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قال مصطفى عبد الخالق المرشح لعضوية مجلس إدارة نادي الزمالك، إن المشهد العام لـ انتخابات الزمالك حضاري، ويعيد للأذهان ما كان يحدث قبل 10 و15 سنة.

وكان باب التقدم لخوض انتخابات الزمالك قد أغلق قبل أيام، وأسفر عن ترشح عدد كبير من أبناء القلعة البيضاء لقيادة السفينة خلال الفترة المقبلة.

يذكر، أن مجلس إدارة نادي الزمالك السابق قد تقدم باستقالة جماعية على خلفية عزل رئيسه مرتضى منصور، بعد حبسه لمدة شهر تنفيذًا لحكم قضائي.

أحمد سليمان: تلقيت عرضًا من حسين لبيب تسبب في تنازلي عن منصب الرئيس بـ انتخابات الزمالك

وأضاف عبد الخالق في تصريحات تلفزيونية ببرنامج “الماتش”: “أنا متواجد داخل النادي الآن والأجواء ممتازة، بينما قبل الانتخابات الماضية كان كل المرشحين ممنوعين من دخول النادي”.

وأردف: “هذه المرة التنافس شريف، والانتخابات ستكون نزيهة”.

وكشف: “يجرى تشاور الآن حول انضمامي لقائمة هاني العتال المرشح على منصب نائب الرئيس، لأن هاني يمتلك قاعدة تصويتية كبيرة، وهو أقرب لي لأننا عملنا سويًا من قبل”.

وأتم: “الزمالك يحتاج الآن لأشخاص يستطيعون التعامل مع كم كبير من الانهيار، وأصحاب خبرات وعلاقات وتكون معركة شريفة بين الجميع”.

Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers have begun training at home with Duke balls, in preparation for the two-Test series against England in June

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Apr-2014Sri Lanka’s hopes of sending up to six cricketers to England for early-season training had been upset by former coach Paul Farbrace’s move to the English setup, but their fast bowlers have nonetheless begun training at home with Duke balls, in preparation for the two-Test series in June.Tests in England pose a unique challenge for foreign sides, most of whom use Kookaburra balls across all formats. Chaminda Vaas did not have memorable Test tours of England in his career, but as the fast-bowling coach, he has drawn up specific plans to consolidate the pace attack’s 2014 gains.”The Duke ball doesn’t swing much earlier on,” Vaas told . “Some of the guys who could play for us in Tests like Suranga Lakmal, Shaminda Eranga, Dhammika Prasad and Nuwan Pradeep have lot of potential and they will develop during this tour.”Though his Tests returns in England were mediocre, Vaas has had good experience of English conditions in four largely successful county stints for Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Worcestershire and Middlesex. His knowhow may be vital to the fast bowlers’ performance on the tour, particularly as only one tour fixture precedes the Tests.”The wickets will suit seamers in the early season and conditions will be wet. It will be tough for them, but hopefully they will enjoy the conditions and I am looking forward to working with these guys.”Nagging line-and-length complemented by modest movement off the seam has been the hallmark of Sri Lanka’s new pace spearheads Eranga and Lakmal – a strategy that brought laudable dividends against Pakistan and Bangladesh this year. Vaas suggested the attack would not veer far from that blueprint in England.”We have been working on things like accuracy, good line and length. The results are there for everyone to see and we need to keep improving. Suranga and Shaminda both bowl at 135 (kph) plus. They need to bowl in that range constantly and their variation will help them.”Accuracy had been allied with endurance in the UAE, where Eranga and Lakmal both delivered over 130 overs each in three back-to-back Tests against Pakistan. The side’s plans made for some attritional cricket, but when Sri Lanka won a Test in Dubai largely on the back of their quicks, there were hints the strategy could lead to a resurgence of fast bowling in the national team.”I always tell them to be patient. We need to bowl good balls to take wickets. When you keep bowling one line the wickets will come. You need to put the batsmen under pressure. During the Pakistan series in UAE a lot of people didn’t give us much of a chance. But our seamers did the simple things right and enjoyed quite a bit of success.”Kumar Sangakkara will also have some Duke-ball preparation, after he confirmed a two-match stint with Durham before Sri Lanka’s limited-overs series in England.Sri Lanka depart for Ireland for two ODIs on May 2, before moving on to England for a full tour consisting of one T20I, five ODIs and two Tests.

