Akmal's high-speed 73 inspires Trinbago Knight Riders to victory

E-Paper | April 29, 2026

Pakistan middle-order batsman Umar Akmal anchored his Carribean Premier League (CPL) franchise Trinbago Knight Riders to a three-wicket win against St Lucia Zouks on Tuesday.

Coming in to bat when his side was three down for 38 in the start of the seventh over, Akmal hit 10 boundaries, three fours and seven sixes, that bagged him the Man-of-the-Match award.

The right-handed batsman put up two 50 plus stands with New Zealand's Anton Devcich and West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine.

With 46 runs to win with three wickets in hand, the 26-year-old hit three sixes and a four in the 17th over of the match to bring Knight Riders into the game.

Kevon Cooper hit the winning runs on the last ball of the penultimate over.

Akmal, who last played for Pakistan during the ICC World T20, remained unbeaten on 73, scoring at a staggering strike rate of 208.

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Sarah

Jul 27, 2016 05:54pm

Akmal should be brought back into the team.. Pakistan would not have lost if Akmal had played against England..

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Cyrus

Jul 27, 2016 05:58pm

Don't fall for it PCB..keep the children who have behaviour problems away from the dressing room.

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Murtaza Mandviwala

Jul 27, 2016 06:21pm

Please PCB do not fall for this one time effort. He is not worth in any format unless he proves hinself to be consistant in domestic for atleast 2 years.

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Syed Abbas

Jul 27, 2016 07:04pm

Babar Azam, Umar Akmal, Saud Shakeel, Haris Sohail and Ahmad Shahzad are future of national batting side.

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Irfan

Jul 27, 2016 07:20pm

I hope he doesn't come back with just 1 match performance.

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Shehzad

Jul 27, 2016 07:53pm

Lets hope he doesnt make into the team on this lone performance.

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Seneca

Jul 27, 2016 09:04pm

Akmal has talant no doubt but until he matures and takes responsibility of his career like a professional he should be kept away.

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AXH

Jul 27, 2016 09:11pm

This is all useless unless it is done at the highest level where stakes are high and pressure is on. He has not shown a consistent ability to do that.

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sherali mitha

Jul 27, 2016 09:12pm

@Sarah , Thank you for yr insight which is totally wrong. Pls. do not fall for this ONE TIMEshow of Akmal. Guys who have no manners, no discipline and those who are trouble makers like Hafeez, Afridi, cannot be allowed to play for Pakistan. They have done enough damage to the solidarity of the Pak-Team. Pls. despatch Hafeez, Younis and couple of other Non-Performers from England and give a chance to young boys. Win or lose, is not important, we will sure improve with the time but the IMAGE of Pak-Team cannot be shattered. Akmal Brothers deserve NO place in Pak-Team, they can make many centuries for others, good luck to them but not with Pak-Team. Get rid of trouble makers and non-performers. NO one is indispensible in this world, Pak_team, produce couple of Saeed Anwar, Zahir Abbas, we need 'Batting Machines'...

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Khan70

Jul 27, 2016 09:24pm

@Sarah You're still fooling yourself by falling into this trap. You should know by now that he always performs in domestic. In international, he always fails so he should stay there and never come back to international since that is where he is suitable.

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Ali

Jul 27, 2016 11:27pm

Actually the problem with the bowler who badly bowled 17th over. Take him out from this league and remind the selection not to include him in domestic contests.

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Hyder

Jul 28, 2016 09:51am

Sir Such a talented cricketer has been reduced to a T20 slogger by poor man management skills of the PCB selectors and coaching staff. When Umar Akmal had made his debut he looked an awesome batsman with strong technique and skillful range of shots. He had attitude problems which should have been managed skillfully by the captain and the coach instead of dumping him out of the team. Virat Kohli also had severe attitude problems which has been managed by the Indians successfully and they are reaping huge benefits of it as Virat Kohli is the most consistent batsmen in cricket history. Thanks

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Arju

Jul 28, 2016 11:43am

@Hyder : Couldn't agree more. Thanks!

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Shazad

Jul 29, 2016 03:40am

@Sarah: Umar Akmal batted in 30 test innings for Pakistan. In those 30 innings, he made 1 century and 6 fifties, with an average of 35.8 runs per completed innings. Umar Akmal is a flop batsman since Jan 2010 (last 6 years). For instance, since Jan 2010, Umar Akmal batted in 22 innings, making 2 fifties and scoring total of 546 runs at an average of 27.3 runs per completed innings (he got out 20 times ... 7 times at score less than 10). So, why you think having Umar Akmal in the team would have made team stronger? Why you think what Umar Akmal has done during last 6 years, getting out at an average of 27, would have done better, and would have made more runs than his average 27 runs per inning? Why so much confidence on a flop batman?

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Sixer from Chakwal

Jul 29, 2016 02:25pm

@Hyder I second you on this and best possible way was to include him in test side, make him learn the temperament and behavioral training could fix his attitude problem too.

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