ISLAMABAD: Hosts Paki­stan will face Palestine in the title clash of the West Asia Baseball Cup after both the teams won their respective semi-finals here at the Pakistan Sports Complex on Tuesday.

The final of the seven-nation tournament will be staged on Wednesday.

Pakistan in their semi-final outclassed reigning champions Sri Lanka 16-1 while Palestine — a surprise package of this event — overcame Bangladesh 14-3 in their last-four match.

Pakistan batter Wasim Akram scored three runs including a home run while captain Faqir Hussain, Arslan and Mohammad Younis made three runs each. Mohammad Hussain and Asad Ali made two runs each.

For Sri Lanka, the lone run was made by Krishna.

Earlier in the first semi-final of the day, Palestine outplayed Bangladesh as Daylan Renard, Malik Abdullah, Ibrahim, Tarik Elabdur, Elias Atiyeh and Younis Haleem contributed two runs each for the winners.

Imran Khan, Jony Haque and Redon Hussain made one run each for Bangladesh.

The 43rd-ranked Pakistan, which on paper look a on paper face Palestine, which are a new but very strong outfit, in the decider.

The Palestine squad, whose several players are settled in the US, have already surprised all participating teams in the event. Their team comprises players from the Gaza Strip and the US, where they regularly

play club baseball. Therefore, they could test Pakistan who will have the advantage of home ground and crowd.

Teams from seven countries, including India, Afghanistan and Nepal, featured in the West Asia Baseball Cup and after Tuesday’s semi-finals both Pakistan and Palestine also qualified for the World Open.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2023