm spinner his first wicket of the innings. Kyle Mayers, who had got three ducks in three innings prior to this one, decided to fight it out and even as Brathwaite was dismissed just after lunch, caught at point by Fawad Alam, trying to cut a Nauman delivery, that wasn’t as short as it should ideally have been. The left-hander partnered with Holder for 46 runs, but while trying to play one shot too many, tried playing an out-swinging Shaheen delivery towards the leg side and edged it for a simple catch to Rizwan. Holder tried to resurrect the innings and played a few glorious drives. He went on to add 40 runs with wicket-keeper batter da Sliva. However, a plan was set up by the Pakistanis making the tall man drive to flighted delivered from the left-arm spinner and fell in the trap driving one straight to Faawad at short cover. Soon after Kemar Roach, the hero from the last game was also trapped LBW by Shaheen, making it his ninth wicket of the match. It wasn’t long before that his 10th wicket as well when da Sliva, trying to get one over mid-on, got it straight into his hands and Windies were bowled out for 219. For his 10 wicket haul, the left-arm pacer was selected Man of the Match ahead of Fawad Alam, even as the latter scored a fighting hundred in the first innings.
Satisfied after successful tours, Misbah-Ul-Haq says not worried about my future as head coach
Pakistan head coach Misbah-Ul-Haq has lashed out at his critics for questioning the state Pakistan cricket team after a successful tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Misbah said that he does not care about criticism based on results as that is beyond his hands. He also said that the question over the future does not bother him one bit. ”I don’t care about them and their criticism. We can only work and try hard. The bottom line is that results are not in our hands. As the head coach, I have not thought about my future and will not start doing that now either,” Misbah said in a virtual press conference. Speaking of the tours to the African nations, Misbah expressed satisfaction over consistent performances from players and series wins one after another. He commended the trio of Fawad Alam, Azhar Ali and Hasan Ali for putting their hands up and capitalizing on opportunities with hundreds and five-wicket hauls. “We had great results in both series. Winning in different and tough conditions was important for the team. The openers performed well during the Test series against Zimbabwe. Fawad and Azhar Ali also made centuries. We performed better in the field as well. Hasan Ali performed extraordinarily. We would like to continue this momentum in England,” he said. However, he pointed out that the middle order in the ODIs and T20Is have appeared to be a concerning factor for which the team needs to find a solution immediately. “We are just concerned about our middle-order in white-ball cricket. We have to do something in that regard,” Misbah added. Misbah set his goal on the twin series against England after a successful tour of Africa for which he said the focus will be just about getting the preparation right for the ICC World T20. Hence, only players who stand a chance in playing the World T20 will be taken on the tour of England unlike the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe where they carried a jumbo squad due to Covid-19. “Due to the exceptional conditions because of Covid-19 we have been able to take extended squads and have a close look at the available talent. But on the coming tour to England we will only pick those players who have a chance of playing in the World T20 Cup this year,” he said. Misbah was holding two responsibilities for the Pakistan team— of a chief selector and the head coach. He walked away from the selection table and carried on with coaching the men in green from the close quarters.
