Hafeez, Younis take Pakistan to big lead

CHITTAGONG: Opener Mohammad Hafeez cracked a career-best 143 and Younis Khan an impressive 96 not out on Saturday to put Pakistan in a commanding position in the opening Test against Bangladesh.

Hafeez hit 14 fours in his fourth Test hundred as Pakistan posted 415-4 in their first innings at stumps on the second day in reply to Bangladesh’s 135, to gain a 280-run lead with six wickets in hand.

Younis, playing his 72nd Test, completed 6,000 runs when he lofted left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan for a straight six in the last session. He also hit 10 fours in his 155-ball knock.

Asad Shafiq, who put on 104 for the unbroken fifth-wicket stand with Younis, was 40 not out with two sixes to his name as the tourists plundered 283 runs in the day after resuming at 132 for no loss.

Hafeez, whose previous best was 119 against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo this year, was unlucky to be adjudged leg-before off left-arm spinner Elias Sunny, as TV replays suggested he inside-edged the delivery on to his pad.

It was a frustrating day for Bangladesh, who not only struggled to take wickets on an easy-paced track but also dropped a couple of catches.

The hosts took the second new ball immediately after it was due and Shahadat Hossain had a chance to dismiss Younis on 15, but Sunny dropped the catch at deep square-leg.

Bangladesh also let off skipper Misbah-ul-Haq on five when the batsman edged paceman Rubel Hossain, but Shahriar Nafees failed to hold on at second slip.

Sunny, who made a seven-wicket Test debut at this venue against the West Indies in October, then trapped Misbah (20) leg-before when the batsman attempted to sweep a full-toss.

Hafeez earlier put Pakistan in a strong position when he added 164 for the opening wicket with left-handed Taufeeq Umar (61) and 56 for the second wicket with Azhar Ali (26).

Hafeez, 74 overnight, reached his century in the morning when he drove off-spinner Mohammad Mahmudullah through the covers for a four.

Bangladesh broke the opening-wicket stand when Mahmudullah trapped Umar leg-before after the batsman had added eight runs to his overnight score of 53.

Umar’s 164-ball knock contained eight fours.

Shahadat was the other wicket-taker, having Azhar caught by wicket-keeper and captain Mushfiqur Rahim in the afternoon.

Read more »

Posted in: SPORTS

Pakistan fight to avoid wooden spoon

AUCKLAND: Pakistan slumped to their fourth Champions Trophy loss in five matches with a 5-0 mauling from Germany Saturday, leaving the Green Shirts in a fight with South Korea to avoid the wooden spoon.

In the other Pool D match, the Koreans squandered a 2-0 lead to go down 4-3 to Great Britain.

The world number two Germans steamrollered Pakistan, who failed to build on a promising 6-2 win over South Korea in their previous match at the last major tournament for men’s hockey before the London Olympics.

“The Germans played the game of the tournament, they did not make mistakes,” Pakistan team manager Khawaja Junaid said of the reigning Olympic champions.

“We tried to hold them but they played at top pace with long bounces and (pressure) coming from both sides. It’s clear there’s still a difference between Pakistan and Germany.”

Pakistan, making their first appearance at the Champions Trophy since 2007, will face South Korea on Sunday in a Pool D match to determine the bottom two places at the eight-nation tournament.

Despite Saturday’s loss, and Pakistan’s failure to secure a top five spot that would ensure qualification for the next tournament in Argentina, Junaid said he was not disappointed with his team’s campaign in Auckland.

He said his players had gained valuable exposure to top international teams ahead of the Olympics and he expected Pakistan’s world ranking to rise from nine to seven on the back of their Champions Trophy showing.

Junaid said Pakistan were capable of matching the top teams in patches but lacked consistency, with players trying to turn a match through individual flair, rather than sticking to the game plan.

“You could say they make emotional errors,” he said. “When we were down 2-0 (to Germany) they’re thinking ‘now I have to intercept the ball and score’. So instead of keeping to his zone, he’s trying to overdo it.”South Korea looked to be cruising against Great Britain until James Tindall inspired a second-half fightback from 2-0 down.

Tindall put Britain on the board after 47 minutes and followed up Ashley Jackson’s 60th-minute penalty corner conversion with a second field goal four minutes from time to put his team 3-2 up and set up a frantic finale.

The never-say-die Koreans equalised through a Nam Hyun-Woo penalty shot but were left stunned when Britain’s Mark Pearn latched onto a cross in the area and fired a tightly-angled shot past the keeper to seal the win.

Defending champions Australia, who have already made Sunday’s final, play New Zealand in Pool C later Saturday, while Spain face the Netherlands.

After the competition’s opening rounds, the tournament split into two four-nation groups. The top group, Pool C, contests the medal placings, while Pool D determines positions five to eight.

Read more »

Posted in: SPORTS

Hafeez, Umar put Pakistan on top

CHITTAGONG: Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar cracked unbeaten half-centuries to put Pakistan in command after Bangladesh crashed to 135 on the opening day of the first Test on Friday.

Pakistan made a strong reply to reach 132 for no loss in their first innings at stumps, with Hafeez hitting nine fours in his 74 not out and Umar seven boundaries in his unbeaten 53.

Umar gave a chance in the last over of the day bowled by left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan, but Shahadat Hossain failed to hold on to the ball at mid-on.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman earlier finished with 3-9 and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal with 3-40 as Bangladesh were dismissed in just 51.2 overs after being put in to bat in Chittagong.

Pacemen Aizaz Cheema and Umar Gul also gave a good account of themsleves as they wrecked the hosts’ top order before finishing with two wickets each.

Bangladesh also had their shot-selection to blame for their dismal batting display against Pakistan’s pace-spin combination as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Lower-order batsman Nasir Hossain top-scored with 41 with the help of one six and seven fours before being the last man out.

Debutant opener Mohammed Nazimuddin also offered some resistance as he batted more than a session for his 79-ball 31 with the help of five fours before he was caught by Hafeez in the slips off Gul.

Mohammad Mahmudullah (18) was the other batsman to reach double-figures.

Pakistan, playing their first Test in Bangladesh in almost a decade, put the hosts in deep trouble in the morning when they took five wickets for 47 runs in the opening 23 overs.

Cheema rocked Bangladesh with two quick wickets while Gul, Ajmal and Rehman each took one wicket after the tourists had won the toss and elected to field.

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq opened the attack with off-spinner Hafeez, but had to rely on his fast bowlers to jolt the hosts on an easy-paced track.

Hafeez gave away nine runs, including a six over long-off by opener Tamim Iqbal, in his opening three overs before being replaced by Cheema who struck with his fourth delivery.

Cheema had Tamim (nine) caught behind and then had Shahriar Nafees caught by Younis Khan at second slip for no score in his next over.

Bangladesh continued to struggle against pace as they soon lost Mohammad Ashraful, caught behind off Gul after making just one run.

Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (four) was trapped leg-before in Ajmal’s first over, while former captain Shakib Al Hasan (eight) was caught at square-leg by Hafeez while sweeping Rehman.

Read more »

Posted in: SPORTS