Pakistan Qualify For Semis On Net Run Rate

South Africa reached 122 for five in the 17th over in pursuit of the 153 required for victory against India, sending Pakistan into the last four on better net run rate along with Australia.

Sri Lanka will play Pakistan and Australia face West Indies in the semi-finals.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan handed a shock 32-run loss to Australia, who qualified regardless on net run-rate.


Pakistan made 149-6 after being sent in to bat in the group two Super Eights match at the Premadasa stadium, before a five-man spin attack restricted Australia to 117-7.

Prolific spinner Saeed Ajmal claimed 3-17, but it was 20-year-old Raza Hasan who was declared man of the match for conceding just 14 runs and taking two wickets in four overs of steady left-arm spin.

Both teams ended the Super Eights on four points each, which knocked winless South Africa out of the tournament.

“I am grateful to see the effort put up by the boys today,” said Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez.

“It was a big game for us and we needed to be at our best against a side like Australia.

“Once we got a good total, we knew we will do well because there was going to be help for the bowlers. Raza Hasan was brilliant, a great find for us.”

Australia advanced to the semi-finals despite the defeat due to having the best net run-rate in the group. The result left India needing an emphatic win over South Africa later on Tuesday to stop Pakistan’s progress.

Sri Lanka and the West Indies have already qualified from group one.

Australia, who have never won the World Twenty20 despite taking four World Cup titles in the 50-over game, had breezed through four consecutive matches in the tournament before being halted by Pakistan.

“Pakistan outplayed us,” Australian captain George Bailey admitted.

“The ball turned a lot more than before and they used spin against us very well.

“The challenge for us now will be to get the winning form back in the semis.”

Veteran Mike Hussey was Australia’s mainstay with an unbeaten 54 off 47 balls, as none of the other batsmen managed to cross 15 against the rampaging spinners.

Australia never looked comfortable after their in-form openers, Shane Watson and David Warner, were dismissed by the fifth over with only 19 runs on the board.

Australia, who needed to make 112 or more to qualify, achieved the target when Hussey cut seamer Umar Gul to the fence off the first ball of the final over.

Gul’s two overs at the end were the only ones by a seamer as the spinners shared 18 overs between themselves.

Pakistan’s innings revolved around left-hander Nasir Jamshed’s 55 off 46 balls, which contained four boundaries and two sixes.

After the openers were removed by the sixth over, Jamshed put on 79 off 55 balls for the third wicket with Kamran Akmal, who made 32 before both batsmen were dismissed in the space of three deliveries.

Abdul Razzaq marked his return to the side in place of Yasir Arafat to make 22 from 17 balls. Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc claimed 3-20 for Australia.

Pakistan beat South Africa in World T20 Super Eight

Umar Gul blasted 32 runs off 17 balls and Umar Akmal struck an unbeaten 43 as Pakistan beat South Africa by two wickets in a nail-biting Super Eight stage match of the World Twenty20 on Friday.

Chasing a 134-run victory target, Pakistan were reeling at 76 for seven in the 15th over when Gul joined Umar Akmal (43 not out) and they added 49 runs off 4.3 overs to turn the group two match on its head.

Number nine batsman Gul blasted three sixes and two boundaries in his entertaining cameo before being dismissed in the 19th over but Akmal batted till the end as Pakistan scampered home with two balls to spare.

Pakistan needed nine runs off the last over sent down by Morne Morkel and Akmal hit a six off the second delivery, a full toss, before taking a single.

Saeed Ajmal edged the fourth delivery to boundary to score the winning run.

It capped a stunning comeback by Pakistan who lost their top three batsmen in a span of seven balls.

Dale Steyn (3-22) drew first blood removing Imran Nazir (14) before left-arm spinner Robin Peterson dismissed Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez (15) and the scoreless Nasir Jamshed in his first over to peg them back.

South African bowlers maintained the pressure and were rewarded with wickets until Gul and Akmal mounted a spectacular counter-attack.

Earlier opting to bat, South Africa overcame a top order crisis to post 133 for six wickets, a total built largely around J.P. Duminy's 38-ball 48 that included two sixes and as many boundaries.

The Proteas struggled against Pakistan's four-pronged spin attack and were 66 for four wickets in the 13th over before Duminy and captain AB de Villiers (25) scored some brisk runs to help them to a below-par total on a slow track at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

ICC World Twenty20 – No surprises yet!!!