Australia fast bowler Jackson Bird’s participation in South Africa was left in doubt after he was pulled out of a warm-up appearance due to a back complaint.

Daniel Brettig26-Jan-2014Jackson Bird will enter the South Africa tour under something of a fitness cloud after he was pulled out of a warm-up appearance due to a back complaint, with James Pattinson now taking up his spot in the Western Australia second XI team for the first two days of the fixture against the Queensland Academy in Brisbane.In an alarming development for Australia’s tour plans, Bird jarred his back while fielding in his most recent Big Bash League appearance for the Melbourne Stars against Hobart Hurricanes on Tuesday, and has been undergoing treatment since.It has now been decided that Bird should not bowl in the Futures League match on Monday, opening the way for Pattinson to play on the first two days after he was not selected for the fifth and final ODI against England at Adelaide Oval on Australia Day.”Jackson Bird jarred his back whilst diving in the field for the Melbourne Stars on Tuesday night which has resulted in some back soreness,” the Australian team physio Alex Kountouris said. “As such, he has been withdrawn from the second XI fixture whilst he receives treatment ahead of his departure for South Africa.”Bird has spent most of this summer recovering from a back injury he sustained in the fourth Ashes Test in Durham during the England tour, his only appearance in the back-to-back series. His action was remodeled under the guidance of the Test bowling coach Craig McDermott, before he put in a string of encouraging displays in the BBL.The majority of the Australian Test squad departs for South Africa on Wednesday.

Wasim Jaffer, the Mumbai captain, has said his team’s batsmen didn’t have it in them to play out time, after they were bowled out for 121 to lose to Karnataka

Vishal Dikshit in Bangalore25-Dec-2013After Mumbai’s first ever loss to Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy in 22 games, an irked Wasim Jaffer said the batsmen in his side didn’t have it in their nature to spend a long time at the crease. Mumbai were set a target of 282 from 83 overs, but were bowled out for 121 in just over 50 overs.”In their [youngsters’] nature they are very aggressive,”Jaffer said. “The perception of batting whole day like [KL] Rahul. That’s what I asked a lot of my youngsters, to bat whole day and show me they can bat 90 overs and show me 120 runs or maybe a hundred. But it’s a bit difficult for them as it’s not in their nature nowadays.”When asked what he would attribute this to, pat came the reply.”T20,” he said. “You are playing so many T20s, one-day cricket, so it’s going to be difficult. Kaustubh [Pawar] was capable but he didn’t last long. He got a bad decision in the first innings, but he was the one who could do that and obviously I got out cheaply.”A lot of players just want to play IPL as obviously you get a lot of recognition and lot of money involved there. To be honest it’s a lot of hard work playing first-class. To bowl for four days or bat whole day and get a hundred. T20 or IPL is a lot easier. So obviously the minds have changed. The generations coming would probably think why put so much hard work when they can just play three hours of cricket and go home.”Jaffer conceded that his decision to field first after winning the toss had backfired. Mumbai restricted Karnataka to 251 and took an 18-run lead, but Karnataka rallied in their second innings to set a competitive target.”We actually misread the pitch,” he said. “We should have batted first and we needed to score more than 350, or probably more than 300 runs, so a lot of ifs and buts. But I thought restricting Karnataka to 250 we did a good job, but we didn’t bat well in our first innings.”The target might have seemed within Mumbai’s grasp, but with an asking rate of 3.40, Jaffer stated they had decided right at the start they were not going to go for the win.Sharath cherishes match-winning figures

Man of the Match HS Sharath was ecstatic after Karnataka’s win and his eight wickets in the match.
“I didn’t know this was our first outright win against Mumbai. I’m very happy,” he said. “We just wanted to keep it simple and bowl in the right areas. Vinay and Mithun gave us good breakthroughs. That was the turning point for us and after that it was easy for me to bowl and pick up wickets.
“When we bowled in the first innings there was assistance from the pitch. We utilised it by bowling in the right areas, but in the second innings the ball was keeping low so we bowled wicket-to-wicket. Also there were cracks in the pitch in the second innings.”
Sharath said he cherished his third five-for more than his first one on debut because “the performance has come against a top team like Mumbai.”

