Pakistan beat Australia by 6 wickets in 2nd ODI at Melbourne

Pakistan beat Australia by 6 wickets in the second One Day International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

This is Pakistan's first ODI win on Australian soil in 12 years. Both teams have won one match each in this series.

Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik were the big scorers for Pakistan today, with 72 and 42 runs apiece as the team chased down Australia's 220 all out in 48.2 overs. Hafeez was awarded Man of the Match.

Speaking to the media at the event, Hafeez said, "We wanted to get that total on the board... We kept the pressure on. First with the ball, then at that stage [batting], we wanted to hit the ball for 3-4 overs."

"This is the way to move forward. We take one game at a time, we were more focused with this. Hopefully... We will do the job for Pakistan [in the next game]."

Hafeez said the team had enjoyed the support from the crowd and thanked them.

The men in green tied Australia down with spin ─ changes in pace, cutters, pace off, change ups, all restricted Australia, according to ESPN Cricinfo.

Mohammad Amir shined with three wickets to his name while Junaid Khan and Imad Wasim bagged two wickets each. Shoaib Malik and Hassan Ali have one each to their names.

Amir sent Mitchell Marsh (0), James Faulkner (19) and Pat Cummins (0) back to the pavilion in his 9.2 over spell.

Junaid Khan dismissed David Warner (16) and Usman Khawaja (17). He also performed a run-out sending Mitchell Starc home for three runs.

Steven Smith (60) and Glenn Maxwell (23) were both bowled out by Imad.

Malik showed Matthew Wade the way to the pavilion at 35 runs.

Travis Head was caught by Rizwan on Hassan's ball, he went back to the pavilion with 29 runs to his name.

Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat in the second of five one-day internationals against Pakistan in Melbourne on Sunday.

Pakistan are missing captain Azhar Ali, who suffered a hamstring injury in the first ODI in Brisbane on Friday.

He has been replaced by Asad Shafiq. Mohammad Hafeez is captaining the team in Azhar's absence.

In other changes, Shoaib Malik and Junaid Khan have joined the squad to substitute Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Nawaz.

Australia have made two changes to the side that beat Pakistan on Friday.

Chris Lynn is out with a neck injury and has been replaced by Usman Khawaja and fast bowler Josh Hazlewood comes in for Billy Stanlake.

Source: The Dawn News

Pakistan in danger to qualify for Cricket World Cup

LAHORE: Pakistan is in serious danger of failing to qualify directly for the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) World Cup 2019 in the United Kingdom as it currently sits on eighth position in the ODI Team Rankings.

Pakistan is at eighth position with 89 points two behind Bangladesh and two ahead of the West Indies, said an ICC press release issued here. However former world champion Pakistan sets its sights on direct qualification for the World Cup 2019 when it takes on the in- form reigning world champion and number-one ranked Australia in a five-ODI series starting in Brisbane on Friday.

To, at least, maintain its pre-series ranking points, Pakistan needs to win one match of the series, while victories in more than one match will earn it crucial points. If Pakistan wins two matches, then it will join Bangladesh on 91 points but will be ranked behind its Asian rivals by a fraction.

In the scenario of Pakistan winning the series, it will move ahead of Bangladesh and, as such, will enhance its chances of qualifying directly for the event it won in Australia in 1992. On the other side of the coin, Australia will retain its pre-series points if it wins the series 4-1, while it will concede one point if it wins 3-2.

Australia can fall from the top pedestal but to make it happen, Pakistan will have to win by 4-1 or better. However, considering that Australia leads Pakistan 33-16 on a head-to-head in its backyard, including 15 wins in 19 ODIs this decade, this looks highly improbable.

The ODI team rankings, unlike the Test rankings, are updated after each match and the ODI predictor function is available here. Host England and the seven highest-ranked sides on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings as on 30 September 2017 will qualify directly for the event proper to be held from May 30 to July 15, 2019.

