Karachi Whites face Islamabad in One-day Cup semi-final today

KARACHI: Karachi Whites will be looking to exploit home conditions when they face Islamabad in the first semi-final of the National One-day Cup for Regions here at the National Stadium on Monday (today).

The match starts at 10am and will be telecast live.

In the other semi-final, to be held at the same venue on Tuesday (tomorrow), Karachi Blues will lock horns with Peshawar, who defeated Lahore Blues in their do-or-die clash at Peshawar last week to qualify for the knock-out stage.

The final will be held on January 27.

The knockout stage games were to be conducted at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, but were shifted to Karachi when two back-to-back rounds of the league were hit by rains in parts of Punjab and Peshawar.

Not only the last two rounds were washed out because of rains but most of the other matches also had to be substantially reduced at the twin cities because of delayed start due to wet conditions.

The results of some matches came through D/L method when bad light halted the proceedings.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had decided a couple of years ago that in winter domestic cricket matches would be held at the southern region, which means Karachi.

The provincial metropolis hosted a major share of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy outings. Besides, all matches of National One-day Cup for Departments were held here without any weather problems.

And again the city is prepared for another vital stage of the event in which some discarded international players are also featuring.

A crunch contest is expected between Karachi Whites and Islamabad, who had shared the last title with National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) when the final of the National One-day Cup had been abandoned in January last year because of heavy rain.

Karachi Whites have in their ranks some solid players like skipper Akbar-ur-Rehman, Shahzaib Hasan, lef-handed Saad Ali and wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Hasan.

International all-rounder Anwar Ali has been performing extremely well and is expected to play a key role for his side both with the bat and the ball. Anwar has not only grabbed eight wickets in four matches but has also scored 120 runs, most of them at a crucial stage.

Veteran first-class cricketer Tariq Haroon, who has taken four wickets, is also famous for power-hitting in the death overs. Spinner Danish Aziz, Azam Hussain and Tabish Khan are part of their bowling department.

The 21-year-old, left-arm spinner Danish has been very impressive in his debut event. Danish, who has played only one first-class game, has grabbed eight wickets in the One-day Cup so far.

Islamabad, who finished third with eight points in the eight-team league phase, will rely on seasoned guest player Ahmed Shehzad, who has accumulated 271 runs at a staggering average of 90.33. Shehzad’s fine run includes 163 not out against Lahore Whites, his second best total in this form of cricket.

Test discard Shan Masood, Mohammad Naeem, Abid Ali, Naeemuddin, Sarmad Bhatti and Faizan Riaz are important figures of Islamabad’s batting line-up.

Skipper Zohaib Ahmed, Mohammad Irfan and Shehzad Azam are their key bowlers.

The match will be supervised by Ahsan Reza and Ahmed Shahab. Shozab Raza will be the television umpire, Imtiaz Iqbal, the reserve umpire and Mohammad Javed, the match referee.