“We were never going for the chase,” he said. “We wanted to bat till lunch and tea time and then see how we end up. There are a lot of inexperienced players so they might have messed it up. So I didn’t take a chance saying ‘let’s go for the chase’. If we were in a good position we might have gone for it otherwise we wanted to save this game. I thought the wicket would be better for batting as the day progressed. I didn’t see it cracking like that and staying so low. I thought it would get better.”While this was Jaffer’s 219th first-class match, the second-most experienced batsman in Mumbai’s ranks was Hiken Shah, who was playing his 34th game. The inexperience, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar, was on display when the batsmen struggled to get starts and the longest partnership of the innings, between Shah and Siddhesh Lad, produced 43 runs.”It’s a very young side,” Jaffer said. “I have played about 110-120 [Ranji] games and the next probably would have played 15-17 games, that’s the maximum. There are some talented players but they will take time.”After winning three of their first four matches, Mumbai conceded three points to Jharkhand and, against Odisha, failed to take eight wickets on the last day, after enforcing the follow-on. Both of those had been at home. Jaffer said this was because the Wankhede Stadium pitch had turned flatter of late.”I think the Wankhede wicket has become a lot flatter than what it was,” he said. “It’s a bit hard to get outright victory there because after the first day it becomes a bit difficult for the bowlers. It doesn’t get a lot of spin like it used to and the team is very inexperienced. We played [Pravin] Tambe, he played his first game, Vishal [Dabholkar] is playing his 10th-11th game. It becomes a lot more difficult.”Last couple of games we couldn’t win. We lost to Jharkhand in the first innings, couldn’t get the full points. We couldn’t hold on to the three points here, that’s what went wrong.”With their final game against Gujarat starting December 30, Mumbai and three other teams – Gujarat, Punjab and Delhi – will fight for two knockout berths. “Hopefully, if we stay positive, we can win that game,” Jaffer said. “Then there is a chance.”

ScorecardPhil Mustard’s half-century took the match away from Sussex•Getty Images

