September 20, 2007	Thursday	Ramazan 07, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Sept 19: Pakistan cricketers received praise from President General Pervez Musharraf and a 10,000-dollar bonus each for their win against Australia in the Twenty20 World Championship, officials said on Wednesday.

“The president spoke to captain Shoaib Malik late Tuesday and congratulated him and the team for an outstanding performance,” Musharraf’s spokesman Major General Rashid Qureshi said.

Pakistan upset Australia by six wickets in a group F match of the Super Eights on Tuesday to virtually seal a semi-final place in the Twenty20 World Championship being played in South Africa.

“The team’s performance has made the country proud,” Rashid quoted Musharraf as telling Shoaib, who put on a match-winning century partnership with Misbah-ul-Haq in the match.

Musharraf hailed the team’s very spirited performance and praised Shoaib’s leadership and how well the seniors and juniors in the team have gelled as a unit, Rashid added.

Pakistan’s second win in the group has left them needing a point in the last match against Bangladesh in Cape Town on Thursday to move into the last four.

Meanwhile, the PCB has also announced a cash reward of $10,000 for each player following the victory, a spokesperson said.

Chairman PCB Dr Nasim Ashraf has announced a cash prize of $10000 each for all the members of the team on their win against Australia.

“The team has done a great job and their performance against the world champions is encouraging. All the players deserve praise and I announce a cash prize of $10000 each for them,” said the PCB media manager Dr Ahsan Malik while quoting the PCB chief.—Agencies