September 18, 2008	Thursday	Ramazan 17, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 17: Pakistan will meet hosts Canada and Sri Lanka will play Zimbabwe in the opening round of an inaugural four-way Twenty20 tournament in Toronto, Pakistan-based organisers announced on Wednesday.

The tournament, scheduled to run from Oct 10 to 13, will give the cricket-starved Pakistan team some much-needed playing time after the ICC Champions Trophy was postponed over security fears here last month.

“In a league format all four teams will play each other once and the top two teams will play the final,” Nauman Nabi, chairman of the organising company Sports International Marketing, said.

There will be a play-off for third position before the final on Oct 13, he added.

The tournament in Canada, originally scheduled for August, was delayed because the West Indies team was not available. The Caribbean side will miss out anyway after they demanded a further two-week delay.

“We have top teams in the tournament and hope that it will be a great success,” stated Nabi.

Pakistan finished runners-up to India in the Twenty20 World Championship held in South Africa last year. Sri Lanka were runners-up to Australia in the 50-over World Cup in the West Indies last year.

Nabi hopes to make the Canada event an annual fixture.

“We are trying to make this event an annual fixture because there is a vast majority of South Asian expatriates who want to watch cricket in Canada. The game is progressing by leaps and bounds in that part of the world,” he said.

Schedule:

Oct 10: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Canada v Pakistan

Oct 11: Canada v Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka v Pakistan

Oct 12: Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Canada v Sri Lanka

Oct 13: Play off and Final.—AFP