Clarke sure friendships will endure

Michael Clarke is confident there will be no backlash against him from the four players axed for the third Test in Mohali over their failure to complete a task assessing themselves and the team. One of the four men dumped, Clarke's vice-captain Shane Watson, flew home to be with his pregnant wife after the suspension was announced but he also said he would use his time at home to reassess his cricket future.

The other three players, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja, remained with the squad ahead of the Test, which starts on Thursday, and will be considered for selection for the fourth Test in Delhi. The decision to make the quartet ineligible for the Mohali Test was taken by Clarke, the coach Mickey Arthur and the team manager Gavin Dovey in consultation, but Clarke insists his role will not hurt his relationship with the men.

"The players know 100% that this is not about the individual player," Clarke said. "I've made that very clear. The four players are very disappointed that this has happened. They respect the decision. They understand why. It has been made very clear why we have made the decision, as harsh a punishment as they might see it.

"I don't think it will have any impact on my friendship with the four guys because I know I've got the respect of those guys and they know how much I respect them. That's probably why I feel comfortable fronting players on these issues. I think it would be easy to walk away and let things slide. But they know how much I love playing for Australia like they do.

"They know how much I want this team to have success and achieve what I think we can achieve. And you know what? They want the same. There's only one way you get there. It takes the whole team pushing in the same direction. This is not about the individual player. The whole team sits on this level. These are our standards. If you're not hitting it, there's going to be consequences."

The consequences on this occasion are significant not only for the individual players but also for the team, as it leaves Australia with only 12 or 13 men (depending on the fitness of Matthew Wade) available for this week's Test. Brad Haddin was flying out of Australia on Monday to join the group as cover for Wade but could also find himself in with a chance of being included as a specialist batsman even if Wade is passed fit.

	"It wasn't a big ask. You let the team down, you let the head coach down. That's unacceptable" Michael Clarke

It also means that on a pitch that could offer more for the fast bowlers, Australia have only two frontline quicks - Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc - available, alongside the allrounder Moises Henriques. On a surface where they may only have wanted to play one spinner they could now be forced to play at least two of Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell.

"We didn't even look at the name of the players," Clarke said. "That's what has to happen when you sit everyone on the same level, it doesn't matter who you are in this team. If you do not hit the standards it's unacceptable. Now we have a squad of 12 players to select 11 from. We'll pick the best 11 we have out of 12; 13 because Haddin is coming as well.

"It has huge impact on the team for the third Test match. But it's why you pick a squad. It gives somebody else an opportunity. And that's the biggest risk in this game. You give somebody else an opportunity and you might never get another chance. That's what's happened here. It gives four new blokes a chance at playing a Test match and grabbing hold of this opportunity."

The fact that Australia will now enter a Test without their vice-captain and leading wicket-taker in the series is potentially calamitous after the team lost by an innings in the previous Test in Hyderabad. But Clarke said after the build-up of players not falling into line in recent times, an example had to be made.

"There is no right time, there is no right punishment," Clarke said. "I don't think it's about picking and choosing. The fact is that we have a standard that we're trying to set, we have goals that we're trying to achieve and at the moment we're not hitting our standards. It wasn't a big ask. You let the team down, you let the head coach down. That's unacceptable.

"Our support staff are spending time one on one with players to help them improve their game slowly. I feel partly like a coach as well as a captain. At training we talk about spin bowling, I feel like I'm coaching. But we are a playing group - and there is no exception - we as a playing group have to be helping ourselves as well."

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More work to be done before draw - Mushfiqur

Mushfiqur Rahim was wary of the work still ahead for Bangladesh to achieve an encouraging draw in the first Test in Galle, after the visitors amassed their highest-ever total of 638 in the first innings. Mushfiqur and Mohammad Ashraful provided the backbone of the mammoth innings with a 267-run fifth wicket partnership, in which both men eclipsed the previous highest score by a Bangladesh batsman.

Mushfiqur also made history by becoming the first Bangladesh batsman to make a double-century in internationals, while Ashraful perished early in the day for 190, having been unbeaten on 189 overnight. Nasir Hossain was the third batsman to score a century, while Mominul Haque had made 55 earlier in the innings.
Sri Lanka went to stumps 48 runs ahead and with nine wickets in hand in the second innings, but despite a draw being the likeliest outcome, Mushfiqur insisted Bangladesh had plenty to do to achieve it. In their last series in November, Bangladesh had been in a similar position late in the Test, but collapsed for 167 all out against West Indies on the final day, in pursuit of 245 for victory.

