PAK: Wills Cup 1993/94 - Summary

Wills Cup Comes Back To Habib Bank - Mohammad Shoaib Ahmed - Pak-
istani Cricketer - Nov., 1993.

  Habib Bank scored a facile 46-run victory over youthful  Rawal-
pindi  in  the final, at the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore on October
22, to life the trophy of the 13th  Wills  Cup  National  One-day
Cricket Tournament and winning the cup for the sixth time.
  In fact, the visitors from Rawalpindi, although they bowled and
fielded  exceedingly well in the initial stages of the game, gen-
erally played a subdued game unworthy of a team which had  proved
to be the giant-killer during this tournament.  However, the good
crowd did enjoy some lusty hitting from Ijaz  Ahmed  and  Shakeel
Ahmed of Habib Bank and Nadeem Abbasi and Mohammad Riaz of Rawal-
pindi.
  In fact, Ijaz Ahmed (71) and opener Shakeel Ahmed (83)  put  on
126 very fast runs during their second wicket partnership in just
78 minutes which swung the game in favour of  HBL.   That  helped
the  Habib  Bank  team put up a very good total of 249 runs in 50
overs with the loss of only five wickets.  Rawalpindi could score
just 203 for 8 in the allotted 50 overs.
  Ijaz Ahmed hit six exquisitely timed fours and a  huge  six  in
his stay of 94 minutes at the crease.  He also fielded excellent-
ly in the final was declared Man of the Match.
  The teams were divided into four groups and two top teams  from
each  pool  were  to  qualify for the final rounds.  Later, these
eight teams were regrouped in two pools and  the  top  two  sides
were to play crisscross in the semi-finals.
  Seventeen prominent teams of  the  country,  eight  association
(Karachi  Whites  and  Blues,  Bahawalpur,  Sargodha,  Faislabad,
Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore City) and nine other departments
(NBP,  HBL,  PIA,  PACO, UBL, ADBP, PNSC, HBFC and Pakistan Rail-
ways) were vying for the top honor plus a handsome winners'  cash
purse of Rs. 48,000.
  Eight teams, who qualified for the final  round  matches,  were
divided into groups as follows:
  Group I:  (ADBP, Rawalpindi, National  Bank,  Karachi  Whites).
Group II (PIA, Habib Bank, Railways, PACO).
  ADBP, Rawalpindi, PIA and Habib Bank qualified  for  the  semi-
finals line-up.
  Earlier, in the semi-finals, HBL  had  massacred  the  Group  I
champions ADBP at the National Stadium Karchi.  Put into bat, HBL
scored 199 for the loss of nine  wickets  in  the  stipulated  50
overs.  But Habib Bank eventually won the tie by 12 runs.
  The other semi-final took place  between  PIA  and  Rawalpindi.
PIA  batted  first  and  scored only 164 runs.  Zahid Fazal (55),
Moin Khan (22) and Wasim Haider (25) were useful contributors  in
the  PIA  innings.   Medium-pacer Naeem Akhtar checked their pro-
gress, claiming three important wickets.
  Rawalpindi were made to fight till the end as the  PIA  bowlers
were  hard to get away while defending the modest total.  The PIA
totalled 164 all out in the 50 overs  bowled  by  Rawalpindi  and
Rawalpindi  ended at 164 for 7.  Rawalpindi were declared winners
for losing fewer wickets.
  PIA, however, had the consolation of remaining the only team to
have reached the semi-finals of the Wills Cup on all thirteen oc-
casions.  Habib Bank have earned this honor  twelve  times.   The
only time they were knocked out of the semis was in 1988.
  UBL, who were rather unlucky due to the absence of their super-
stars  - Waqar Younis, Inzamamul Haq, Basit Ali and Mushtaq Ahmed
had proceeded to Hong Kong to appear in a six-a-side tournament -
in the entire tournament, missed the semi-finals once again.  For
one reason or the other, they have been eliminated from the semis
no less than six times.  On a couple of occasions, including this
one, their opponents collaborated to oust  them  by  hook  or  by
crook.   Depending  champions  National Bank also lost a berth in
the semi-finals in the 1993 Wills Cup competition.

 Contributed by Shash (sshah@*.acns.nwu.edu)