The first three days of ICC World Twenty20 revealed 4 results and no surprises observed yet. Having lost their matches against Sri Lanka and South Africa, Zimbabwe has confirmed their flight back home within first three days of the tournament.

Ireland and Afghanistan have also lost their first matches against Australia and India respectively.

The inaugural match of the ICC World Twenty20, 2012 was played between host Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at Hambantota. As expected, Sri Lanka thrashed Zimbabwe in all the departments. After winning the toss, Zimbabwe elected to field first. Sri Lanka posted 182 on board with the help of poised contributions of Dilshan, Sangakkara and Jeevan Mendis. In reply, Zimbabwe with all their hard work and efforts only succeeded to reach three figures and were bowled out for 100 in just 17.3 overs. Opener Masakadza’s 20 was the highest individual score of the inning.  Ajantha Mendis, who holds the record of fastest 50 wickets in ODIs (19 matches) left behind Umar Gul’s figures of 5 wickets for just 6 runs with his figures of 6 wickets for 8 runs only.  Jeevan Mendis who scored 43 off 30 balls also chipped in with 3 wickets.  However, the other Mendis, Ajantha was declared man of the match for his dream figures of 6/8.

In the second match of the ICC World Twenty20 at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, officially number 8^th ranked Australia met number 10^th Ireland.  Close ICC T20 team rankings suggested that a close contest would be watched between the two.  This would have happened, had there been any significance of these rankings in the ground.  Ireland won the toss and chose to bat first.  On the very first ball of the match, Watson got the wicket of Porterfield and then Watson was everywhere, took 3 wickets for 26, a catch and then scored 51 off 40 balls with the help of five boundaries and three sixes to make the target of 124 so easy for Australia.  GH Dockrell and KJ O'Brien were the only successful bowlers who claimed one wicket each.  Earlier, Ireland scored 123 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs. KJ O'Brien scored 35 with the help of five boundaries while the other Brien added 20.  Australia won the match by 7 wickets with 29 balls to spare. The obvious choice for man of the match was Shane Watson.

India vs. Afghanistan.  One match, up till now in which a minnow did manage to put up some show.  Performance of Afghanistan with bat and ball should be appreciated but their fielding.  At R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Afghanistan won the toss and chose to field first.  Things were quite under their control as Shapoor Zadran, the pacer removed Gambhir on the first ball of his second over and then Sehwag on the first ball of his third over.  India were 29 for 2 after 5.  Yuvi, who had hit six sixes exactly five years back stayed at the wicket for a while and scored 18 with the help of one six and a dropped catch when he was on 16.  India were 68/3 after 10.1 overs.  Afghanistan, who were looking good then, dropped Raina twice when he was on 2 and 19.  Kohli played a very important inning of 50.  Afghanistan were containing India well until the 18^th over when India were just 131 for 4.  However, the captain Dhoni managed to take the Indian score to 159 while India lost 5 wickets in the process.   Had those dropped catches been taken, Afghanistan might have restricted India to around 135.  After impressive performance with the ball, Afghanistan batsmen also showed some skills as they were 24/0 after 3 overs and 52/1 after 7, seriously alarming for Dhoni.  Then came Yuvi to rescue India and got the wicket of Nawroz Mangal on his very first ball followed by two more wickets on consecutive balls of his 3^rd over.  Afghanistan who were 75/2 in 11.1 overs, found themselves in real totter as they were then 76/5 within next six balls.  However, resistance continued by Mohammad Nabi who played some extraordinary shots and scored 31 off just 17 balls with the help of 2 sixes and 2 fours.  His six over extra cover off the bowling of Zaheer Khan was marvelous. Afghanistan’s final score was 136 all out with Balaji and Yuvi got 3 wickets each for 19 and 24 runs respectively.  Virat Kohli declared player of the match for his 50 runs.  Afghanistan overall performance was good.  Hard work in the field and experience would definitely help them to become a more better unit.  Shapoor, Muhammad Nabi, Nawroz Mangal and Karim Sadiq seemed good prospects for them.