The four bottom-ranked sides will be joined by six teams from the ICC World Cricket League in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 and the top two sides will complete the 10-team World Cup line-up.

Meanwhile, third-ranked India takes on fifth-ranked England in a three-ODI series starting in Pune on Sunday, January 15. While India will be aiming to narrow the gap with second-ranked South Africa, England will be targeting an upward movement. India can rise to as high as 114 points if it sweeps the series, but if the series result is reversed, then England can move up one place to fourth and India can slide to fifth.

Source:THE NEWS

“Cricketers should be part of the cricket board” - Shahid Afridi

Most celebrities are not accessible to their fans who can only read about them or see them on screen. However, the Jang Group's initiative ‘Breakfast with Jang’ – which is organized on a monthly basis at a different city – bridge the gap and now people can have a chat over breakfast with people from different fields.

On January 6, 2017, Breakfast with Jang featured Pakistan's favourite cricketer Shahid Afridi - fondly known as Lala by his fans - who spoke candidly with fans and press at a local hotel in Karachi. Shahid Afridi and his fans spoke about different topics including how to bring cricket back to Pakistan - the theme of the event was "Cricket in Pakistan - How to bring the spark back?"

Accompanying Shahid Afridi on the panel were Managing Director at Jang Group Sarmad Ali and Editor Jang Conferences Sikander Lodhi. Sarmad Ali said - and very rightly so - that cricket is Shahid Afridi's and the nation's first love and second religion.

Afridi regaled the gathering by his quick and witty comebacks and there were many light moments which revealed the personality of the legendary cricketer. He also openly gave his opinion to many difficult questions and didn't mince his words.

He said cricketers should be part of the cricket board, since only a cricketer who has played the game will know what the players need and what kind of problems they face during their careers. He said that our cricket board only looks at international cricket, without focusing on the domestic system which means we don't have any players at the local level.

And was why players like Afridi have to play their best even today. "I consider myself to be the best T20 player because there is no one else - that is why we need to have a pool of talent from where players can be picked for the game."

"Sycophants are very dangerous for anyone", Afridi said, "We need to rid ourselves of them to improve ourselves."

"We don’t have any cricket academies, not even in Karachi where players can play." Afridi said.

"When I had to practice to play for T20 I had to shift my whole family to Lahore, which has the only academy. Even after 20 years playing cricket I still have to look for a place to practice." Adding there need to be more academies in different cities all over Pakistan.



Replying to a question about teams visiting Pakistan to play cricket, Afridi said, "We need strong representatives to go to the International Cricket Council to convince them that more international teams should come to Pakistan to play. Until we don't have this, Pakistan may not have any team coming here."

Commenting on the recent performance of National Team, Afridi said he wasn't surprised, "Our pitches are such that our team is only capable of performing in Dubai and Sharjah and are not prepared or used to playing in other countries."

He also highlighted the issue of schools not having playgrounds for players to play any game - including cricket - so where were the talented children going to train. He added that parents should support their children in anything they want to do, support their interests and talents - if a child wants to play any sport they should not only be supported but encouraged.

Laughing at a suggestion that he join politics, Afridi said that he was too outspoken to be in politics. He was more interested in using his celebrity status to help the marginalized communities of Pakistan.

"I am working to provide to the marginalized communities; to give them something in their lives. Recently I went to Sindh where I saw a section of the Hindu community living in the worst of conditions. Their women have to walk several miles to just get water." Afridi said. "We talk about the government providing us grounds but this government has been unable to even provide basic things like water to many people how can we expect it to give facilities for cricket. The Sindh government has to pull its weight and provide good governance and fulfil the basic rights of the people."

Commenting about his 'farewell' match, Afridi said, "The love that the people have given me when I announced my retirement is more than any 'farewell'.

Afridi also took a friendly jab at the media, saying our media has a lot of responsibility to the viewer. "Breaking news doesn't always have to be bad; good news can also be breaking."

Source: The News