Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Pakistan Panthers Veterans secure second successive win in Sri Lanka


Karachi Observer Report

KARACHI: Pakistani Panther Veterans registered their successive win during their ongoing tour of Sri Lanka when they whipped Western Province Veterans by 39 runs at the P. Sara Ground in Colombo on October 3. 

Pakistan’s veteran outfit, captained by Fawad Ijaz Khan and containing former Test and first-class cricketers, is currently on a goodwill tour visiting Sri Lanka where they will play their last two matches in Kandy against Kandurata Veterans XI later in the week. They had overpowered Western Province Veterans by three wickets in the opening game.

Pakistani Panther Veterans made the most of friendly batting conditions and easy paced pitch while batting first after winning the toss. Jaffer Qureshi led the run spree with an aggressive 106 while the momentum was sustained by the other batsmen.

Skipper Fawad Ijaz contributed an attractive 33 while Mansoor Akhtar, a former Test cricketer, contributed 21. The innings ended with a flourish as Ashraf Pakhali and Najeeb Sadiq remained undefeated on 43 and 22 respectively to raise the total to 274 in 35 overs despite fine bowling by A J Samarasekara and M D F Ravindra, who shared five wickets between them.

Chasing a formidable y target of 275 runs in 35 overs, Western Province Veterans responded positively but ran out of steam in the end to be bowled for 236 in 32.5 overs. 

Useful contributions from Nallaiah Devarajan (29), Asoka De Silva (29), Lindan Hannibal (24) and M D F Ravindra (21) kept the match alive but the fine bowling by the Pakistan trio of Ghaffar Kazmi (3-18), Najeeb Sadiq (3-25) and Jaffer Qureshi (3-53) won the day for the visitors. Jaffer Qureshi was adjudged Man of the Match for his terrific all-round performance.

Summarized scores:
Pakistan Panthers Veterans XI: 274-5 in 35 overs (Jaffer Qureshi 106, Fawad Ijaz Khan 33, Manzoor Akhtar 21, Ashraf Pakhali 43 not out, Najeeb Sadiq 22 not out; A J Samarasekara 3-48, M D F Ravindra 2-43)
Western Province Veterans XI: 236 in 32.5 overs (Nallaiah Devarajan 29, Asoka De Silva 29, Lindan Hannibal 24, M D F Ravindra 21; Ghaffar Kazmi 3-18, Najeeb Sadiq 3-25, Jaffer Qureshi 3-53).
Result: Pakistan Panthers Veterans XI won by 39 runs


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