Rameez Raja: Welcome to Master Blaster, the TenSports show that casts a detailed eye over the ongoing ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup in Pakistan. On tonight's show we will analyse Round Four of the Cup and also look forward to the future of domestic cricket in the country. But first of all, let me introduce a very special guest joining me here in the studio tonight: Geoffrey Boycott!
Geoffrey Boycott: Thanks, Rameez. It's good to be back here in Pakistan- this really is a cricketing mad nation! I remember when I came over here last year for the England-Pakistan series, when of course England recieved a royal thrashing by the Pakistanis. The weather's really changed, hasn't it?
Rameez Raja: [Laughing] Yes, it does get very hot here in Pakistan during the summer. Especially in Lahore; temperatures occasionaly soar up past 45 degrees!
Geoffrey Boycott: Whew! I'm glad I'm not out there playing in this heat. But I must say it's been a great Twenty-20 series so far. I've been following the last few rounds quite closely, and I have a fair idea of how aggresively and superbly these batsmen have been playing!
Rameez Raja: So Geoffrey, you're here for a while aren't you?
Geoffrey Boycott: Yeah, definately. I'm going to stick around for the final round of the Cup, and looking forward to commentating on the last three matches.
Rameez Raja: So, in your opinion, who's going to win the Cup this year?
Geoffrey Boycott: Boy, that's a tough one to call. There's several good teams competing for first place, and I reckon it's going to be a tight finish between the Lahore Lions and the Peshawar Panthers. The Lions of course have a star-studded squad. With the likes of Razzaq, Yousuf and Akmal, they definately have a good chance of winning this year, just like they did last year. If I remember correctly, they've only lost one or two matches in the series, and are in a good position to take first place if they win their last match. The Panthers on the other hand are a very explosive side- Shahid Afridi opens the innings for them, and I've said time and time again that I'm a big fan of the lad. This form of the game is perfect for Afridi- his destructive and devastating hitting make him a crucial player in the team. And lower down the order they have the experienced Younis Khan. The skipper can play according to the situation, either defensively or aggresively.
Rameez Raja: Thanks for your input, Geoffrey. Before we dive straight into the matches of Round Four, let's have a look at a brand new Master Blaster feature: The Super Sixes Table:
Rameez Raja: To say that a lot of sixes have been in the ABN-AMRO Cup this year would be an understatement! The Super Sixes Table charts the biggest hitters in the Cup and ranks them one to ten, based on the amount of sixes they've hit.
As we can see Shahnawaz Malik of the Lions is at a safe no.1 position, with an amazing 25 sixes from his four matches! This just goes onto show that it isn't just the well-known Pakistani internationals that achieve in such series; Malik has outdone his team-mates on this occaison!
Geoffrey Boycott: This young man has played some very good knocks for the Lions. His 23 ball century in the last match was simply unbelievable! Malik has burst onto the scene and amazed people by breaking records.
Rameez Raja: Some internationals in the table worthy of mention are Mohammad Yousuf, second place with 17 sixes; Shahid Afridi at fourth place with 14 sixes and Kamran Akmal at fifth place with 13 sixes.
Geoffrey Boycott: Yeah, there's been some truly awesome hitting from these Pakistanis. I know Afridi will be itching to climb higher up that table!
Rameez Raja: Now let's move on and have a quick overview of Round Four of the ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup. As all the teams knew, this was a crucial round as it would ultinately decide which team would still be in a chance of winning the Cup.
The first match of the round saw the
Sialkot Stallions take on the
Peshawar Panthers.
Geoffrey Boycott: The Panthers won the toss and decided to bat first. Mohammad Asif striked early, taking the important wicket of opener Sarfraz. Afridi then went after the bowlers but he was eventually cleaned up by Asif as well. Jannisar Khan then went onto post the fastest fifty in Twenty-20 cricket: 50 off just 12 balls! With a strike rate of 440.00, Khan had completely destroyed the Stalllions' bowlers by hitting 8 sixes and 1 four. Boy, he was on fire!
