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Abdul Razzaq, the former Pakistan allrounder, has said he has no regrets over joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) and risking his future with Pakistan. In an interview to pakpassion.net, Razzaq said he was optimistic the Pakistan Cricket Board would eventually lift the ban on ICL players, much like their English counterparts have softened their stance on its ICL players.Razzaq, 28, announced his retirement from international cricket last year after being omitted from selection for the ICC World Twenty20 in September. He said the ICL was the only available option for him and that the Indian Premier League wouldn’t have been an option in the first place because of his status as a non-contracted player.”By my making an announcement saying that I’ve retired, it doesn’t mean that it’s a permanent thing,” Razzaq told the website. “I’ve got no regrets about signing for the ICL because I probably couldn’t have played in the IPL even if I had wanted to. The IPL only selects those players who have been recommended by the domestic cricket boards. I hadn’t signed a central contract and I had been dropped from the team so there’s no guarantee I’d have been able to play in the IPL anyway.ICL players worldwide have been banned from playing international cricket but Razzaq was confident it would be lifted in due course. Since the ECB has allowed all its ICL players to honour their county commitments, he felt a change of guard within the PCB could result in something similar in Pakistan as well. Given India’s powerful influence in the ICC, Razzaq said a change of heart from the BCCI would also help a great deal.”The ban on ICL players could be lifted worldwide or the PCB officials could be replaced and the new set of officials may decide to lift the ban,” he said. “Just look at county cricket. Initially we were banned but now that it has been lifted, I’m playing for Surrey. So it’s not impossible to think that I could be playing for the ICL and the PCB by this time next year.”The Asian Cricket Council and the ICC both know that currently India produces a lot of revenue for them, so whatever India decides they will do. I very much doubt that this ban will be lifted without either the BCCI’s say or a change of officials in the PCB.”The ICL contract doesn’t mean that I definitely can’t play in the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup. It could still happen.”However, he cautioned that taking the PCB to court over the bans isn’t the solution as it’s impossible to challenge government bodies in Pakistan and hope for a fair hearing.”In England, everyone is equal in the eyes of the law but in Pakistan that’s not the case. You can’t challenge the government or government bodies like the PCB. The courts belong to the government and so does the PCB, why would one overrule the other? This sort of thing can’t be successful in Pakistan.”Commenting on the current Pakistan team, Razzaq felt Shoaib Malik was the wrong choice as captain. Malik succeeded Inzamam-ul-Haq after Pakistan’s first-round exit from the 2007 World Cup. Pakistan have had mixed results in the period since, reaching the finals of the World Twenty20 but losing Test series to India and South Africa.”I think he (Malik) was given the captaincy too early. He may have made a good captain in the future but not right now. Or they could have made Malik the captain and kept more experienced players around like India have done. They would be there to advise, support, and help him settle into the role.”