Fourth match of the tournament brought the end of Zimbabwe role in the current tournament.  Zimbabwe’s performance in T20s leaving a big question mark on their future.  Even the experience of Masakadza, Sibanda, Taylor, Ervine, Matsikenyeri, Chigumbura, Cremer, Utseya and Ray Price completely failed to show any guts.  Zimbabwe not only lost both their matches but more importantly failed to create any impression of any good cricketing skills and maturity.  Their bowling performance can be assessed by the fact that only one wicket is taken by their bowlers all together in the tournament.  Cremer has been the only successful bowler of Zimbabwe when he took a wicket against Sri Lanka in the curtain raiser match.  As regards their batting performance, they scored 193 in two matches and lost 18 wickets.  This is the same Zimbabwean team who scored 200/2 and 159/8 against New Zealand in New Zealand just 7 months back.  Zimbabwe seriously need to look at their performance. On the other hand, South Africa (as well as Sri Lanka) has now qualified for the next stage by beating Zimbabwe by ten wickets.  AB de Villiers won the toss for South Africa and put Zimbabwe into bat at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota.  Morney Morkel started the disaster for Zimbabwe by sending Sibanda back to pavilion in his first over and then the captain Taylor in his second over.  Zimbabwe never recovered from there and scored just 93/8 in their allotted 20 overs.  Jaques Kallis took 4/15 in his four overs.  In reply, it was like a formality to be completed as the Protease chased their target without losing any wicket in just 12.4 overs.  Levi, the holder of the fastest 100 in T20s, scored 50 not out and a kind of evergreen, Hashim Amla also remained not out scoring 32 runs.  Jaques Kallis was named man of the match for his bowling performance of 4/15.

Talking of Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, nobody expects from them heroics again and again but at least to see some skills at this greater level.  Not long ago, Bangladesh was also used to be taken as a minnow but their improvement is superb.  They are now even a threat for both Pakistan and New Zealand in group matches.  Nobody can forget their performance in recent Asia Cup where they almost lifted the cup.  Performances like that create passion among the nation which helps increasing interest of new generation and so to find new talents.  Shakib ul Hassan and Mushfiq ur Rahim are the best examples of great Bangladeshi talent.  ICC should take more measures to promote cricket in these areas of the world as well as in new areas too.

Kumar Sangakkara Sweeps ICC Awards

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara was named ICC cricketer of the year and test player of the year at the  governing body’s annual awards ceremony in Colombo on Saturday. India’s Virat Kohli took the one-day player of the year honour and West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine was named emerging cricketer of the year. Sangakkara scored 1,444 runs in 14 test matches between August 2011 and August 2012 at an average of 60.16, with five centuries and five half-centuries. He also amassed 1,457 runs at 42.85 from 37 one-day internationals in the same period, during which he picked up 42 dismissals as his country’s wicketkeeper.

Japan beat Zico's Iraq (Football)

Asian champions Japan shrugged off the late injury withdrawal of Manchester United's Shinji Kagawa to beat Iraq 1-0 and stay top of their group in 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ qualifying.

Japan, hit by the loss of Kagawa just before kick-off with back pain, rode their luck at times in front of a packed Saitama Stadium but ended with all three points thanks to Ryoichi Maeda's headed goal on 25 minutes. The result gives Japan, who have 10 points from four games, an eight-point lead at the top of Group B ahead of Tuesday's later matches. The top two in two groups of five earn an automatic ticket to Brazil.

It provided an unhappy return for former Japan coach Zico, whose makeshift Iraq line-up - hit by a series of injuries and suspensions - tested the hosts, especially in the opening exchanges. Iraq, who were unbeaten after drawing their first two games, started brightly and Japan keeper Eiji Kawashima was forced into action with a key stop in the opening minutes.

We tried hard to win this game, but it ended in a defeat. Japan prepared for the game very well.

Iraq coach Zico

However, it was Japan who got the breakthrough when Stuttgart's Shinji Okazaki fed Jubilo Iwata striker Maeda in the six-yard box for the game's only goal. As half-time neared, the dangerous Ahmed Yaseen extended Kawashima with a goal-bound shot that was curling inside the far post.

Japan looked more comfortable after the break, with CSKA Moscow playmaker Keisuke Honda a particular threat, and they finished the match with high hopes of reaching their fifth straight FIFA World Cup in Brazil. "It was really tough," said Japan's coach Alberto Zaccheroni. "We want to win the ticket to the World Cup as quickly as possible. I'm going to start thinking about our next game," added the Italian.

