da realsbet： Pakistan Whites pair of Imran Nazir and Shoaib Malik won the fourthInternational Double Wicket Cricket Championship, stunning thefavourites Pakistan Blues duo of Wasim Akram and Yasir Arafat in thefinal by two runs at Gaddafi Stadium Wednesday
27-Apr-2001Pakistan Whites pair of Imran Nazir and Shoaib Malik won the fourthInternational Double Wicket Cricket Championship, stunning thefavourites Pakistan Blues duo of Wasim Akram and Yasir Arafat in thefinal by two runs at Gaddafi Stadium Wednesday night.Earlier, both the semi-finals were played. In a most thrilling game,Pakistan Whites beating the strong Pakistan Greens pair of AbdurRazzaq and Azhar Mahmood on the spin of coin. Both teams scored 80runs each.Chasing a target of 81, Pakistan Whites were cruising comfortably at78 without any loss with just three balls left. However, the matchtook a turn when Shoaib was caught off the fourth ball, which reducedthe total to 68. On the next two deliveries Shoaib Malik struck twosixes to level the scores.Shoaib scored 53 off 24 balls. Imran Nazir made 39 off 26balls.Earlier, Azhar Mahmood blasted 73 off 33 balls while Abdur Razzaqscored 20.Wasim Akram and Yasir Arafat defeated New Zealand pair of CraigMcMillan and Chris Harris by four runs in the other semi-final.Batting first, New Zealand made a net score of 36. McMillan scored 35off 26 balls while Chris Harris hit 28 without being dismissed.Wasim Akram conceded only 15 runs in four overs to claim two wickets.Chasing 37 for victory, Pakistan Blues made a bad start when Akram wasdismissed twice which reduced the total to -2. Akram and Yasir Arafateventually reached their target, scoring 40 for two dismissals. Akramscored 40 off 31 balls.In the final, the Pakistan Blues piled up 87 without any loss in theirallotted eight overs. Akram scored an unbeaten 44 off 27 balls whileYasir hit 42 off 21 overs.Imran Nazir and Shoaib Malik, who lost the group match to the samepair, rose to the occasion by striking 89 without any dismissal.Imran Nazir hammered 45 off 26 balls while Shoaib Malik contributed 37off 22 balls.The Pakistan Whites won a prize of US$6,000 while the runners-up,Pakistan Blues, received $4,000.