Taking captaincy decisions after consulting the weather forecast is not normally recommended practice but should Paul Collingwood, the Durham skipper, find himself staring out at a covered square on Friday with Sussex clinging on, eight wickets down, he will be cursing this match as a missed opportunity.The win that would see Durham leapfrog Yorkshire at the top of the Championship table, with an advantage of 14 and a half points with three matches to play, is theirs for the taking, with a lead that would already require Sussex to make the largest fourth-innings score to win a match on this ground.The dilemma for Collingwood is that, with two full days left, he would not want a repeat of what happened here in April, in Durham’s only defeat at home, when he declared at 275 for 4, leaving Yorkshire to chase an unlikely 335 to win, only for Andrew Gale’s side to pull it off, with four wickets in hand.Whether that could have happened had Joe Root not been in the Yorkshire side to make 182 is a matter for conjecture. On a wicket that has for the most part not yielded runs easily, however, no one in a depleted Sussex line-up has hinted at achieving anything remotely of that magnitude. Given Friday’s wet forecast, Collingwood would be wise not to old his bowlers back for too long on day three.Collingwood’s record of 11 wins in 18 Championship matches since he succeeded Phil Mustard as captain ought, in any case, to have given him confidence in his decision-making. The calmness and authority he brings to his leadership were qualities that served him well in steering Durham to their position of strength in this game. It was his partnership of 93 with Mustard for the sixth Durham wicket that put him in control.It came on a day in which Sussex, 60 for 3 overnight, were bowled out for 112 before lunch, a fairly abject performance, even taking into account their long list of absentees, that handed Durham first-innings lead of 133.This looked like a match-winning advantage on a ground where low scoring is usual but there was less certainty about it after none of their top five batsmen scored more than 22 in their second innings, leaving them 90 for 5. There was no Chris Jordan in their seam attack, compounding the effects of Luke Wright, Ed Joyce and Matt Machan being absent from their batting line-up — all due to international call-ups — but Steve Magoffin was as impressive as ever, and well backed up, too by Lewis Hatchett and James Anyon.Magoffin struck first as Keaton Jennings, still to find consistency with the bat, fell to a diving catch by Chris Nash at third slip, then Mark Stoneman, having unleashed a couple of handsome boundaries through the covers, was leg before to Anyon, who then made the ball bounce and leave Scott Borthwick, who was caught behind.Will Smith, for the second time in the match, paid the price for a loose drive outside off stump, and when Michael Richardson was caught behind, Durham’s lead was 223. A couple more wickets lost at that point and Sussex might have sensed an opportunity to put themselves back in the race.Instead, they came up against Collingwood in obdurate mood, setting the tone for Mustard to adopt a similarly measured approach and while the next 35 overs did not contain many moment that will readily bring the passage of play to mind, the end result was a stand of 93, in which Collingwood scored most of his runs behind square, with a nudge here and a dab there, and he had made 45 before he played back to a ball from offspinner Chris Nash. Mustard is 57 not out overnight.Earlier, Sussex had capitulated within the first 22.5 overs of the morning session. Graham Onions added two more wickets on his return from injury to the couple he picked up on Tuesday evening, taking his tally for the season to 48. There is something in this pitch for the bowlers to work with and no one exploits it better than Onions, even on days such as this when he was not at his most niggardly, struggling to find his rhythm.In any event, Luke Wells and Rory Hamilton-Brown helped him out by chasing balls outside off stump, falling in turn to catches behind the wicket. Usman Arshad, a 20-year-old right-arm seamer making only his second Championship appearance, took three wickets in seven balls. Yet Chris Rushworth, who bowled better than any among Durham’s seam quartet, somehow ended wicketless.

In a frank discussion of what appears a dire medium-term forecast for the national team, Pat Howard defended his decision to sack the former coach, Mickey Arthur

Daniel Brettig23-Jul-2013Australian cricket faces years of difficult times ahead until the nation’s domestic competitions can again be relied upon to provide effective preparation for young batsmen and spin bowlers. This grim view was not shied away from by Cricket Australia’s team performance manager, Pat Howard, as he sifted through the wreckage of the 347-run defeat at Lord’s, which has left many wondering how such a result could be possible two years after the Argus review highlighted many of the problems on display.In a frank discussion of what appears a dire medium-term forecast for the national team, Howard defended his decision to sack the former coach, Mickey Arthur, and replace him with Darren Lehmann a mere two weeks before the start of the Investec Ashes series. He also agreed with an emotional James Pattinson’s assessment that the lack of rest afforded the bowlers by an inept first-innings batting display at Lord’s had contributed to his back stress fracture.But the major conclusion Howard was prepared to draw from Lord’s was that problems in the Australian game will take years to remedy, requiring even stronger alignment between the states and CA to strengthen the club and Sheffield Shield competitions that have been left in disrepair while Twenty20 dollars have been chased with far more vigour than adequate grounding for Test match cricketers.”When Australia and Australia A play over the same weekend and the highest scores were Glenn Maxwell and Moises Henriques getting 60s and 70s [in Zimbabwe], our ability to bat a long time needs to improve,” Howard said. “We need to work with the states to enforce that message around batting for a long time and batting with patience. Making sure Sheffield Shield cricket goes into the fourth day so we start getting footmarks, we start getting spinners bowling more in the Shield so they get used to that as well.”There’s a big process there to get right, and it’s going to take time. I definitely need to work with the states to get this to a point where the Shield prepares players for Tests even better. We would love lots more people scoring big hundreds at home. Only two people got three hundreds in Shield cricket last year, Ricky Ponting and Chris Rogers. One of them is here and one you know plenty about, so the system has got to help provide that.”A minor victory for CA’s high-performance regime in their battle with the marketing and programming side of the governing body’s Melbourne office is a change to the 2013-14 summer, which will see the domestic limited-overs competition played as a whole early in the season, before a run of six consecutive Shield matches leading up to the final two Tests of the summer. The Big Bash League then takes hold until mid-February.”I am happy about the fact it is not going Shield, one-dayer, Shield, one-dayer – there are six games of red-ball cricket in a row at the start of the season,” Howard said. “No interruptions, no trying to hit it over the top, people are going to have to be patient and spinners will get some time to get wickets. I am hoping we will reinforce over that period the discipline of red-ball cricket. It’s an opportunity for the coaches to drill in those messages.”On the matter of Arthur, Howard said he did not retreat for one moment from the call to install Lehmann, on a basis the South African has described as “totally unfair”.”When you sit there and look and have conversations, and there were plenty of articles written about what was right and what was wrong, you knew there was something that needed to be dealt with,” Howard said. “It was dealt with and you make decisions not just for one week or two weeks but you make them for a period and who’s going to best galvanise the side. I don’t want to go into that particularly, but who was going to get the best out of this group, that was a simple decision.”Obviously there is a legal issue going. I can’t comment on that. But it’s never nice when you get moved on. It’s happened to lots of people. It’s never nice. On the ground it’s not affecting the players. They’ve moved on, gone on and feel galvanised with this group. Even though there are two Tests we lost, was one close, the other we didn’t play well enough, clearly … I don’t move away. It was the right decision.”