"Still a long way to go before we can say it was a good draw," Mushfiqur said. "Tomorrow it's day five and anything can happen. If we can manage to draw that, probably it will be a huge boost for us. It's our main target to play consistent cricket over the five days in a Test, and we can take a lot of positives. We didn't do well with the ball in the first innings, but on the second day we came back with the ball - although we didn't get many wickets."

Mushfiqur said he was ecstatic with his double-hundred, but reiterated praise for Ashraful, for also shouldering the responsibility of replying to Sri Lanka's 570 for 4. The pair had come together with their side in danger of failing to pass the follow-on target, at 177 for 4.

"I thought that if I got the chance to bat long and if I got a partner at the other end, I would like to score a big hundred. Fortunately Ash really batted well, and also Nasir, so I had partners. I really played well. We really needed it badly, because they scored huge and we needed to avoid the follow-on. That was our first target. Our second target was to make sure we cross their total, so we did that.

"When you have a good partner at the other end who can rotate the strike and score the odd four, it's really helpful. Ash was telling me, "If you play well and if you don't play a silly shot, you will get a lot of runs on this track. If we play session by session, and bat well, don't look at the scoreboard." That's what we did."

Ashraful was playing his first Test since December 2011, and only found a place in the XI after injury had ruled out both Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. Sri Lanka is his favourite opponent, having made five of his six hundreds against them, including three in Sri Lanka.

"When Shakib is not here and Tamim is not playing, Ash came into the team and we had a lot of pressure and expectations on him, because he has always played well against Sri Lanka. He's probably a bit unfortunate that he didn't score a double hundred. Hopefully next time he can make it. We're really happy to see him make big runs."


The Galle pitch showed few signs of wear, even at the end of the fourth day. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara put on 99 runs for the second wicket and were unbeaten at stumps.

"On the fourth day, in the last session it spun a bit, but still it's a good wicket to bat on. Hopefully if we bowl really well tomorrow in the first session and take a couple of wickets, probably we can put pressure on them."

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Otieno, Karim set up Kenya stroll

Kenya 228 for 4 (Karim 65) beat Canada 227 for 8 (Gunasekera 72, Raza-ur-Rehman 70, Otieno 4-33) by six wickets
Scorecard

Kenya beat bottom-side Canada after completing a comfortable run chase with 14 balls to spare. There were solid contributions from all of the top order, opener Irfan Karim top-scoring with 65 for his maiden ODI half-century, after Elijah Otieno's four wickets helped restrict Canada to 227 for 8.

The foundations for Kenya's victory were laid by Karim and Morris Ouma, who put on a 95-run partnership for the second wicket. Karim became Henry Osinde's second wicket shortly after Ouma fell lbw to Hiral Patel and when the fourth wicket went down, 43 were required from 9.5 overs. Tanmay Mishra and Rakep Patel knocked off the runs at almost a run a ball to give Kenya their fourth win of the competition.

Canada had earlier rebuilt from 26 for 2, with Ruvindu Gunasekera making 72, his highest ODI score. He fell to Ragheb Aga to leave Canada 132 for 4 but a 91-run partnership in 12.1 overs between debutant Raza-ur-Rehman and Usman Limbada pushed Canada towards a respectable score. Otieno and Nelson Odhiambo returned to put the breaks on, however, taking four wickets for four runs from the last ten balls of the innings.

The result pushed Kenya to within two points of fourth-placed Netherlands and fifth-placed UAE in the WCL Championship table, with another fixture scheduled against Canada on Wednesday.

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Scotland, Netherlands get ICC funding

Scotland and Netherlands have each been awarded a grant of $1.5m over the next three years as part of the ICC's Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP). They are the second and third Associate Members, after Ireland, to benefit from the initiative, which is aimed at increasing the level of competition in international cricket.

Both Cricket Scotland and the Netherlands board will receive the extra funding until 2015. Scotland's plan involves continuing development work to increase the profile of the game. Netherlands hope to use the money to enable them to play more international fixtures, as well as increase domestic cricket; it will also help provide more support for current and future players.

"We are thrilled to be signing a TAPP agreement with the ICC, and are extremely grateful for this enhanced support to improve our internal domestic structures and to have more international fixtures, all geared to making us competitive on the world stage," Cricket Scotland's chief executive officer, Roddy Smith, said.