Japan will next play Oman away on 14 November, while Iraq host Australia - in a third-party venue - on 16 October. "We tried hard to win this game, but it ended in a defeat. Japan prepared for the game very well," Zico said.

The extent of Kagawa's injury was not immediately clear. Manchester United have a Premier League clash at home against Wigan Athletic on Saturday and their UEFA Champions League opener is against Turkey's Galatasaray next week.

Paralympics Closing Ceremony lights up London

The rituals of nature and the passing of one season to the next were the backdrop to ‘Festival of Flame’, the spectacular Paralympics closing show at London’s Olympic Park.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin gave a rousing rendition of the band’s hit song Paradise during an emotionally uplifting closing ceremony held to mark the end of the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Complementing a cast of hundreds, including performers with disabilities, other global stars, including Jay-Z and Rihanna, also captured the moment for a world audience inspired by the performances of 4,200 athletes from 164 nation states.

Some of the feats that have amazed viewers over 12 days of competition included Matt Stutzman, born without arms, who took silver for the US in the archery competition; the visually-impaired Ukrainian athlete Ruslan Katyshev, who claimed the F11 *long jump gold; and US swimmer Mallory Weggemann, a paraplegic who raced against rivals with function in only one limb, to claim gold in the S8** 50m freestyle.

Other heroes include: Jason Smyth, of the Republic of Ireland, who held his ground as the fastest Paralympian of all time when he ran the T13* 100 metres in a record 10.46 seconds; Rim Ju Song competing for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the S6*** 50m freestyle, who only learnt how to swim this year; and cyclist Sarah Storey of Great Britain in the 64km road race.

The closing show at East London’s landmark stadium treated an audience of 80,000 to a spectacle of acrobatics, pyrotechnics and quirky fantasy vehicles including a giant mechanical fish, a bright green grasshopper and a steamship ablaze with light.

Captain Luke Sinnott, who lost an arm and both legs in the war in Afghanistan, opened the ceremony when he performed the rite of climbing the flagpole to unfurl the British flag.

British swimmer Ellie Simmonds, who won gold in the 400-metre S6*** freestyle medley, and British sprinter Jonnie Peacock, who won gold in the T44**** 100 metres, extinguished the flickering flames of London’s Olympic cauldron.

At the end of the ceremony the Olympic flag was passed to the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, which will host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, LOCOG Chairman, Sebastian Coe said: “The Paralympic Games has set new records every day, sporting records, records for crowds, for television audiences, for unbridled spirit.

In this country we will never think of sport the same way and we will never think of disability the same way.”

And declaring the 2012 Paralympics closed, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president, Sir Philip Craven, said: “These Games have changed us all forever.”

Sport Classes explained

* T/F11-13: The three sport classes 11, 12 and 13 are allocated to athletes with varying degrees of visual impairment, with sport class 11 including athletes with the lowest vision and sport class 13 including athletes with the best vision meeting the minimum disability criteria.
**S8 SB7 SM8: 
Swimmers who have lost either both hands or one arm. Also, athletes with severe restrictions in the joints of the lower limbs.
***S6 SB5 SM6: This sport class includes swimmers with short stature, amputations of both arms or moderate coordination problems on one side of their body.
****T/F42-46:
These sport classes are designated for athletes with limb deficiencies, such as amputations. In the sport classes 42-44 the legs are affected by impairment and in the sport classes 45-46 the arms are affected, for example by above or below elbow amputations.

Afridi In Polio Campaign Commercial

Team Pakistan at the opening ceremony of London Olympics 2012

National Team in National Dress...Best of Luck...! :)

Shahid Khan AFridi at Lyari for Aftari..

Shahid Afridi At Widyaan

Widyaan:
              
                   "The Fashion Valley" is a line of unstitched ensembles by Shahid Afridi. Its a range of uniquely designed patterns with exclusive cuts and embriodery. WIDYAAN is an Arabic word, which means “The Valley”, highlighting the fresh and vibrant emblishment on the outfits, making the collection a shining aura of the fashion valley

Shahid Afridi At Janan.UK

Shahid Afridi At Edgbaston ground.(0n 17th july,2012)