ZIM vs PAK | 2nd Test: Pakistan thrash African minnows, left-armers bag fifers apiece
Pakistan completed a 2-0 whitewash against Zimbabwe after they thrashed the African minnows by an innings and 147 runs. Right from Day 1, there never came a situation where Zimbabwe got any sort of momentum either in the batting or the bowling front. Eventually, it was a clinical bowling display on the second and third day from Pakistan which resulted in a convincing victory for them. Also for the first time in history, two left-arm pacers from Pakistan took all the ten wickets in the sec0nd innings. The toss turned out to be an important factor for Pakistan. Babar Azam didn’t have any hesitations batting first and there was no way back for them. Riding on a sensational double century from the blade of Abid Ali and a century from Azhar Ali, Pakistan posted a mammoth 510 on the board in their first innings. For Zimbabwe, it was a fiery spell from Blessing Muzarabani which fetched him three wickets. However, he wasn’t quite consistent for longer periods of time. The only blip up for Pakistan remains Babar Azam’s return in this series. He fell after scoring just two but a partnership of 236 runs between Abid Ali and Azhar Ali had already set the tone for Pakistan. To top it off, it was a sensational 8th wicket partnership between Hasan Ali and Nauman Ali which took Pakistan beyond the 500 mark. Zimbabwe was never up to the mark in either of the innings. They were not ready to play the waiting game and kept giving away their wickets cheaply to the Pakistan bowlers. Hasan Ali was the star for Pakistan with the ball in the first innings bagging yet another fifer for his country. He bowled deadly lines and the Zimbabwe batsmen kept succumbing one after the other. Regis Chakabva was the top scorer for Zimbabwe with 33 as they were skittled out for a meagre 132 runs in just a shade over 60 overs. Barring Hasan Ali, Sajid Khan also bagged a couple. There was no hesitation in Babar Azam’s mind on enforcing the follow on. Zimbabwe was a tad better in the second innings but was nowhere close to avoiding the innings defeat. The pair of Shaheen Afridi Nauman Ali was the two wreckers in chief bagging fifers apiece. Chakabva again looked composed in the middle and was the highest scorer again with a knock of 80. A partnership of 80 off runs with Brendan Taylor settled the nerves a bit but from there on, the two left-arm pacers tightened the screws around the Zimbabwe batsmen as wickets kept falling on a consistent basis. Eventually, they were bundled out for 231, handing Pakistan an innings victory.
ZIM vs PAK | 2nd Test: Pakistan one wicket away from clean sweep as Hasan and Nauman Ali pick fifers
The Pakistani team remains just one wicket away eve after grinding a whole day of play at the Harare Sports Club in Harare to get hosts Zimbabwe all out twice, to finish the second and last game of the series on day three of the Test match itself. Having enforced follow on after getting Brendan Taylor’s side out for 132 in the first innings, the Pakistani bowlers couldn’t run through the defences of the top order as easily as in the last innings. In fact, Regis Chakabva and skipper Taylor made a good case of themselves, going for the attack and scoring some important runs. However, they threw their wickets away to some unnecessary shots. While wicket-keeper batsman Chakabva is once again the top scorer with the bat, scoring his fifth Test half-century (80 off 137 balls), Taylor missed out on what could have been his 11th Test fifty by a solitary run. The 9 run partnership between the duo has so far been the highest in this innings for the Chevrons. For Pakistan, Nauman Ali and Shaheen Afridi were the picks of the bowlers in the second innings, sharing between them all the nine wickets that have fallen so far. While 34-year-old Nauman got rid of dangerman Chakabva and the rest of the middle order, Shaheen, having picked Taylor and Tisarai Musakanda early on, came back late in the day to pick two quick wickets to rattle the Zimbabwe lower order. He almost raised a glimmer of hope in the fielding unit that they might not have to come back another day and the game would be done and dusted today itself. However, it wasn’t to be as Zimbabwe remained 220-9 at the end of the day’s play. Luke Jongwe (31*), playing his maiden Test stood there for the last five overs of the day alongside number 11 Blessing Muzarabani, forcing Pakistan to come back tomorrow and have another go. Jongwe on the other hand would try and get as many runs as possible for himself and the team. Earlier in the day, Hasan Ali wreck havoc on the Zimbabwe lineup with his in swing and control over the ball. The 26-year-old picked four of the six Zimbabwean wickets to fall on the morning of May 9. Backed by the best bowling figure in his Test career, Pakistan bundled out Zimbabwe for 132. Debutant Sajid Khan picked was the second-highest wi ket taker in the innings with two scalps.
