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| February 17, 2003 | Monday | Zul Hijjah 15, 1423 |
PIA face KRL in final today
KARACHI, Feb 16: Five-time champions PIA will be looking forward to regain the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship title when they take on Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in the five-day final at National Stadium from Monday.
Moin Khan, the former Pakistan captain, leads PIA, who are generally considered one of the strongest and formidable sides on the domestic circuit, having last won the coveted title three years ago.
However they will be facing a stiff challenge from a youthful KRL outfit led by ex-Test opener Ali Naqvi, who are also keen and anxious to clinch the national championship in their first appearance in the final.
Pakistan reject Misbah-ul-Haq, who had already mustered 885 runs in seven matches at a very healthy average of 126.42, including four centuries and as many fifties, holds the key to KRL making a decent total.
Apart from Misbah, opener Mohammad Ramzan, Saeed bin Nasir, Saeed Anwar Jr and Intikhab Alam are the other batsmen on whom KRL will rely heavily.
In the bowling department, speedster Jaffer Nazir had performed well this with a haul of 37 wickets. Fellow pacers Yasir Arafat (35) and Mohammad Asif (26) are also not far behind.
For PIA, veteran opener Ghulam Ali with 601 runs (ave 75.12) and three centuries leads the batting, which also includes the experienced southpaw Asif Mujtaba, Faisal Iqbal, Bazid Khan, Yasir Hameed.
Talented fast-medium bowler Umar Gul, who missed the semifinal due to a leg injury, has now recovered and will be playing in the final. Umar had 27 scalps to his credit. However, Test off-spinner Shoaib Malik is the leading wicket-taker for the national carrier with 29 in six games.
In the semifinals PIA whipped Rawalpindi by an innings and 34 runs while KRL routed Faisalabad by 10 wickets.
Test umpire Riazuddin and Asad Rauf will supervise the final while former Test paceman Anwar Khan will be the match referee.
Teams (from):
PIA: Moin Khan (captain), Kamran Sajid, Ghulam Ali, Yasir Hameed, Faisal Iqbal, Asif Mujtaba, Bazid Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Najaf Shah, Mohammad Zahid, Aizaz bin Ilyas, Mahmood Hamid, Shoaib Mohammad.
KRL: Ali Naqvi (captain), Mohammad Ramzan, Saeed Anwar Jr, Intikhab Alam, Saeed bin Nasir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Yasir Arafat, Naeem Akhtar, Zulfiqar Jan, Jaffar Nazir, Mohammad Asif, Asif Mahmood, Azhar Ali, Naveed Ashraf, Saeed Ajmal.—APP
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