29 January 2005	Saturday	18 Zilhaj 1425

LAHORE, Jan 28: Barring the vagaries of weather an exciting finish is likely in the One-day Cup cricket final between Lahore Lions and Sialkot Stallions scheduled to be played at the Qadhafi Stadium on Saturday. Both the teams are from pool "A".

The unbeaten leaders of the group matches Stallions defeated pool "B" runners-up Lahore Eagles in the first semi-final by six wickets. Lions, the pool "A" runners-up, carved out a 30-run win over the pool "B" leaders Hyderabad Hawks on Duck worth/Lewis method after a rain-hit second semi-finals on Thursday.

But again the weather could play a significant role as the MET office had forecast rain for Thursday and Friday. A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman told Dawn that if there was no rain the Qadhafi Stadium would be ready for the final, despite heavy rains of Thursday.

He said that a maximum play of two hours 50 minutes was necessary to take a result in which a 20-over-a-side final could be possible. Lahore entered the final after a lapse of 24 years.

Last time Lahore played the final in 1981-82 but lost to PIA. Sialkot, who are playing in the One-day Cup for the first time after the board had adopted a new pattern of holding it on regional basis, showed an impressive performance to reach the final in first appearance.

A big 131-run defeat at the hands of Stallions in the pool match might be haunting Lions in the final. Stallions were the hosts of that match at Jinnah Stadium and they had scored 226 for six in allotted 45 overs but bundled out the Lions for only 95.

However, now Lions are the hosts to have the home ground advantage. Stallions have some in-form batsmen in Qaisar Abbas, Shahid Yousaf and experienced opener Imran Nazir. Sarfraz Ahmed and Faisal Naved were two effective all-rounders available to Stallions.

The Lions batting line up will depend more on opener Imran Farhat, Jehangir Mirza, Shahnawaz Malik and skipper Humayun Farhat. The pace bowling department will be strengthened by Shahzad Butt and Wasim Khan.

The winners will pocket Rs 300,000 while the losers Rs 150,000. The Man-of-the-Final, the best batsman, bowler, wicket keeper, all-rounder and wicket keeper of the tournament will receive Rs 10,000 each.

Aleem Dar, an umpire on the ICC's Panel and Riazud Din are two field umpires. Mian Mohammad Aslam is the TV umpire. Azhar Khan is the Match Referee.

STALLIONS (FROM): Khalid Mahmood, Imran Nazir, Bilal Hussain, Qaisar Abbas, Shahid Yousaf, Hafiz Khalid (wicket keeper), Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahzad Malik, Mansoor Amjad, Atiq-ur-Rehman, Zahid Saeed, Faisal Naveed, Ali Imran Pasha, Mohammad Asif.

LIONS (FROM): Imran Farhat, Shahnawaz Malik, Nasir Jamshed, Rashid Riaz, Jahangir Mirza, Humayun Farhat (wicket keeper), Arslan Mir, Khurram Chohan, Wasim Khan, Shahzad Butt, Imran Tahir, Adnan Raza, Imran Qadir.