تحدث النجم الأرجنتيني السابق، سيرجيو أجويرو، عن مباراة مانشستر سيتي المرتقبة غدًا ضد إنتر ميلان، في نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا.

ويستضيف ملعب “أتاتورك” في تركيا مباراة الفريقين، في نهائي النسخة الحالية من دوري الأبطال.

وقال أجويرو في تصريحات نشرها الموقع الرسمي للنادي: “سأكون متواجدًا في أسطنبول، لن أفوت تلك المباراة من أجل أي شيء في العالم”.

وأضاف: “هذه المرة، سأكون واحدًا آخر بين عدد هائل من مشجعي السيتي، سأهتف للفريق جنبًا إلى جنب مع بقية الجماهير، لا أستطيع الانتظار”.

وردًا على سؤال عما إذا كان يشعر بالتوتر قبل المباراة، قال: “هذا شيء ضئيل، بالتأكيد، لكنني أيضًا واثق جدًا من الفريق، لقد لعبوا موسمًا رائعًا، وهذه هي الخطوة الأخيرة لنهاية التتويج”.

وواصل: “عندما أرى الفريق، أرى خطة لعب موحدة وأداء قوي للغاية على جميع المستويات، هذه هي كرة القدم، وأي شيء يمكن أن يحدث، أعتقد أننا وصلنا إلى هنا بالزخم المناسب لتحقيق النتيجة التي كنا نبحث عنها”.

وعن تواجد ثنائي أرجنتيني في ذلك النهائي، حيث هناك مواجهة بين جوليان ألفاريز لاعب مانشستر سيتي، ولاوتارو مارتينيز لاعب إنتر ميلان، قال أجويرو: “إنه لفخر كبير أن يكون هناك لاعبان أرجنتينيان رئيسيان في نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا”.

واستمر: “لقد رأينا الموسم الرائع الذي شهده جوليان، مع ملاحظات إيجابية في كل اتجاه، لقد قلت دائمًا أنه ليس من السهل التكيف مع موسمك الأول في أوروبا عندما تكون من أمريكا الجنوبية”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. أجويرو: ميسي صُدم من مركز إنتر ميامي.. والصفقة فاجأت الجميع

وأكد: “ولكن مع ذلك كان جوليان قادرًا على الأداء بشكل ممتاز والبقاء في المستوى الذي يطلبه فريق مثل سيتي، لقد سجل أهدافا حاسمة، وتكيف مع أسلوب الفريق، ولم يظهر سوى الالتزام”.