Manicaland posted their second consecutive victory when they handed Matabeleland their second defeat in a row after beating them by three wickets on the fourth day of their Logan Cup match at Queens Sports Club on Monday.In a close finish, Manicaland lost seven wickets in their way to scoring 134 in 35 overs, with one over to spare. This was after Matabeleland in their follow-on had taken the lead after scoring 350 in 104.5 overs, with Barney Rogers recording his maiden first-class century.Matabeleland resumed on 152 for three on the last day with Rogers and Hoffman the two men at the crease. Rogers raeched his 50 off 76 balls, smashing ten fours. Their partnership was not to last, for Hoffman departed for 21 when he was dismissed by Gary Brent in the fourth over of the day, caught behind by wicketkeeper Neil Ferreira.Medium-pacer Blessing Mahwire took his first wicket when he dismissed Nkala for 19 with Ferreira taking another catch behind. Matabeleland had hopes of salvaging the game when Gavin Ewing, who put up a brilliant show with the bat in the first innings, joined Rogers. This was the partnership that could carry the day for Matabeleland. The two put up 33 for the sixth wicket before Ewing was trapped leg before wicket by spinner Richard Sims for 23.The home side went for lunch on 268 for six off 71 overs with Rogers on 98 while Wisdom Siziba was on five runs. Rogers reached his century after four hours at the crease, facing 181 deliveries and smashing 19 fours. He failed to add a run to his ton when he was dismissed by Paul Strang, caught at silly point by Stuart Matsikenyeri.Siziba and Piet Rinke shared an eighth-wicket stand of 59 before Siziba was clean bowled by young spinner Tinashe Ruswa for 34 runs. Rinke was to follow suit after offering a return catch to Strang off his own bowling to depart for 25.Matabeleland were finally finished when Jordane Nicolle, who had put up some resistance down the order, was caught at silly mid-on by Matsikenyeri off a Strang delivery for 13 runs. Mpumelelo Mbangwa, who was batting with the aid of a runner owing to a hamstring injury, was left unbeaten with one run to his name.Brent and Strang were the pick of the Manicaland bowlers with three wickets each. Brent gave away 60 runs in his 20-over spell and bowled four maidens, while Strang on the other hand conceded 37 runs from 16.5 overs with four maidens. Ruswa was close behind with two wickets while Mahwire and Sims took one wicket each.Chasing 134 runs to win with 36 overs to make that score, Manicaland saw their record-breaking pair of Neil Ferreira and Sims failing to live up to expectations, putting on 22 runs before Ferreira was caught and bowled by Mluleki Nkala for nine runs.Nkala rattled through the Manicaland top three when he dismissed Sims for 35 and Guy Whittall for 13. The situation got tense with Manicaland losing wickets cheaply and they were on the brink of giving it away.Matabeleland brought on Nkala for the 35th over, and in dramatic fashion, he clean bowled Mahwire with the first ball of the over for three runs.Nkala however failed to remove Gary Brent and Strang, with Strang hitting the last four runs to seal the match. Matabeleland used only three bowlers, Nkala, Ewing and Gavin Rennie, and they all proved effective.Nkala was the pick of the home bowlers with a haul of four wickets from 12 overs, giving away 53 runs and bowling one maiden. Rennie took two wickets from nine overs with one maiden and giving away 19 runs, whileEwing took one wicket.

Australia overwhelmed England by 384 runs in just four days in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba. After declaring their second innings at 296 for five, setting England the mammoth total of 464 runs to win, Australia bowled the tourists out for just 79 in 28.2 overs.Man-of-the-Match Matthew Hayden set up and helped to complete Australia’s victory. The left-hander destroyed England’s attack with 197 and 103, but it was his two catches in the field, which broke the back of England.Too much emphasis should not be placed on Hayden as the Australians, as ever, rallied and worked together to set up the definitive victory. Glenn McGrath (4/34) started the rot, trapping Michael Vaughan leg before wicket before he dashing opener had scored. Jason Gillespie (1/13) combined with wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist to remove Marcus Trescothick (1) for the sixth time.The athletic Gilchrist dived to his left, taking the catch one handed to swing the momentum Australia’s way. England were three for two. Captain Nasser Hussain (11) and Mark Butcher (40) delayed the inevitable while they saw off Gillespie, tea and the shine of the new ball.But tea signalled the beginning of the end. Hussain nudged at a ball wide of the off stump from McGrath, edging to Ricky Ponting. Shane Warne (3/27) then bowled a ball down the leg side that missed everything, but Justin Langer, running round from fine leg, fired the ball in to Gilchrist who threw down the stumps to run John Crawley out for a duck after a late call.Alec Stewart completed a pair as he was out first