Tag: ACC Emerging Asia Cup

MUSCAT: Pakistan Shaheens beat Oman by 74 runs to register their first win of the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024 on Monday here at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground.

While batting first Pakistan Shaheens posted 185-5 and successfully defended the total as they restricted Oman to 111-7 in the allotted 20 overs.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, the Shaheens were helped to a mammoth total by Qasim Akram (48), Rohail Nazir (41 not out) and Arafat Minhas (31 not out).

At the start of the innings, Oman’s Muzahir Raza jolted the Shaheens twice as he removed the opening pair of Mohammad Haris and Yasir Khan for three runs each to leave the Shaheens 13-2 in 2.4 overs.

Qasim Akram, the top scorer for Shaheens stitched a valuable 72-run third-wicket partnership with Omair Bin Yousuf (25, 21b, 3x4s) to steer the Shaheens to 79-2 at the halfway mark before Omair departed in the following over.

Qasim smoked three towering sixes and two fours during his 38-ball stay on the crease and was denied a half-century when Samay Shrivastava castled him with the scorecard reading 106-4 in 13.3 overs.

With 116-5 on the board in 14.5 overs, Rohail Nazir, playing his first match of the tournament after being named a replacement for Haseebullah earlier, joined forces with Arafat Minhas as the duo put on a belligerent 69-run unbeaten stand for the sixth wicket to propel the Shaheens to highest innings total so far – 185-5.

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Rohail, in his player of the match performance, blazed his way to 41 off just 20 balls hitting three fours and two sixes while Arafat chipped in with a quickfire 31 off 15 balls with the help of two fours and as many sixes.

Apart from Muzahir’s two wickets, Samay, Sufyan Mehmood and Wasim Ali picked up one wicket each.

In turn, Oman only managed a modest 34-1 in the powerplay as Qasim Akram drew first blood for Shaheens as he pinned Aamir Kaleem for 11.

Oman batters were further kept in check as they lost Karan Sonavale and skipper Jatinder Singh (24, 29b, 2x4s, 1×6) in the seventh and ninth over, respectively as their team struggled to keep the required rate under control.

Wasim Ali (28, 31b, 2x4s) top scored for Oman as they only managed 57 runs in the last 10 overs finishing 111-7 in 20 overs.

Zaman Khan picked up 2-17 while Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran, Qasim Akram, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sufiyan Moqim picked up one wicket each.

Pakistan Shaheens will face UAE in the third match on Wednesday, 23 October at 2 pm PKT.

READ: Basit Ali slams Sufiyan Muqeem for behaviour in India clash

Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali did not mince his words while criticizing young spinner Sufiyan Muqeem over sledging Indian batter Abhishek Sharma during the ongoing ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024.

Pakistan Shaheens kicked off their Emerging Asia Cup campaign against India A on Saturday, during which Sufiyan got involved in a heated exchange with Abhishek.

The incident occurred on the first ball of Sufiyan’s spell when he ended Abhishek’s entertaining knock of 35 off 22, courtesy of a brilliant catch by Qasim Akram.

The young left-arm spinner gave a fiery send-off to Abhishek, signalling for silence with a finger on his lips. Abhishek lunged toward the Pakistan A bowler; however, the on-field umpires intervened to calm the situation down.

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Basit Ali took to his official YouTube channel and expressed his displeasure over the actions of the young spinner. The former batter highlighted the importance of maintaining discipline on the field.

“The cricket was top-class, but one thing that really upset me was the incident involving Sufiyan Muqeem and Abhishek Sharma,” said Basit.

“If I were sitting in the dugout or the team manager, I would have told Sufiyan, ‘Son, pick up your things and go back.’ You haven’t even played proper cricket for Pakistan yet. You should not be behaving like this.”

It’s worth noting that Pakistan Shaheens closely lost the match by seven runs as they failed to chase the target of 184. They managed to accumulate 176/7 in the allotted 20 overs.

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LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced that Mohammad Haris will lead Pakistan Shaheens in the upcoming ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup commencing in Oman on 18 October.

Before the Shaheens’ departure to Oman on 16 October, the squad will undergo a camp at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre in Karachi from 11 to 15 October.

Abdul Samad, Ahmed Daniyal, Yasir Khan and Zaman Khan will represent Pakistan Shaheens for the first time.

Samad featured for Markhors in the recently concluded Champions One-Day Cup 2024-25 and scored at a strike rate of 122.88.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Daniyal, while playing for the Lions, bagged 10 wickets. Yasir and Zaman represented Stallions in four and two matches, respectively.

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Eight teams will participate in the event with four teams divided into two groups. All matches will take place at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground in Muscat.

Group A consists of Afghanistan ‘A’, Bangladesh ‘A’, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka ‘A’, while defending champions Pakistan Shaheens are slotted in Group B alongside India ‘A’, Oman and UAE.

Haris-led Shaheens will take on last year’s finalists India ‘A’ in their opening match on 19 October. Shaheens’ second outing in the tournament will be against hosts Oman on 21 October, followed by their final group match will be against the UAE on 23 October.

The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals scheduled to take place on 25 October. The final will take place on Sunday, 27 October.

Pakistan Shaheens’ Squad

Mohammad Haris (captain), Abdul Samad, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Omair Bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sufiyan Moqim, Yasir Khan and Zaman Khan

Team management: Umar Rasheed (head coach-cum-manager), Imran Farhat (batting coach), Riffatullah Mohmand (fielding coach), Usman Hashmi (analyst) and Syed Mohammad Asad (physiotherapist)

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