The Netherlands board chief executive officer, Richard Cox, said: "KNCB is extremely grateful to the ICC for this award, which will help us achieve our medium- and long-term objectives and help the Netherlands become even more competitive - from the domestic level with the new regional domestic playing structure through to the international arena. It is a real boost for everyone involved."

ICC chief executive, David Richardson, added: "I am very pleased to have witnessed the signing of these TAPP agreements. Both Cricket Scotland and KNCB provided excellent submissions to the ICC Board, and I have no doubt that both Boards will do their very best to deliver those plans to continue the enhancement of competitiveness at the higher levels of cricket."

New Zealand, West Indies and Zimbabwe are also expected to agree TAPP funding with the ICC in the near future.

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Misbah ponders all-round failure

A batsman to see off more than half the overs, bowlers who could continually apply pressure, and committed fielding on the biggest ground in South Africa, is what Misbah-ul-Haq felt he needed in Bloemfontein. In other words, "everything went wrong," and he admitted as much.

Everything from selection - Pakistan were a seamer short - to the toss, where AB de Villiers was happy Misbah sent him in, to the efforts with bat and ball.

On a flat pitch, Misbah conceded that although he would have preferred a target of around 280, "even nine an over was chaseable," to fall so far short was not a good reflection on Pakistan. The bowling was challenging - there was some swing from Lonwabo Tsotsobe and some bounce from Ryan McLaren - but it was not impossible to score.

What Pakistan lacked was someone with the temperament to stay at the crease. Mohammad Hafeez was unlucky - "what can you do?" Misbah said in response to questions about the run-out - but Nasir Jamshed and Younis Khan chased wide deliveries, Asad Shafiq misdirected a hook, Misbah was found wanting against the short ball and Shoaib Malik did not pick a slower one.

"We needed someone to bat through," Misbah said "It's difficult when you are losing wickets to chase a total like that. Wickets in hand is key. You want your main batsmen to go in and keep scoring."

Having conceded a large total, it was important that Pakistan's batsmen showed more discipline than their bowlers. The attack did not escape Misbah's criticism. "We did not manage to take wickets, we could not manage to create pressure and the fielding was mediocre," he said.

It is not the time for crisis talks yet, though. Misbah chose to take a measured view of the defeat. "Everybody knows what we did wrong. We need to improve the areas we are bowling, build more partnerships and every batsmen who is set needs to carry on."

Not so for South Africa. Even though the next match is five days away, AB de Villiers said the boost this has given the team will serve them well for the rest of the series. "We've got confidence now," he said. "We had a really good performance with a lot of pressure on us."

Expectation on South Africa was low before this series because they appeared an unsettled unit. It is only one performance but already they look ready to shelve that notion as the former bit-part players had starring roles. Colin Ingram, Farhaan Behardien and Ryan McLaren were under the most scrutiny coming into the match and all three put in impressive performances.

Ingram had to build an innings and a partnership, and faith in him appeared low when de Villiers came in at No.3 instead of him. "It's taken us a while to come up with some sort of plan for batting. When we have a solid foundation, like we did today, it's a good time for me to come in," de Villiers explained. "I enjoy playing against the spinners and I can work it around a little."

Ingram followed soon after and helped de Villiers create the "game changer," with a 120-run stand. "We hussled between deliveries, we showed intent and we showed two good cricket brains," de Villiers said. "We played the spinners well so it was easy for me to bat with Colin."

Behardien showed his ability to finish, something that he has not managed to do so far. The end result was that the bowlers went into the second half with an advantage and McLaren exploited it fully.

On his home turf, he used the short ball well and formed an important part of the seam quartet that tied Pakistan down. McLaren has not had his standout performance in ODI cricket yet, and with Dale Steyn returning and Morne Morkel close to recovery, he needed to do something to prove his worth.

"It's probably the most pleasing thing of all to watch Ryan develop," de Villiers said. "Every game I have ever played against, he has been a real fighter and even though he struggled in the past, to see him perform like this is great. He looks comfortable at this level now."

With an all-round effort from his charges, de Villiers found the captaincy less of a burden and "felt more in control." He was also able to gauge the level of commitment from the men he commands, and on the evidence of this effort, he was satisfied. "I can see guys wanting to be in this team and perform in this team," he said. Even those who didn't do that emphatically in previous games.

