Two-way battle for final spot

Published March 21, 2006

KARACHI, March 20: Lahore Eagles and Sialkot Stallions face an anxious Tuesday as they bid to reach the final of the National One-day Regional Gold League cricket championship.

With Faisalabad Wolves already through to Thursday’s title clash at the National Stadium, the attention turns to the last-round matches involving the Eagles and Stallions.

Compared to the Stallions, the Eagles are bettered placed to clinch the berth since they play the winless Karachi Zebras at the National Stadium.

On top of that, the Eagles not have a superior net run-rate, but have also defeated the Stallions in the opening round fixture at Sheikhupura 12 days ago.

The Stallions, winners of the recent Twenty20 Cup in Karachi, take on the unpredictable Multan Tigers at the UBL Sports Complex in a must-win situation.

An Eagles victory on Tuesday will be enough to take them through to the final even if the Stallions defeat the Tigers.

Tuesday’s fixtures:

Faisalabad Wolves v Rawalpindi Rams at NBP Sports Complex; Sialkot Stallions v Multan Tigers at UBL Sports Complex; Karachi Zebras v Lahore Eagles at National Stadium.

Standings

(Tabulated under played, won. Lost, no-result, points, net run-rate):

Gold League

Faisalabad Wolves 5 5 - - 20 +0.992

Lahore Eagles 5 3 2 - 12 +0.156

Peshawar Panthers 6 3 3 - 12 +0.139

Sialkot Stallions 5 3 2 - 12 -0.005

Rawalpindi Rams 5 2 3 - 8 -0.237

Multan Tigers 5 2 3 - 8 -0.491

Karachi Zebras 5 - 5 - 0 -0.718