ball, slashing Warne to Hayden at slip, who juggled the ball before raising his arms in jubilation once again. England had now crumbled to 35 for five and had lost three wickets for 18 runs in half an hour’s play. Craig White (13) and Butcher rotated the strike and hit the odd boundary, but not even the class of the all-rounder or the guile of Butcher could save England.White cut to a diving Hayden at fifth slip to give McGrath his 50th Test wicket at the Gabba. Ashley Giles (4) got a thick outside edge with Gilchrist doing the rest, leaving England at 74 for seven. Warne joined McGrath on 50 Brisbane wickets when Butcher tried to push a delivery to leg, giving Ponting a regulation catch. Andrew Caddick (4) and Matthew Hoggard (1*) adding five to the total before Caddick, trying to sweep Warne popped the ball high into the air for Darren Lehmann.It was the relentless aggression shown by Australia that did for England. Great bowling and good catching fuelled the momentum, while poor batting and a silly run out contributed to the tourists’ demise.Earlier in the day, Hayden, Gilchrist (60*) and Damien Martyn (64) enabled Australia’s declaration. Hayden scored his second century of the match, and Steve Waugh (12) declared to give Australia an hour at England before tea.Hussain, who admitted it was a mistake to bowl first, will have to regroup his side ahead of the second Test in Adelaide, starting Thursday fortnight. Before then England travel to Tasmania to take on Australia A in a three-day match.To add to England’s troubles, Simon Jones and Darren Gough are both returning to England and will take no further part in the series.

England captain Nasser Hussain described his team as “clumsy” after losing their latest NatWest Series match against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford by 23 runs.Sri Lanka were bowled out for 229 in 49.4 overs but England only managed 206 from 47.4 overs as Sri Lanka claimed their first victory of the series. It annoyed Hussain that Sri Lanka had managed to score as many runs as they did.”I thought we were very clumsy in most things we did today. We shouldn’t have let them get 230 and we should have got 230. Our ground fielding was poor and we lost wickets through clumsiness and we have got to get over it.”We’ve got a few plus-points. Alex Tudor and Jeremy Snape bowled well but weshould not have lost today and we’ve got to put that right.”Sanath Jayasuriya, captain of Sri Lanka, acknowledged that his side hit form too late in the series, after defeat by India yesterday had confirmed that there would be an England-India final.”It was too late but we wanted to win the match and the boys wanted to do well. We bowled well and fielded well today. We can’t get to the final but we still want to do well. I think we want to do well in the next game against India also and we’ll try and win that.”Kumar Sangakkara was named man of the match after scoring 70 runs and he also felt Sri Lanka’s defeats earlier in the series did not reflect their performances.”The wicket was a bit slow but we got a really good start. We could have got a bit more runs but we are happy with 230. We’ve always played well throughout the tournament. There was never a time when we were outplayed. It was finally really good to come out and win.”

The youngest Test centurion in the history of the game is undergoing a bad patch. Mohammed Ashraful, the diminutive all rounder, who notched up a swashbuckling 114 in his debut against Sri Lanka last year, is passing his hard days after his rose-rimmed beginning.The next Test he played was against Zimbabwe where he failed to make a mark, neither with his willow nor with his occasional leg-spin. Ashraful was dynamic in his approach against Sri Lanka when he found that memorable hundred against them, but later he was found too smart in his style when it came to deal with the great bowlers of the game. He forgot that all big innings don’t come from belligerent stroke play like he did in Colombo – sometimes an attacking batsman has to go to the shell for survival.Often we saw Ashraful gifted his wicket while attempting a risky shot completely unwanted at that moment. He pulled off once in the moment of crisis (That 114), but such success wasn’t repeated for the next 4 Tests he played. From his the next few innings, we can reckon his 33 in the Test against Zimbabwe in Chittagong to be a first-rate innings.There is another Sri Lanka tour again and Bangladeshis will be glad to see if Ashraful carried off another ton just like before. The kid is talented they know and can deal Murlitharan with skill. Mindful that Sri Lankans were rather lenient while Ashraful was on his way to the three-figure mark (I am not belittling his success). The Lankans knew that they were going to wrap up Bangladesh soon, so they focused at the other end where wickets were falling at regular interval.All I want to say that Ashraful is yet to have the experience to bat under real pressure. He must learn to get rid of his superfluous smartness, because often it causes his debacle. He must be working on this flaw in the upcoming tour!

