Pak cricketers defeat English players in charity match

LONDON: International Pakistani cricket stars beat PCA England Masters team in T20 Azadi cricket match at the Lord’s in a charity thriller watched by hundreds of people.
Pakistani Cricketers XI team played against some of the best former English players and while batting first set a target of 263 with the loss of only one wicket. Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Awais Zia, Taufeeq Umar, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Humayun Farhat knocked the ball all across the boundary in the charity match and set a mammoth target for the English side. Wahab Riaz, Rana Naweed and Aamer Sohail didn’t bat.
English side made 225 for the loss of seven wickets. Playing for the PCA England Masters, SP Jones, AR Caddick, DW Headely, Sajid Mahmood, Monty Panesar, M Patel, Usman Afzaal and M Watkinson tried their best to reach the mammoth target set by Pakistani XI but fell wide short of the mark.
Hundreds of Pakistanis had turned up at the Lord’s to watch the match but also to meet their favourite players at the meet and greet event. The match was organised by Moghees Sheikh of the International Cricketers’ Association, who manages many leading Pakistani players in the UK. He said, “This match was held just a few days before the Azadi celebrations by Pakistanis all over the world. Pakistani players lived up to their reputation and at the loss of one wicket set a gigantic total for the opposite team. I am glad that so many people turned up to watch the match and enjoyed the game on a sunny beautiful day and also got the chance to mingle with English and Pakistani players.”
Moghees said that Pakistan is linked with cricket all over the world and there is no exaggeration in the statement that cricket is the most followed sport by Pakistanis all over the world. He said the appetite for Pakistani cricket in Britain is growing because Pakistan has consistently produced some of the best players in the world.
Moghees added, “It’s my mission to do everything I can do to promote cricket and players in the UK. I intend to announce many exciting matches in coming days in many cities of the UK. Those playing these matches will be current and former stars and their unique style of cricket remains popular and in demand. We need to work together to promote cricketing heroes and game of cricket overall.”