28 August 2004	Saturday	11 Rajab 1425

LAHORE, Aug 27: Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe will play the triangular tournament in Pakistan from Sept 30 to Oct 16. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the itinerary on Friday after getting approval from Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

A PCB spokesman said that in the final stages of the three-nation tournament the holy month of Ramazan might possibly start but it was unavoidable because the ICC Champions Trophy final in England would be played on Sept 25 and that was the best time available for the board.

He said that only the triangular tournament was decided and the situation was not yet clear about the Test series against Sri Lanka. The PCB has also proposed a Test series to Sri Lanka but so far there has been no intimation from the Sri Lankan board.

The triangular matches will be played at Multan, Peshawar, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore. Lahore will also host the final on Oct 16. Only two matches at Lahore will be day and night while all others will be day matches mainly due to security reasons.

The decision of converting two Rawalpindi matches into day matches due to security concerns is not understandable since the city had hosted matches against India and South Africa recently despite security threats.

However, South Africa overlooked the Karachi centre while India refused to play day-night there. Surprisingly, the Rawalpindi centre will be hosting matches between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka which will not be of much interest to local fans particularly in view of being day matches.

The tournament begins with the opener between Pakistan and Zimbabwe at Multan on Sept 30. Zimbabwe will arrive in Lahore on Sept 17 and play a two-day practices match at Sheikhupura Stadium, followed by a four-day match in Lahore from Sept 23. Sri Lanka arrives on Oct 4.

ITINERARY:

Sept 30 (Thursday): Pakistan vs Zimbabwe at Multan.

Oct 3 (Sunday): Pakistan vs Zimbabwe at Peshawar.

Oct 6 (Wednesday): Pakistan vs Sri Lanka at Karachi

Oct 9 (Saturday) Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe at Rawalpindi

Oct 11 (Monday) Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe at Rawalpindi

Oct 14 (Thursday) Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (D/N) at Lahore

Oct 16 (Saturday) Final (D/N) at Lahore