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Australia's batsmen must 'go against instincts'

Australia's batsmen must find a way to ignore their instincts if they are to have success in India, the team's batting coach Michael Di Venuto has said. Australia's captain Michael Clarke said after the Hyderabad Test he had been disappointed by the number of players who were out to cross-bat shots or hitting against the spin early in their innings, and the coach Mickey Arthur was angry at the sweeps that proved costly for Phillip Hughes and David Warner.

Matthew Hayden, who is in India commentating, said the secret to batting success in the country was to play straight, but the batsmen have struggled to adapt over the first two Tests. In his first Test tour since being appointed as batting coach in February, Di Venuto has the challenge of turning those woes around for the third Test in Mohali, and he said the major thing the batsmen needed to get their heads around was that what comes naturally is not always a good plan in India.

"I think a lot of batting is done on instinct," Di Venuto told ESPNcricinfo. "The guys have been brought up in Australia and playing in Australian conditions where if you see a ball on a certain length, it normally bounces a certain height. Then you come to a foreign country and all of a sudden it doesn't bounce like it does at home. You've got to go against your instincts.

"You've got to play with your mind and train with your mind. That's something that we haven't adapted quick enough here. The nature of cricket is that you learn from your mistakes but you just don't make that mistake once and that's the last time you do it, you make it over and over and over again. Eventually, through experience it sinks in. But the best seem to learn quicker than most. We've got a talented young group of batters and hopefully they can learn quickly."

However, not all the batsmen are inexperienced in these conditions. Michael Clarke has had great success in India in the past and is again thriving against their slow bowlers, but the other batsman who has played Test cricket in the country, Shane Watson, is yet to have an impact. Last time Watson played a Test in Mohali he scored 126, which remains his last Test hundred.

Watson made 84 and 60 in the tour match in Chennai but in the Tests has failed to build on his starts, scoring 28, 17, 23 and 9. He had looked good during the first innings in Hyderabad until he tried to pull a ball that did not bounce as high as he expected and was trapped lbw by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Di Venuto said it was a classic example of instinct batting.

"He looked unbelievable in the tour game and has looked terrific in his Test innings to date for starts," Di Venuto said. "That's the disappointing thing. The captain needs a bit of help and people to stand up. He looks in terrific touch but the runs just haven't happened.

"His first-innings dismissal [in Hyderabad] was an instinct shot. He pulls so well off length in Australia. The ball stayed down. But if he plays that with a straight bat then he's still in and you don't know where his innings could have gone. He's just got to keep working hard and has got to get better, it's as simple as that. The talent is there, the skills are there and he looks in good touch."

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Bracewell ruled out of second Test

Doug Bracewell has been ruled out of the second Test against England after failing to recover from the foot injury that kept him out of the Dunedin match. Ian Butler, the Otago seamer, has been retained in an unchanged 13-man squad for the Wellington Test which starts on Thursday.

Mike Hesson, the coach, said a decision on Bracewell's fitness will be taken closer to the third Test in Auckland, which begins March 22. He cut his foot while cleaning up after a party the day before joining up with the New Zealand squad last week.

"Unfortunately he just hasn't recovered as we would have hoped," Hesson said. "There's nothing sinister going on with his foot it's just taking longer than we would have hoped.

"He's not running. We hoped he would bowl yesterday to come into consideration but he couldn't get to that point. So he's at home, trying to get back as quick as he can. Hopefully two or three days there and he might get a game for Central Districts and then maybe the third Test."

The key issue for Hesson over the next two days, in the build-up to the Wellington match, is ensuring his three incumbent pace bowlers - Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner - recover from their second-innings exertions at University Oval. New Zealand were in the field for 170 overs and the three quicks sent down 114 of those.

"The next two days will be very much about a rest and recovery period," he said. "They bowled their heart out for a couple of days so we certainly won't be asking too much of them between Tests. We saw with playing four bowlers they have to sustain pace over a long period, so we are after guys who have the ability to keep running in."

After the match Brendon McCullum suggested that an unchanged team is likely for Wellington. "Once the dust settles on this Test match we will turn our attentions to the balance of the next one, but I wouldn't expect too much difference for the next one," he said.

Hesson added that the same balance of bowling attack - three quicks and one spinner - is likely to be retained and he expects more life in the surface for the second Test.