واستطرد: “بالنسبة لـ لاوتارو، بعد كأس العالم، لعب دورًا مهمًا للغاية في إنتر وهو عضو أساسي في الفريق، سيكون من الرائع رؤيته يلعب مع جوليان في نفس الوقت، لكن لا يمكنني أن أكون محايدًا في هذه الحالة”.

وأوضح: “أتمنى أن يفوز سيتي وجوليان بهذه المباراة، هذا ما كنا ننتظره جميعًا، سيكون الأمر صعبًا، أعرف ذلك كثيرًا، الوصول إلى نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا ليس بالأمر السهل، وصل إنتر إلى هنا لسبب ما”.

واستدرك: “لديهم دفاع قوي باستمرار، ويقاتلون في خط الوسط، وهجومهم متعدد، مع الإمكانيات التي يوفرها لاوتارو وإدين دجيكو وروميلو لوكاكو، من المهم ترك المحاباة جانبًا عندما نصل إلى هذه المرحلة، لكن سيتي وصل بثقة كبيرة”.

واختتم: “الفتيان يعرفون ما يتعين عليهم القيام به في الملعب وهذا يرفع آمالي، لقد ناضل الفريق طويلًا وبشدة لتحقيق هذا اللقب لفترة طويلة، لهذا السبب لن أفوت هذه المباراة لأجل أي شيء في العالم”.

Thilan Samaraweera has indicated he would like to retire from international cricket in a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket, but the board is yet to accept his retirement.”He has sent a letter saying he would like to retire from all three segments of the game, but we have told him to have a talk with the selectors before we make a final call,” SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said. Samaraweera is expected to meet with the selectors on Wednesday.Samaraweera was one of 22 players who signed their national contracts on Monday after a 24-hour lock out over the weekend, but he was not named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, which begins on Friday.At 36, Samaraweera was the oldest member of Sri Lanka’s touring party to Australia, where he was woeful with the bat, making 79 runs in six Test innings. He reclaimed form in Sri Lanka’s first class competition, hitting 464 runs at an average of 92.80 in four matches.Samaraweera was originally left out of Sri Lanka’s preliminary Test squad for the Bangladesh series, but was later called up when Mahela Jayawardene’s finger injury ruled him out of the series. He could not find a place in the final 16, however.Samaraweera’s decision was likely brought on as much by a lack of Tests for Sri Lanka in 2013, as his non-selection. Apart from the two home Tests in March against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka have only one away tour to Zimbabwe – which it is understood Samaraweera was unlikely to attend – before a scheduled year-end tour to Pakistan. He has also signed for a full county season with Worcestershire for 2013.Though he had received a central contract from SLC, the selectors had expressed a desire to build a youthful Test side in 2013, and Samaraweera was unlikely to play a major role in what little Test cricket Sri Lanka had scheduled.

Ahmed Shehzad’s 77 off 45 balls went in vain as Central Punjab fell short in the end

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2021Sharjeel Khan hammered a sensational 54-ball century and the Sindh bowlers defended a daunting total of 196 empathically to knock Southern Punjab out with a 45-run victory. SP continue to sit at the bottom of the table while Sindh remain on top with 10 points, ensuring a top four finish.Opting to bowl, SP removed opener Ahsan Ali in the opening over before Shan Masood (22 off 15) and Sharjeel batted carefully for next two overs. The duo, however, didn’t take much time to find their feet, smacking 19 in Naseem Shah’s second over to propel the innings. Saud Shakeel (26 off 19) shared a 56-run stand with Sharjeel, who hit 13 fours and four sixes to complete his fourth T20 hundred.Sindh were looking for a 200-plus total when they went into the final over with a solid footing at 189 for 4 but they stumbled and added only seven runs losing three wickets.SP lost Zeeshan Ashraf early before Tayyab Tahir’s 32 off 23 did some repair work, but not for too long. Azam Khan – who lost his place in the World Cup squad – failed to make an impression and edged back to Sarfaraz Ahmed for 2 off four balls. Mohammad Imran (29 off 20) and Aamer Yamin (27 off 18) tried to pull the game back but regular wickets meant SP never came close to the required run rate and were wrapped up for 151 in 18.5 overs. They are effectively are out of the semi-final race now, losing seven games out of nine, and with only one match remaining.Haider Ali cracks one away to the off side•Pakistan Cricket Board