ZIM vs PAK | 2nd Test: Pakistan in pole position as Zimbabwe collapse after Abid Ali's double hundred
It was Abid Ali’s day at the Harare Sports Club in Harare as he hit his maiden double century in Test cricket, aided and supported well by spinner Nauman Ali, who unfortunately missed out on a maiden Test ton, getting stumped off 97. Pakistan’s debutants Sajid Khan and Tabish Khan picked their maiden Test wickets as the host Zimbabwe were pushed to 52/4 at the end of Day two’s play of the second Test. Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi, the usual suspects took one each as well. Coming to bat after having let their opponents score freely and reach 510-8 in their first innings, Zimbabwe didn’t get off to a good start as Tisiarai Musakakand became 36-year-old Tabish Khan’s first international wicket. Tabish was lucky as the in swinger clearly seemed to be missing the leg stump on replays. Regis Chakabva, who was promoted to number-3 did well to build a small partnership with the other opener Kevin Kasuza. But a nipping inswinger from Hasan Ali saw Kasuza’s off-stump cartwheel to Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. Zimbabwean skipper Brendan Taylor’s poor run of form continued as he edged a climbing short ball, bowled by an aggressive Shaheen from around the wicket, to Rizwan behind the stumps. Sajid Khan’s arm ball then got Milton Shumba and the Chevrons were reeling at 47-4 in 25 overs. The nightwatchman Tendai Chisoro then played out the remaining five overs alongside Chakabva to see off the day. Earlier in the day, starting from their overnight score of 268-4, Pakistan were anchored by Abid, who even in the face of wickets falling at regular intervals, kept ongoing. At 341-7, with no recognize batsman left to stand at the other end with Abid, it seemed that Pakistan will fold out under 400. However, 34-year-old Nauman had other ideas. Not at all a mug with the bat, the Sindh born utilised all his First class experience where he has 10 half-centuries and over 2000 runs, and played a blinder of an innings, hitting 104 balls 97, in which 41 off his last runs came off just 17 balls. The left-hander hit nine fours and five sixes in total as well. Once he got out, Babar Azam declared the innings at 510-8. Both Abid and Nauman added 169 for the eighth wicket, the 13th highest in the world and second for Pakistan. The highest eighth-wicket partnership for Pakistan also came against Zimbabwe when Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq added 31 runs in 1996.
ZIM vs PAK | 2nd Test - Abid Ali hits maiden double ton without hitting a single six
Pakistan opener Abid Ali hit a four to reach his maiden double hundred in Test cricket, albeit without hitting a single six, which is one of the rare occasions in modern-day Test cricket. Playing the second Test of the two-match series against Zimbabwe, the right-hander held one end even as most of the stalwarts of the teams disappointed with the bat. Abid, 33, opened the innings with Imran Butt and has carried on since then, playing 393 deliveries to get to the milestone. Batting with patience, he built various partnerships, including the 236 runs stand for the second wicket with former skipper Azhar Ali. After some small contributions with others in the middle order, the Lahire born’s second-best partnership is the one going on between him and spinner Nauman Ali. At the time of writing this, Nauman, 34, had hit 70 out of the 132 run partnership between the two. Abid has so far played 11 Tests for Pakistan, scoring 629 runs at an average of 37 with two centuries to his credit. Pakistan after struggling with wickets falling in a bunch at the Harare Sports Club are now in a commanding position with 473 runs on the board at the loss of seven wickets.
Daily Round up | Jan 29: Tamil Nadu march to SMAT final, Heat knock Strikes out of BBL
Tamil Nadu reached the finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy by defeating Rajasthan in the semi-finals by seven wickets, while in Australia, the Brisbane Heat knocked the Adelaide Strikers out of the Big Bash competition by handing a big defeat in the eliminator. Here are the big news of the cricketing world that deserve your attention today Tamil Nadu defeat Rajasthan to reach SMAT final Tamil Nadu defeated Rajasthan by seven wickets in the first semifinal and booked a place in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy 2021. Arun Karthik and Dinesh Karthik made light work of the chase of 155 runs after Tamil Nadu were jolted early with the new ball. Arun Karthik remained unbeaten on a 54-ball-89 while Dinesh Karthik provided a finishing touch as Rajasthan got knocked out of the competitions. Batting first, Rajasthan could muster only 154 as the right arm pacer M Mohammed scalped four wickets to derail the batting efforts by the team from northern India. Heat knock Strikes out of Big Bash 2020-21 The batting