Squad: Brendon McCullum, Trent Boult, Dean Brownlie, Ian Butler, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Walting, Kane Williamson.

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Haddin called in as cover for injured Wade

Brad Haddin could be in line to play his first Test in more than a year after Cricket Australia confirmed he would fly to India to be on standby for the injured Matthew Wade.

Haddin was due to leave Australia on Monday to join the squad after scans revealed Wade had suffered a sprained right ankle while playing basketball with team-mates and support staff in Chandigarh on Saturday. Although Wade has not yet been ruled out of the third Test, which starts in Mohali on Thursday, he must now be considered in serious doubt.

"Matt has a complex ankle injury which has been confirmed by the scans and, at this stage, is in doubt for the third Test starting on Thursday," the team physio, Alex Kountouris, said. "A final decision on whether he will be available for the third Test will be made closer to the match."

Wade has been Australia's preferred Test wicketkeeper since the tour of the West Indies last April. On that tour, he and a struggling Haddin would have been vying for the job for the first Test in Barbados, but Haddin was a late withdrawal from the trip as he flew home to be with his seriously ill daughter.

Despite his age - Haddin turned 35 in October last year - the selectors remained keen on having him around Australian cricket and he played limited-overs matches during the summer when Wade was rested. The intention has always been for both Wade and Haddin to be taken on the long Ashes tour later this year.

Haddin's Sheffield Shield form this summer has been strong and he has scored 468 runs at an average of 52.00 with two centuries. His most recent Test was the Adelaide Test against India in January last year, in a series which Australia won 4-0.

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Anamul regrets throwing away disciplined start

Anamul Haque regrets the timing of his dismissal in his debut Test innings, but is hopeful that Mohammad Ashraful and Mominul Haque could take Bangladesh ably forward in the Galle Test. At the end of the second day, the visitors were two down and needed another 236 to avoid the follow-on.

The third-wicket pair had added 70 runs by the close, Ashraful moving swiftly to 65. The team would hope for a measured approach from him on the third morning. Mominul, also on debut, didn't show any signs of nerves in getting to 35 by stumps, and both batsmen would be required to replicate their Matara tour-match partnership if Bangladesh are to prosper.

"I think the momentum will shift if we are able to bat out the third day," Anamul said. "We still have eight wickets in hand and both batsmen at the crease are set."

Ashraful and Mominul came together after Anamul tried an inside-out shot against Ajantha Mendis that went horribly wrong. "This is the first time I got out playing this particular shot," Anamul said. "I had played it in the West Indies series, where I removed my feet from the line of the ball and played the shot. I picked the doosra here, but the ball turned and I couldn't hit it."

Until he fell in the 24th over, Anamul hardly looked in trouble although he took a very cautious approach. He batted exactly an hour and a half as he moved to 13 off 68 balls, leaving as many as possible and merely placing the ball. With Jahurul Islam, who fell in the eighth over for 20, Anamul forms Bangladesh's first all right-handed opening partnership in seven years - the first since Javed Omar and Nafees Iqbal in the Bogra Test against Sri Lanka in March 2006.

Anamul's stand with Ashraful gave Bangladesh the assurance they needed at the start of the innings, but Anamul was not happy that he could not build on his disciplined start. "I got out just when I was supposed to make the runs. I had struggled my way through the innings, playing out the pace bowlers and settling against the spinners.

"Ashraful bhai started to score the runs as soon as he was set. I felt that I should have stayed at the wicket longer to make the runs."

He remained positive though, gaining inspiration from his maiden ODI century which came in only his second game. "My international [ODI series] debut went off well. When it comes to Test cricket, a player feels everything is new in his first Test match. It took me some time to adjust against the different types of bowlers. I tried to spend time at the crease, and overall I didn't feel too bad today."

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Sailkot go top after Amjad ton

Group A

A maiden century by Mansoor Amjad took Sialkot Stallions to a five-wicket win - and thereby top of the points table - over Multan Tigers in Ghari Khuda Baksh.

Multan's innings of 234 revolved around Sohaib Maqsood's 91. The rest of the batting, though, couldn't last long enough to provide him much-needed support. Wickets fell regularly after a second-wicket stand of 96. From 122 for 2, they would be reduced to being bowled out in the last over. All six of the oppositions' bowlers were among the wickets.