England went one-up in the National Bank Test series when achieving a 98-run win over New Zealand at Jade Stadium in Christchurch today, but not before some heart-stopping moments inspired by New Zealand batsman Nathan Astle.If fairy tales were part of cricket, New Zealand would have achieved a world record target of 550 runs today, but they gave it a good shot, or Astle gave it 74 good shots, the number of scoring strokes he played while scoring 222, at world record pace, to give England a fright by scoring 451.In reality, New Zealand lost this Test by failing to take vital catches, England captain Nasser Hussain 52 in the first innings and Graham Thorpe on four in the second innings.They went on to score 106 and 200 not out respectively.Then New Zealand were dismissed for a paltry 147 in their first innings which left them 81 runs short.The catching and fielding from both sides during the game was below par, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said the catching had never been as bad during his five years as captain, while some of the batting was ordinary and on other occasions out of this world.It allowed Hussain to claim afterwards that it had been a great Test match, and in terms of individual performances, there were efforts to rank with the stars – Hussain’s first innings century in difficult conditions, Thorpe’s double century, Andrew Flintoff’s maiden Test century, and Astle’s world record double century, the fastest of all time by 59 balls.It was an improbable target but New Zealand gave it everything, although some of the top order batsmen struggled.Matt Horne looked out of touch for his four, Lou Vincent played ordinarily in his three-ball innings for a duck, Mark Richardson survived a leg before wicket decision that looked plumb only to be given out on 78 caught off his shoulder.Fleming was undone by an inside edge for 48 while Craig McMillan exercised a poor option by hitting a return catch to Andy Caddick to be out for 24.Adam Parore wasn’t around long enough before failing to lift his bat far enough out of the way of a steepling ball from Caddick which he played onto his wickets while Daniel Vettori pulled the ball around to mid-wicket to offer an easy chance.Caddick bowled superbly in the conditions to have six wickets for 122 runs, although his figures took a mauling from Astle as he twice lost balls when hitting them onto the rooves of the grandstands at the ground.Matthew Hoggard, who took seven for 63 in the first innings, had one for 142 in the second, being mauled even more severely by Astle.The tragedy of it was that New Zealand lost Chris Cairns to a patella tendon injury and he will play no further part in the Test series.The challenge will be for New Zealand to find an attack capable of bowling the side back into the Test series.Hussain said he had been thinking that Astle and Danny Morrison had denied England a Test victory on their last tour here, in Auckland, and could it happen again?”He struck the ball brilliantly. We mixed it up but wherever we put it, he hit it for six.”It was a magnificent Test match. It was littered with great things throughout.”Hussain said although the target was 550 he never took anything for granted because cricket was a game that comes up and bites you.He had been delighted with the disciplines of his bowlers, even in the face of Astle’s onslaught. Caddick had bowled superbly under the conditions with a flat wicket and used his height well.”What the win has shown is that we’ve got a bit of character.”But there’s nothing between these two sides and we will have to practise and play at our best to win the series,” he said.Fleming said the challenge was ahead of New Zealand now.”It will be difficult, a lot has happened in this Test. We will have a completely different make up because of the injuries.”We were confident coming into the match. That hasn’t changed and we are still after the respect we want, no matter who we play.”Our confidence has taken a dent but we haven’t under-estimated anybody,” he said.Fleming said he had never seen Astle hit the ball so well, or anybody for that matter.Fleming also added that Cairns had not intended to bat but with Astle going so well he thought it was worthwhile to see what might be achieved.Had he not batted it can only be wondered at what special moments in the game would have been missed out on. That would have been a tragedy for the game.

