Rammez Raja: A very warm welcome to all our viewers! Tonight's match see's the struggling Rawalpindi Rams take on the mighty Multan Tigers. It should be an interesting match, as both teams have several experienced Pakistani internationals. But before we move onto the match itself, I would like to spend a few moments talking about the drama that has been unfolding here at the Gaddafi Stadium during the last few days. As you may have heard, several Pakistani superstars, including Imran Khan, voiced their concern about the standards of the Twenty-20 cricket after the high-scoring match between the Lions and the Dolphins. Well, it seems like the PCB have listened to these views very seriously as tonight's pitch is very green. It's definately a bowler's pitch, and there should be quite a lot of movement for the seam bowlers. I myself am not a huge fan of this sudden change to the pitch type, but we'll have to wait and see how the batsmen adapt to it.
Speaking of which, news from below is that Inzi has won the toss and the Tigers will be batting first. We'll be back after the break with all the action!
MULTAN TIGERS 1st INNINGS
Aamer Sohail: Well, just look at what the groundsmen have cooked up for us! This is a green wicket and definately a bowler's paradise. Even with the field restrictions it won't be easy to score runs on this pitch. The Tigers' openers will be well aware of this as they come out to bat; they must play carefully and focused, otherwise the likes of Shoaib Akhtar will tear through the batting order.
Shafiq has a very impressive average and strike rate in the Twenty-20 Cup.
Aamer Sohail: The Tigers started off steadily, guiding the ball through the gaps. However if there was a bad ball, the batsmen wasted no time in dispatching it over the ropes for a six. Saeed soon got the breakthrough though, tricking the batsman to come down the ground and hit a big one, and Tariq mistimed the slog and sent the ball straight into Akhtar's hands. Shafiq fell the next over, misjudging Danish Kaneria's doosra and edging it straight into Ashraf's hands. With both openers gone, the skipper Inzamam hoped to stay at the crease and calm things down. Kaneria had other plans however, and kept the pressure on Hussain by bowling two dot balls, before the batsman got frustrated and tried to hit out, sending the ball into Akhtar's safe hands. Hussain left for a duck! Shoaib Akhtar came charging in the next over, and bowled a deadly bouncer to Inzi, the skipper trying to pull it away to the boundary but instead getting a thick outside edge and being caught by the wicketkeeper!
Aamer Sohail: Saeed Anwar Jnr. was the next man in and the Rawalpindi Express came hurtling in again. An outswinging 103 mph ball caught Anwar Jnr. completely off guard, as he played the stroke too late and edged the ball back to the keeper! The Rams jumped up in joy and Akhtar did his familiar albatross celebration.
Aamer Sohail: It got bad to worse for the Tigers as their batsmen failed to cope with the Rams' bowling attack. Naeem and Tanvir worked together to frustrate the batsmen (at the 10 over mark the run rate was only 5.80!) and were rewarded with 3 wickets between them as the Tigers hopelessly hit out in an attempt to raise the runrate. Multan eventually crashed to a terrible total of 86, their highest scorer being opener Shafiq with 24 runs. Paceman Akhtar ended the innings with excellent figures of 3-8. Kaneria, although a bit expensive, ended with 2-28.
Shoaib Akhtar was too good for the Tigers' batsmen.
Well, seems like the PCB's plan to improve pitches has backfired- This is most certainly the lowest score ever in the ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup! The batsmen must be feeling outraged at the moment, especially since this is a crucial time in the Cup. Well, let's have a look at the scorecard to reconfirm what we just saw:
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