Rameez Raja: Yes, Khan took just 13 minutes to reach his 50 milestone. That innings really inspired the Panthers and lifted their confidence, putting up a 58 run partnership for the third wicket that guided his team out of trouble.
Geoffrey Boycott: Khan ended up making an awe-inspiring 79 off 19 balls before he was dismissed by Mohammad Sami. The middle-order than contributed by putting together small partnerships, but in the end they were bowled out for a healthy 263. Asif and Sami were the pick of the bowlers, sharing seven wickets between themselves.
The Stallions got into a bit of bother the very first over, Shahid Afridi taking a brilliant catch off his own bowling to dismiss Yousuf. However, Faisal Naved was next to the crease and he simply blasted the bowlers to all parts of the ground! His hitting was so aggressive that he managed to equal Khan's new record of a 50 in 12 balls.
Rameez Raja: Let's have a look at Naved's Hawkeye. As we can see, he hit a lot of sixes and fours on the legside, and a few on the offside as well.
Geoffrey Boycott: His Abbas also played very well and also scored a 50, the milestone taking him 19 balls to reach.
Geoffrey Boycott: Determinded to guide his team to victory, Naved kept up the relentless hitting and managed to score, what was at time, the fastest 100 ever in Twenty-20 cricket! It was an amazing feat and definately made things a lot easier for the Stallions.
After this the Panthers' bowlers struck back though, completely demolishing the middle-order. Wasti took some crucial wickets that took the Stallions down to 253-9. What followed was one of the most tense moments in the Cup, as the Stallions needed 9 runs off the last over to win, with 1 wicket in hand. Amazingly enough, the tailenders managed to hang on and reached the target with two balls to spare! What a game it was!
Rameez Raja: Yes, it was a real nail-biting finish at the Gaddafi Stadium that night. The Stallions must have been estatic to pull off such a close win. And it definately was a match where records were broken: First the fastest 50 in Twenty-20 was scored and then the fastest 100! Both teams performed very well and it's just a shame that there had to be a losing side!
Next up was the infamous
Lahore Lions vs
Karachi Dolphins match, where both teams scored in excess of 320 runs.
Geoffrey Boycott: The Dolphins came out to bat first. Abdul Razzaq got smashed for 29 runs off his first over and the batsmen made their intentions clear! Latif was looking to break a record and that's exactly what he did by scoring a 11 ball fifty!
Geoffrey Boycott: Nawaz kept the good work going by scoring a 15 ball fifty and Faisal Iqbal become the third man in the innings to score a 50, the feat taking him 19 balls. Such brilliant performances from the top-order batsmen meant that the under-achieving Dolphins actually managed to break the hardest record of all in the Twenty-20 Cup: passing the Lions' 305 total! 63 off 15 from Latif and 91 off 27 from Nawaz meant that the Dolphins ended up posting a massive, massive 375 total.
Rameez Raja: Yes, the whole team worked together as a unit and utterly destroyed the Lions. This definately seemed like a match-winning total, but the drama wasn't over yet!
Geoffrey Boycott: [Laughing] No, indeed it wasn't! A Kamran Akmal golden duck definately wasn't what the Lions wanted, but Yousuf made up for it by posting a 15 ball fifty.
Geoffrey Boycott: Shahnawaz Malik, the young man we've been talking about throughout the show, then came out to bat and showed the bowlers no mercy at all! He had the crowd going wild, as he scored a 11 ball fifty and then a 23 ball century! Afridi would've been weeping at that moment!
Rameez Raja: Wow, it was a superb innings from Malik. He went onto score 135, beating team-mate Akmal's highest score in the Cup of 122. You just need to have a look at his Hawkeye to see how wonderfully he played:
Geoffrey Boycott: As a great an innings it was, it still wasn't enough to guide the Lions to victory, as they fell just short with a total of 339. Well, it was still a great match. I know there were numerous complaints afterwards about the standards of the pitch, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game. A truly wonderful sight in cricket.
Rameez Raja: Well, Geoffrey, thank you very much for your views. I hope you had home enjoyed this show of Master Blaster, and I now leave you with the highlights of Round Four. From us here at the TenSports studio, good night!
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