NBP, SBP to lock horns for Gold Cup today

KARACHI: A potentially-explosive contest is on the cards on Sunday (today) when National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) will meet State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the final of the President’s Gold Cup One-day Tournament here at National Stadium.
NBP entered the final after beating Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) by 48 runs in the semi-final while SBP demolished Karachi Dolphins by nine wickets in the other pre-final.
On paper, NBP look superior because of the presence of a bunch of stars including their skipper Kamran Akmal, who is in top form. Kamran, who has led the side by example, had played a key role in his team’s fine win in the semi-final by hitting a quick-fire 90 while batting at number two.
The Test stumper has so far amassed 432 runs in the showpiece event, having hit one century and two fine fifties.
But NBP would be looking to another solid contribution from their left-handed opener Sami Aslam. The former Pakistan Under-19 captain has shown a lot of maturity in the affair and is the leading scorer with 464 runs which came at a decent average of 77.33. His run-tally features two spectacular hundreds and three fifties.
Nasir Jamshed, who missed Pakistan’s boat for World Cup due to poor form, is also back in his element. Besides having played a couple of fine innings in the Pentangular Cup, Nasir has also done reasonably well in the Gold Cup by amassing so far 158 runs.
Fawad Alam (252 runs), Test discard Qaiser Abbas (178) and reliable Mohammad Nawaz (145) are some of the other batters who could contribute in Sunday’s finale.
The National Stadium wicket has been too helpful for the batsmen in the entire event.
Left-arm rookie pacer Zia-ul-Haq, Ataullah and left-arm spinner Raza Hasan are those who are capable to unsettle the SBP batting line-up.
But the real weapon in NBP’s bowling arsenal will be the left-arm young spinner Mohammad Asghar who is emerging as a surprise package. He is so far the leading wicket-taker for NBP with 13 wickets to his credit. And there is every chance that the guy would have impressed the national selectors.
Meanwhile, SBP will mainly depend on their accomplished opener Babar Azam. Babar, who also hit superb century against Australia in the UAE while representing Pakistan A, has scored so far 450 runs in the event at a towering average of 112.50 which also feature three magnificent centuries. He will be supported by Mukhtar Ahmed (255) and solid Abid Ali (220).
In bowling, pacers Mohammad Naved, Rizwan Haider, Aamir Yamin and left-arm effective spinner Zafar Gohar who has taken nine wickets in the event can play a major role in their team’s cause.
Khalid Mahmood Senior and Ghaffar Kazmi will supervise the match. The winners will be given away a purse of Rs1 million while the runners-up will get richer by Rs500,000.