MEDIA
RELEASE
PAKISTAN CLING TO VICTORY HOPES IN 2003
CATHAY PACIFIC/STANDARD CHARTERED
HONG KONG CRICKET SIXES
SRI LANKA AND NEW ZEALAND PROVE FIRST-DAY SURPRISE PACKETS
HONG KONG, November
1: Traditional Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong
Kong International Cricket Sixes crowd favourites Pakistan
and India
provided the marquee match-up of day one at the 2003 championship,
with a
pulsating pool game setting the four-time champions on course
to perhaps
defend their title at the Kowloon Cricket Club.
Thanks to miserly overs
of 1/2 from Imran Nazir and 2/6 from Abdul Razzaq to
close the Indian innings at a disappointing 58/4, their fierce
rivals
cruised to a comfortable victory with Azhar Mahmood's 32
not out leading his
team to a four-wicket triumph.
Although the wickets
of Nazir and Naveed Latif from successive Sairaj
Bahutule deliveries caused some concern in the third over,
Pakistan -
champions in Hong Kong in 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2002 - were
able to bounce
back from their shock morning loss to New Zealand and keep
themselves in
contention for the Cup phase. That defeat was their first
at the Hong Kong
tournament since the 1997 Sixes, where they lost to England
before going on
to take the title for the second time.
Pakistan captain Moin
Khan was understandably thrilled to have repelled the
Indian charge.
Said Moin: "I
am very relieved to have beaten our great rivals after losing
our first match. Against New Zealand everything seemed
to go wrong from the
first over when we lost two wickets and we finished
15 or 20 runs short (of
a competitive total)."
"However, I am
very satisfied to have come back so well and get back on
track. Now our target is to win the tournament again."
Pakistan now need to
defeat Hong Kong tomorrow morning to join New Zealand
in the Cup semi-finals from Pool 1, with a loss
sending them into a
tiebreaker with India based on run-rates for the second
Plate spot with the
hosts.
While the traditional
Sixes heavyweights garnered the majority of the day
one attention, it was New Zealand and Sri Lanka
who provided the surprises -
and proved the first to qualify for the Cup semi-finals
in their respective
pools.
The Kiwis, making their
first appearance in Hong Kong since 1996, cruised
through their opening-day tests, notching a
perfect 3-0 record in Pool 1.
Their five-wicket disposal of Hong Kong was
just a taste of things to come,
as the men from Down Under caused the biggest
upset in recent Sixes history
with a six-wicket triumph over Pakistan.
After restricting the
Pakistanis to 78/5, in large part thanks to Andre
Adams' opening over of 2/0, a New Zealand
batting blitzkrieg saw them reach
79 without loss. Although the shock result
saw them safely through to the
Cup semi-finals, New Zealand belted India
in their final pool game just for
good measure - to see them progress in peak
form.
Said Kiwi skipper Matthew
Horne: "We came into the tournament
as something
of an unknown quantity and we are delighted
to have won all three of our
matches. It is more than we could have
hoped for.
"We have some
dynamic young guys in our team and we have been placing a big
emphasis on enjoying ourselves. However,
we are not thinking too far ahead.
Things can change very quickly in this
form of cricket."
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka,
so often overshadowed by their sub-continental rivals,
raced out of the blocks to register
victories over Kenya and South Africa
within the first four matches of the
day's schedule. Thanks to a vagary
in
the draw, the Lankans' day one commitments
were done by 11.30 am, with a
place in the elite semi-finals virtually
secured before the completion of
their pool requirements early Sunday
morning against England.
Thanks to a superb
effort from Darren Maddy in the final over of the last
match of the day, restricting Kenya
to just six runs when 14 would have
given the Africans a popular win,
England held on to hopes of reaching
the
Cup stage.
Last year's finalists
will play Sri Lanka in the first match of Sunday.
Victory for them will see Sri Lanka,
England and South Africa tied with
two
wins from three matches. While
the Lankans would hold the best
run-rate
of
the three in that situation, the
remaining spot in the Cup semi-finals
would
be between England and South Africa.
Provided by CCIL/Hong Kong Cricket Association. For further
information, please contact Danny Lai at (852) 2504-8102.
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