Matt Swarbrick blazed a magnificent 143 as Bournemouth kept leading ECB Southern Electric Premier League duo BAT Sports and Havant within their sights with a nine-wicket mauling of South Wilts at Bemerton.Swarbrick simply savaged South Wilts’ depleted attack, dominating Bournemouth’s first double-century opening partnership for 15 years as the Sports Club maintained third place in Division 1.Ironically, he was bowled by Dorset team-mate Tim Lamb – so depleted was the South Wilts attack that the Dorset wicket keeper had to bowl 7.3 overs – one short of Luke Ronchi’s season’s best 144 for Bashley against Calmore Sports the previous week.But, by the time he was dismissed, Bournemouth were 217-1 and well on course to pass South Wilts’ 229 all out.His opening stand with teenager Tom Webley, who carried his bat for a patient 70, was Bournemouth’s Southern League highest since Richard Scott hit 164 in a 231-run partnership with David Nesbitt in 1987 …. ironically, also against South Wilts !Bournemouth scored two immediate blows after Swarbrick had won the toss on a strip that provided assistance to the bowlers during the morning session.Left-armer Mark Mixer (3-55) had Jamie Glasson caught behind and then Tom Caines, a Dorset occasional several seasons ago, was run out at 13-2.Paul Draper (65) battled away and, after support from Jon Nash (23), Rob Wade (30) and Lamb, was fifth out at 138-5.By then, Jo Wilson’s on-the-spot bowling had begun to take effect – the balding Liverpudlian finishing with 5-66, including the scalps of Lamb (48) and Russell Rowe (23) as South Wilts slowly sank to 229 all out.When South African left-armer Shaun Adam suffered a back injury, South Wilts were left high and dry with barely any penetrative bowling.And how Bournemouth – and Swarbrick in particular – cashed in.The Dorset opener peppered the Bemerton boundaries on the way to a SL best 143 – his previous highest was 138 against Winchester in 1996 – as Bournemouth romped home in 42 overs.Somerset hopeful Webley, anxious to spend time in the middle, was happy to hit a circumspect 70.South African Christof Bothma returned a season’s best 5-33 as Calmore Sports crushed Andover, the early season pace-setters, by 139 runs at Loperwood Park.Bothma, who spent last summer at the South African Academy near Johannesburg, ripped out Andover’s entire top order to have the visitors reeling at 20-4.There was no way back for Andover, who had earlier dismissed Calmore for 225.James Hibberd maintained the pressure for Calmore, who eventually bowled the visitors out for a disappointing 86.Calmore’s 225 was based around a second-wicket partnership between Mark Boston (35) and skipper Tom Pegler (79), who was able to play after missing his flight to a cousins wedding in Denmark.Pegler was eventually seventh out at 201.Although Gareth Tate (5-41) worked his way through the lower order, Calmore’s 225 was always too many.Bashley (Rydal) had to settle for a draw at Liphook & Ripsley, where the relegation strugglers finished at 197-7, 23 runs behind the visitors’ 220-9.The saturated Ripsley Park strip was hardly conducive to quick scoring and Bashley’s total owed much to second-wicket pair Neil Thurgood (89) and Graham Pardey (33), who added 113 in 37 overs.Luke Ronchi, with 45 off 36 balls, enlivened proceedings, but Bashley’s later batsmen perished in the pursuit of quick runs – Alan Crawford finishing with 5-61 and Tim Wheatley 4-62 before the visitors closed at 220-9.Hampshire YCs all-rounder Chris Wright (50) gave Liphook hope, but his dismissal at 94-2 effectively ended any prospect of a positive result.South African Alistair Gray didn’t appear to appreciate the need to hasten the pace and went on to bat the best part of the Liphook innings for an unbeaten 82.Spin duo Dale Middleton (3-74) and Andy Sexton, who earlier hit 21, bowled in tandem for long periods before Liphook’s reply ground to a halt at 197-7.Former Hampshire left-arm spinner Raj Maru was the inspiration behind Portsmouth’s 59-run win over relegation-threatened Burridge, who are back in bottom place.Maru hit a league best 74 and later took 4-47 as Portsmouth moved into a highest-ever fourth spot on the log.Maru and Geoff Pike (52) shared a century opening partnership as Portsmouth, with subsequent support from Lee Savident (28), Michael Barnes (25), Warren Swan (21) and Steve Mitchell (21), moved on to 241 all out.Simon Creal toiled away for Burridge, finishing with a career-best 8-81 off a marathon 20 overs.Burridge were seldom in the hunt, Jo Dixon (56) top scoring in an all-out total of 182 (Ben Thane 31) – Maru completing a fine match with 4-47 and Savident taking 3-21.