Northern stunned Central Punjab with a sensational chase of 195, sealing a five-wicket victory, which seemed an unlikely prospect for much of the innings, with three balls to spare.Central Punjab were put in to bat, and the small crowd was treated to a feast of good hitting by Ahmed Shehzad, who rolled back the years to get his side off to a flying start. Muhammad Akhlaq at the other end kept Shehzad stellar company, and inside 12 overs, the openers had taken CP to 124.However, once Aamer Jamal cleaned up Shehzad, the batters that followed struggled to keep up the scoring rate, and Northern gradually began to get a grip on the match. Jamal removed Faheem Ashraf and Shoaib Malik early too, and an innings that at one stage looked like comfortably clearing 200 ended at 194.A 92-run second-wicket partnership between Ali Imran and Haider Ali – freshly called up for the T20 World Cup – saw Northern keep the asking rate hovering around ten runs an over, but three wickets for 23 runs saw them fall behind in the game.It looked as if CP were slowly assuming control of the game, but a stunning onslaught from Rohail Nazir and Jamal kept the game alive. In the end, the pair added 50 in 25 balls, and once Wahab Riaz was taken for 20 in the penultimate over, a couple of boundaries at the expense of Faheem in the final over sealed the win for Northern.

Shahid Afridi is unlikely to play in the final Twenty20 due to his ongoing thumb injury but Saeed Ajmal is expected to be fit after hurting his left shoulder during Pakistan’s win on Friday. The captain Mohammad Hafeez said Pakistan would make some changes after securing the series with a 2-0 lead and he was keen to give some game time to some of the men who were not used in the first two matches.Pakistan took an unbeatable lead over Australia by prevailing in the Super Over in Dubai in the second match and next week the teams head to Sri Lanka ahead of the ICC World Twenty20. With such an important tournament approaching, Hafeez said there seemed little point risking Afridi in Monday’s dead rubber.”I don’t think so, because he’s still not feeling that good,” Hafeez told reporters in Dubai. “I don’t want to take any chance because I want him in the World Cup. He’s a match-winner for Pakistan, there’s no doubt. I don’t think he will be available. We’ll have to see. If he recovers well he’s always the first choice for me as a captain but at the moment I don’t think he will be available for the third game.”However, Hafeez said he anticipated that Ajmal, who on Friday drew level with Afridi as the all-time leading T20 international wicket taker, would be available for the final game. Ajmal collected 2 for 20 from his four overs but injured his shoulder in the process, which meant Pakistan could not use him to bowl the Super Over.”He was not feeling well. That was the reason we decided to go with Umar Gul [for the Super Over],” Hafeez said. “He was having a little bit of pain [in his left shoulder] and that was the reason the physio suggested not to go with him. I feel he will recover in one or two days because it is not a big injury. But he will recover from that for the next game.”With the World T20 so close, Pakistan are keen to give an opportunity to some of the men who have missed the first two games, but who may be required in Sri Lanka. Mohammad Sami, Asad Shafiq and Yasir Arafat are in the squad but have not yet played in the T20 series and Hafeez said while a decision had not been made on who would come in, Pakistan would make some changes.”We might try a couple of things because I believe everybody should get a chance,” he said. “Definitely we will give a chance to some of the players who have been sitting on the bench. I know they are good enough.”Hafeez has now lost only one of his four matches as Pakistan’s T20 captain and the signs are encouraging ahead of the World T20, with runs coming from the top order and wickets being shared among the bowlers. He said he was happy with the way the team was building towards the world tournament.”As a captain I’m very pleased the way the boys are responding under pressure,” Hafeez said. “Especially matches like that when you win you always get the right feeling back in the dressing room and everybody is very confident to do the job for Pakistan. Whenever I ask for someone to do the job everybody is there. As a captain I feel very proud of my team.”