July 30, 2007	Monday	Rajab 14, 1428

KARACHI, July 29: It was Khurram Manzoor’s turn to steal the limelight with a brilliant display of batting as Pakistan Panthers upstaged the star-studded Pakistan Tigers by eight wickets in the third Twenty20 practice match at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

Khurram, a talented 21-year-old tall opening batsman, struck a magnificent 99 to guide the Panthers home with one ball to spare. Fittingly, it was Khurram who ended the match when he calmly deposited Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik’s off-spin high over long-on for a six.

In a well-paced knock, Khurram showed why he is rated so highly on the local circuit. After Imran Farhat (2) threw away his wicket in a rush of blood, the youngster set about rebuilding the innings with a series of superlative strokes. Looking at ease both against the pace and swing of Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar and Abdul Razzaq and the spin of Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez, Khurram found the gaps at will.

His 70-ball innings, which was spiced with 12 fours and three sixes, must have pleased the chairman of selectors, Salahuddin Ahmed, and the members of his committee — Shafqat Rana and Saleem Jaffer.

Misbah-ul-Haq also played his part in Panthers’ victory despite being overshadowed by the brilliance of Khurram who dominated the unbroken 104-run third-wicket partnership. He stroked two sixes and one six in scoring a 25-ball 37.

The teams were renamed after the team management, in consultation with the selectors, opted to induct all regular national stars in the Pakistan Tigers XI. The only absentees were fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar, who was rested, and Mohammad Asif, who played but didn’t bowl.

Electing to bat first, Pakistan Tigers found the going tough, particularly against slow bowlers Imran Farhat and Abdul Rehman, who accounted for seven wickets between them.

Rehman, the slow left-armer, was very impressive in taking three for 20 in his four-over stint. His victims were Kamran Akmal (20 off 13 balls), Mohammad Yousuf (9 off 14) and Imran Nazir, who top-scored with a 32-ball 48 that included seven fours and a brace of sixes.

The biggest disappointment was Yousuf. The premier Pakistan batsman generally looked totally out of sorts during these practice fixtures which are being played as preparations for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September.

After starting his innings with typical nudges and pushes here and there, Yousuf tried to heave Rehman out of the stadium, but to his sheer bad luck, Mohammad Sami sprinted some 20 metres to his left at long-on and dived to pull off a spectacular two-handed catch.

Sami was quite sensational in the outfield and his effort epitomized that the fast bowler is one of the fittest players among the probables. Although slogged for 39 runs, Sami removed the dangerous Abdul Razzaq for 20.

Imran Farhat, the Panthers skipper, triggered a swift collapse by sending back Afridi (13), Shoaib Malik (8), Hafeez (14) and Umar Gul (1) to finish with four for 19 in three overs.

The fourth game of the revised eight-match series is slated to begin on Monday at 3.00pm.

Summarised scores:

PAKISTAN TIGERS 158-9 in 20 overs (Imran Nazir 48, Kamran Akmal 20; Abdul Razzaq 20; Imran Farhat 4-19, Abdul Rehman 3-20); PAKISTAN PANTHERS 161-2 in 19.5 overs (Khurram Manzoor 99 not out, Misbah-ul-Haq 37 not out, Faisal Iqbal 21).