North Zone made virtually sure of retaining the Duleep Trophy on Saturday. While the only team which seemed to have a chance to overhaul their points tally, South Zone, lost to East Zone by four wickets at Agartala, North Zone took a major step towards winning the title at the Feroze Shah Kotla when at stumps on the third day, Central Zone were 370 for eight off 103 overs in their first innings in reply to the home team’s 690 for eight declared. Even if North Zone were to get no more than five points for the first innings lead, they will take their tally to 23 points from their four matches – a figure no other team is in a position to overhaul.Resuming at 81 for one, Central Zone put up a good fight but in the pace of the imposing North Zone total, it was a hopeless cause. They suffered an early blow when their skipper and that prolific run getter around the domestic circuit Amay Khurasia was caught by Dinesh Mongia off Harbhajan Singh for 51. Khurasia who was in a punishing mood since he came in on Friday evening faced only 36 balls and hit nine fours and a six.Jai P Yadav and Md Kaif then shared a third wicket partnership of 103 runs off 25.2 overs before the former was out for 78. The in form MP opening batsman faced 103 balls and hit 12 fours and a six. Kaif and Raja Ali then carried the total to 227 when the former was caught by Mongia off Rahul Sanghvi for 61. In a stay of 2-1/2 hours, Kaif faced 139 balls and hit six fours and two sixes.Sanghvi also got rid of Ali (29) but a fighting knock by Yerra Goud sustained the Central Zone innings till close of play. The 29-year-old Railways right hander received some support from the tail. D Bundela (11), RJ Kanwat (17) and wicketkeeper Abhay Sharma (14) all stayed with Goud for some time as he raised his personal score as well as the side’s total. By stumps he was unbeaten on 67. He has so far faced 160 balls and hit ten fours. Left arm spinner Sanghvi was the pick of the bowlers and finished with four for 47 off 25 overs. Off spinner Harbhajan Singh was rather expensive conceding 123 runs from 30 overs for his two wickets.

