KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s folly of scheduling the National One-day Cup for Regions in the northern part of the country was blatantly exposed on Wednesday when for the second successive round all four fixtures were abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Incessant to intermittent rains since Tuesday in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as well as in Peshawar ensured there was no cricket at all in the scheduled penultimate round of a tournament, which according to every sane person with some interest in the sport, has literally been reduced to a total farce.

In Wednesday’s ties, Rawalpindi were due to host Karachi Blues at the Pindi Cricket Stadium with Islamabad entertaining leaders Karachi Whites at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital, Lahore Blues taking on the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi and Peshawar hosting Lahore Whites at the Arbab Niaz Stadium.

It is further feared that Friday’s last round of matches are likely to be disrupted in all three cities despite forecast for Thursday being sunny and warm before becoming cloudy the next day. And even if the weather holds out, then it is almost certain that the play will be drastically curtailed owing to soggy surfaces, especially at the two Islamabad venues — the Diamond Club Ground and the Marghazar Cricket Ground and the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

PCB shifts semi-finals, final from Lahore to Karachi

However, the PCB finally woke up from its deep slumber when on Wednesday evening it was announced that the semi-finals and final, which were slated to be staged at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore next week, have been shifted to the National Stadium in Karachi owing to inclement weather in the Punjab metropolis.

Thus, first semi-final will be played on Monday with the second on Tuesday and the final next Friday (Jan 27) with all three knockout fixtures to be telecast live on PTV Sports.

The abandonment of Wednesday’s league-round matches meant that Karachi Blues, who are second behind leaders and al-ready-qualified Karachi Whites, and Islamabad have both now reached for the last-four stage, leaving a three-away fight between Rawalpindi (six points), Lahore Blues and Peshawar, who both have garnered five points apiece, to decide the remaining semi-final spot.

And in case there is no action on the field at all on Friday in all scheduled matches, then Rawalpindi, who take on Karachi Whites — the competition’s only unbeaten side so far — at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, will automatically go through to the knockout phase since Lahore Blues, Peshawar, Fata and Lahore Whites are all currently behind them on the points’ table.

Published in Dawn January 19th, 2017