trio of Joe Denly, Joe Burns, and Jimmy Pierson batted with assurance to hand the Brisbane Heat a place in the second qualifier of the Big Bash League this year. Chasing a paltry score of 131 runs, the Heat batsmen had to assure they didn't lose wickets, and the trio kept the team in the hunt by batting with control. Earlier in the day, the leg-spinning duo of Mitchell Swepson and Marnus Labuschange clogged the Adelaide Strikers on the night of Eliminator as the men in blue could not manage to get back the momentum of the game in their favour. Nauman Ali, Yasir Shah power Pakistan to 1-0 in Karachi Pakistan defeated South Africa by seven wickets in the first Test in Karachi and took an unassailable 1-0 lead over the Proteas in the two-match Test series. Chasing a small target of 88 runs, Pakistan were off to a bad start but Babar Azam and Azhar Ali guided the team home. Fawad Alam who had scored a splendid century in the first innings to help Pakistan take the lead was adjudged man of the match. Earlier, spinners Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah made a mess of the South Africa batting line up and while the left-arm spinner finished with a fifer, leg spinner Yasir took a four-wicket haul. ICC announces match officials for India-England Test series The ICC has announced the list of match officials who will be officiating the first two Tests between India and England in Chennai. Due to covid-19 pandemic, ICC has decided to go in with the Indian umpires who are on the ICC international panel of umpires and it will give the opportunity to Nitin Menon, Virender Sharma, and Anil Chaudhary to debut in a Test match as on-field umpires. Former Indian pacer Javagal Srinath will be the match referee for the whole of the series.
PAK vs SA: Nauman-Yasir, Fawad Alam script Pakistan's win in Karachi Test
Pakistan have defeated South Africa by seven wickets in the first Test of the series in Karachi. Chasing a small target of 87 runs, Pakistan were jolted early by Anrich Nortje who took the wickets of both openers Imran Butt and Abid Ali, but Babar Azam and Azhar Ali steadied the ship. Fawad Alam was adjudged Man of the Match for his splendid 109 in the first innings that guided Pakistan towards the position of ascendancy and fittingly he hit the winning runs on the fourth day of the Test. Earlier in the day, South Africa were off to a horrible start with the nightwatchman Keshav Maharaj and captain Quinton de Kock going fairly early in the first session. Left-arm spinner George Linde provided a bit of resistance to the batting line up as he and Temva Bavuma resurrected the innings with a 42 run partnership. Once, Linde was dismissed was left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, end was nigh for the visitors as the 32-year-old ran riots against the lower order batsmen. Nauman Ali finished with a figure of 55/5 followed by a four-wicket haul by leg spinner Yasir Shah as the Proteas could not capitalise on the strong platform laid out by the top order batsmen and folded out at 245 in the second innings. The second and the final Test of the series will be played in Rawalpindi starting February 04.
From Khipro to Pakistan National team, Nauman Ali's long journey
Nauman Ali is the fourth oldest Pakistani to make Test debut and in the post-2000 era, the second after Zulfiqar Babar, another left-arm spin bowler like Nauman himself. Nauman, who picked South Africa captain Quinton de Kock as his debut Test wicket in the first Test at the National Stadium in Karachi comes from a small town of 'Khipro', a subdivision of the Sanghar division in Pakistan's southern Sindh province. His home town is located 285 Kilometers away from Karachi. Talking about his debut he said, "I was hopeful of getting a call-up after bowling well and taking wickets in the last two seasons of first-class cricket,". Nouman who debuted at the age of 34 years and 111 days has done exceedingly well over the last two years in the domestic first-class competition picking 43 and 54 wickets in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 Qaid-e-Azam trophies respectively. Nauman made his debut in First Class for Khan Research and Laboratories in the 2007-08 domestic season. Since then he has picked up 285 wickets in 79 games at an average of 23.98. He can also handle the willow and has got 10 fifties in First-Class cricket to show for it. Saying that "It has been a long journey”, the Northerns player detailed it as “I was born and studied in Khipro but moved to Hyderabad to pursue a career as a professional cricketer with my uncle,". "My father works in the clerical staff of an oil factory in Hyderabad now," he added. Coming back to the match in which he picked up two wickets and Pakistan have got themselves in a good position after a fighting hundred from Fawad Alam, he said, "If they (team) show confidence I am ready to deliver anywhere not only in home series.”