In reply, Sialkot struggled at 27 for 3, with offspinner Aamer Yamin taking two of those wickets. But Amjad and opener Yasir Aziz staged a recover with 102 for the fourth wicket, before the later was dismissed for 66. Amjad found able support through Adeel Malik (44), which helped them get home in the 46th over.

An all-round show from Bahawalpur Stags took them to a convincing six-wicket win over Quetta Bears in Karachi. The foundation for the win was laid by seamer Mohammad Mudassar and spinner Faisal Elahi, who shared seven wickets between them to bowl the Bears out for 144, and an aggressive career-best knock of 93 by opener Imranullah Aslam.

Quetta were behind in the game from the outset, as they were 6 for 3. Although a recovery stand of 49 between Taimur Ali and Abid Ali followed, the lower order couldn't follow it up with any resistance.

They picked up an early wicket in Bahawalpur's chase, but that proved to be a false dawn, as Imranullah punished the bowlers in his 88-ball knock with ten fours and four sixes, effectively taking the game away.

A responsible 71 by Sami Aslam was backed up by a decent middle-order batting performance asLahore Eagles defeated Hyderabad Hawks by four wickets in Hyderabad. This was the Hawks' first loss in the tournament, and the Eagles' first win.

They had a shaky start to their chase of 238, with two wickets falling early, but Jahangir Mirza, who scored 54, stuck with Aslam to put on a 111-run stand. Later, the captain and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal also chipped in with a half-century, to help his side get home with two overs to spare.

Hyderabad, with a 132-run stand for the third wicket between Taj Wasan and Rizwan Ahmed, got to a commanding 173 for 2 at one stage in their innings. But the next eight wickets fell for 64 runs, as the middle and lower order crumbled. Wasan finished on 69, while Rizwan finished on 73. Adnan Rasool was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 28.

Group B

Karachi Zebras won their rain-affected encounter with Faisalabad Wolves in Rawalpinidi by 1 run through D/L method, and moved to top spot in Group B.

Karachi were put into bat, and started solidly to get to 105 for 2. The innings lost momentum thereafter, as Faisalabad struck regularly. Contributions from Tariq Haroon (37) and Anwar Ali (37) helped push the total to 215, as they were dismissed in 46 overs.

Faisalabad, in reply, were in trouble at 18 for 3. They lost two more in quick succession to be reduced to 60 for 5. Zeeshan Butt's unbeaten 67, along with Imran Khalid's 42, did their best to steer the ship, as they put on a 97-run stand for the seventh wicket. However, once rain intervened, Faisalabad were 1 run short of the D/L comparative score.

Islamabad Leopards won their rain-affected game against Abbottabad Falcons by 20 runs through D/L method, in Islamabad.

Islamabad chose to bat, with opener Raheel Majeed scoring 47. A brace of wickets left Umair Khan batting with the rest of the tail as Islamabad struggled to string substantial partnerships. Khan's unbeaten 91, supported by small contributions from other batsmen, and 31 extras, pushed their score to 275 for 9. Kamran Ghulam was the pick of the bowlers with a career-best 3 for 29.

Abbottabad started strongly with a 102-run stand between Ghulam and Sajjad Ali. However, with the fall of regular wickets, they fell behind in the chase, which was revived by a 51-run stand for the seventh wicket. A late rally from Yasir Shah, with an unbeaten 66, tried to keep them abreast of the required run-rate. But once rain intervened they were found short by 20 runs on D/L.

Peshawar Panthers comprehensively beat Lahore Lions by 80 runs at Gaddafi Stadium, to move up to second spot on the points table.

Peshawar, after electing to bat, lost Israrullah for 4. Nawaz Ahmed and wicketkeeper Mohammed Rizwan combined for 118 runs for the second wicket to stage a recovery. Nawaz finished with 93, with further contributions from Rizwan (55), Iftikhar Ahmed (81) and Gauhar Ali (26). Aizaz Cheema took wickets both up front and towards the end of the innings, as Panthers finished with 294 for 7 in their fifty overs. Cheema had best figures of 5 for 61.

Lahore Lions didn't start assuredly well, as they lost opener Imran Butt for 10. They could not string together meaningful partnerships, as the top and middle-order struggled to keep pace with the soaring required run-rate. The innings was kept in check through the bowling of spinner Mohammad Adnan, who picked up 5 for 46, and Zohaib Khan, who picked up 3 for 33. Despite a late order hit-out from Asif Raza (30) and Agha Salman (42), Lahore folded for 214 in the 48th over.

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