Habib Bank opener Saleem Elahi hammered a brilliant 115 off only 97 balls, helping his side surpass Allied Bank’s competitive 266 with two overs and three wickets to spare in the first match of the sixth round of One-day tournament (departments). This is test discard Elahi’s second consecutive century in the tournament, after he thrashed 170 (142 balls, 22 fours, 1 six) in Bankers’ winning campaign against Pakistan International Airlines in fifth round.After adding 115 for the first wicket with Taufeeq Umer (39 off 63), the right-hander Elahi compiled a useful 73 for the third wicket with Ijaz Ahmed (51 off 49, 4 fours 2 sixes) to take his side across 200-run mark by the 32nd over.The fall of a few wickets in quick succession after that endangered HBL’s chances of victory. However, they managed to squeeze through on the basis of an unbeaten 14 off 21 from wicket keeper Tahir Rasheed, batting at number 9.Batting first after winning the toss earlier in the day, Allied Bank were boosted by a 125-run second wicket partnership between Mohammad Nawaz and Aamer Hanif. Getting together at 12 for 1 in the third over, they took the score to 137 by the 28th over, thus, laying a sound foundation for a big score.Nawaz made 67 (85 ball, 6 fours) and Aamer contributed with 57 (76 balls, 3 fours), before both getting out within the space of 7 runs. After their departure, the task of scoring quick runs was taken over by Aaley Haider (25 off 26, 3 fours) and Taimur Khan (39 off 52, 4 fours). However, the real acceleration was provided by former test player Mohammad Akram, who collected a quick-fire 35 off 24 ball, hitting 4 fours and a six.HBL skipper Akram Raza remained the most successful bowler, getting 3 for 48.Imran Farhat, fresh from his trip to Sharjah, took 2 for 21 in five overs. Asadullah Butt and Sajid Shah bagged one wicket each.Saeed Bin Nasir stroked a magnificent 106 not out to help Khan Research Laboratories crush Agricultural Bank by a comprehensive margin of 9 wickets in the second match of this round, played at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.The right-handed opener hit 12 boundaries in his 111-ball innings, while adding 144 to for the first wicket with Saeed Anwar Jnr and another 62 with Mohammad Wasim for the unconquered second wicket, overhauling the victory target of 205 in 38 overs.Saeed Anwar Jnr made 78 off 87 balls and hit 10 boundaries, whereas Wasim remained unbeaten on 17 off 32 balls.The morning session saw a magnificent collective effort by the KRL bowlers, containing ADBP to 205 in 46.3 overs, after they had elected to bat first on an apparently batting-friendly track.Naeem Akhtar, the right-handed pace man, grabbed three wickets for 53 to inflict real damage on the ADBP batsmen, after a fine 77 off 99 by the middle order batsman Majid Jahangir had taken them on course to a big total. Naeem was ably supported by Jaffar Nazir and Saeed Anwar Jnr who grabbed two wickets for 34 runs each.In the third match of the day, played at Sheikhupura, Pakistan International Airlines surpassed the 178-run target set by National Bank to win comfortably by 6 wickets.After losing two wickets for just 16, PIA looked in real danger of squandering their chance of winning the match. But then a 50-run partnership for the second wicket between Ghulam Ali (32 off 36, 4 fours) and skipper Asif Mujtaba (28 off 49, 4 fours) brought a much needed order in their ranks.However, the dismissal of both within a space of 20 runs, once again made things a bit shaky for PIA. It was then up to an unbeaten 95-run stand between Yasir Hameed and Moin Khan for the fifth wicket, which ensured a comprehensive victory for their side.Moin, the former captain, stroked a fine 51 off 49 balls, and Yasir made 50 off 64 to take their side through in only 34.1 overs.Earlier, it was fine display of spin bowling from Shoaib Malik (4 for 39) and Saqlain Mushtaq (2 for 38), restricting NBP to 177. Only Qaisar Abbas (38 off 73) and Naumanullah (37 off 75) could take their individual scores into 30’s, with the remaining batsmen failing to show any worthwhile performance against an experienced PIA attack.In the last match, Pakistan Customs went down by 3 wickets against Wapda, despite a valiant hundred by Nasim Khan at number 3 position.It was really a commendable effort by the left-hander, considering that none of the other Customs batsmen could score even a fifty, the second highest being 32 (41 balls) by Nisar Abbas, batting low down the order.Requiring 232 for victory, Wapda seemed to be cruising along at 132 for 2 by the 30th over, after Rizwan Malik (67off 95 balls) and Sheraz Butt (27 off 53 balls) had batted with utter caution. However, the next ten overs saw them slumping to 179 for 6, needing the remaining 53 at around five an over.Rafatullah Mohmand and Shafiq Ahmed batted with responsibility at this critical juncture to ensure that the ultimate honours went to their side. Shafiq Ahmed remained not out on 25 off 26, hitting one four and a six, whereas Rafatullah missed his half-century by just one run in a 47-ball innings, before being out at the total of 224.