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Wasim, Shadab help Pakistan restrict Zimbabwe to 130-8

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PERTH: Mohammad Wasim and Shadab Khan shared seven wickets between them as Pakistan restricted Zimbabwe to 130-8 at the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday in Perth.

Pakistan will fancy their chances of getting the 131 they need to bounce back from their heartbreaking opening loss to India on Sunday.

Zimbabwe elected to bat first and Wesley Madhevere and skipper Craig Ervine used the pace of Pakistan’s seamers to good effect with a string of boundaries in a 42-run stand.

But Shadab’s 3-23 with his wrist spin and pace bowler Wasim’s 4-24 held Zimbabwe – whose opening match in the Super 12 in Hobart was a washout – to a below-par total.

Ervine smashed Naseem Shah for two delightful fours but mistimed an attempted pull off Haris Rauf to be caught out for 19 off 19 balls.

Wasim justified his selection in place of batsman Asif Ali as he sent back Madhevere trapped lbw for 17, a decision the umpires denied but Pakistan successfully reviewed.

Sean Williams survived a reprieve on nine after Iftikhar Ahmed spilled a catch at mid-wicket off pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi.

The left-handed Williams hit a few boundaries in his attempt to take the attack to Pakistan, before he was bowled by Shadab for 31.

Shadab struck again to get Regis Chakabva out next ball with skipper Babar Azam taking a one-handed stunner at slip.

Zimbabwe slipped further when Sikandar Raza fell for nine off Wasim, who took one more to be on a hat-trick, before giving away two wides and a single to Brad Evans.

Zimbabwe lost four wickets on 95 — Williams, Chakabva, Raza and Luke Jongwe — before Evans took his team past the 120-run mark.

Evans became Wasim’s fourth wicket in the final over, gone for 19.

Playing XI

Zimbabwe:  Wessly Madhevere, Craig Ervine (capt), Milton Shumba, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva (wk), Ryan Burl, Luke Jongwe, Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt.), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Haider Ali, Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah.

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Champions Trophy: Pakistan will be visited by an ICC delegation next week

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Pakistan, who are also the reigning champions, will host the 50-over competition in February and March of next year.

The heads and representatives of various ICC departments are part of the visiting delegation.

Along with these topics, the inspection team will talk about the tournament’s schedule, practice matches, locations, and ticketing.

The group will receive an update on the global premium tournament’s upgraded venues from PCB executives.

Within two days, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will receive the schedule from the ICC, according to sources.

During its inspection, the ICC will visit all three of the tournament’s locations in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi and examine the arrangements for the next events.

The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, National Stadium in Karachi, and Rawalpindi International Cricket Stadium are the three sites that will stage the enormous show. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) allotted Rs 12.80 billion earlier this year for their renovations.

In the upcoming year, the ICC Champions Trophy will be held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, and the National Stadium in Karachi, from February 19 to March 9.

The countries that make up Group B are Australia, England, Afghanistan, South Africa, and Pakistan, India, New Zealand, and Bangladesh.

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Pakistan’s Test rankings fell to their lowest point since 1965.

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The ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings for Pakistan fell to their lowest point since 1965 after the Shan Masood-led team lost to Bangladesh in a historic series.

Bangladesh completed a clean sweep and won their first-ever series against the Green Shirts by defeating Pakistan by six wickets in the second Test match. With a commanding 10-wicket margin, the touring team had won the opening Test.

Pakistan dropped two spots to seventh place with 66 rating points after their consecutive losses against Bangladesh.

Apart from a brief period when they were not included in the rankings because of not enough matches played, this is the lowest rating points Pakistan has had in the Test rankings table since 1965, according to an ICC press release.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, increased their rating points by 13, however they are still trailing Pakistan in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings, having moved up to ninth.

Pakistan’s drop in the rankings has allowed Sri Lanka and the West Indies to move up one spot to sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Following Pakistan’s defeat in the second Test against Bangladesh, captain Shan Masood said, “We are extremely disappointed. We were excited for the home season, but the story has been the same as Australia.”

“Our lessons have not been learned.” Though we didn’t think we were doing a good enough job, we still needed to improve our cricket game in Australia.

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Shan Masood apologizes to the country following Bangladesh’s series loss.

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Masood stressed the importance of working towards improving Pakistani cricket during Tuesday’s post-match press conference held here.

“We express regret to the country. Masood stated, “Our shared objective should be to work toward improving Pakistani cricket.

“In the Test format, we need more seasoned players. I’m really appreciative of the selectors’ and our shared democratic perspective on the playing XIs and selectors.

Before conceding that the national players must improve their fitness to perform well in the game’s longest format, Shan Masood emphasized Bangladesh’s advantages that helped them achieve their historic triumph.

“We ought to show respect to those who disagree with us,” I believe. Shan stated, “Every opposition has its unique attributes. In both Test matches, Bangladesh’s discipline outperformed ours.

We must examine our errors, and there were many of them in this series.

“I believe we need to work on our physical and mental fitness, as test cricket demands both of those things.”

In the first Test, Shan Masood revealed that the decision to go with an all-pace attack was decided after taking the pacers’ level of fitness into account.

We believed that using three pacers would put them under excessive strain; therefore, we decided to play four pacers in the first test owing to fitness concerns. Sadly, we lost a pacer in every innings of the second Test when we decided to use three pacers.

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