brahmachari99

Mohammad Sami takes 5 wickets, leads his team to victory. This can only mean one thing: sooner or later selectors will try to push him into the Pakistan side. A sad day indeed.


Sami bowls Karachi Blues to victory

Saturday, 07 Nov, 2009
KARACHI: Pakistan discard Mohammad Sami grabbed his first five-wicket haul this season to lead Karachi Blues to a hard-fought victory over Multan in the RBS Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship’s Group ‘B’ match at the National Stadium here on Friday.

Sami, the 28-year-old fast bowler who played in the defunct rebel Indian Cricket League after representing Pakistan in 33 Tests and 83 One-day Internationals, captured 5-48 in 18.3 overs as Multan went down by 25 runs on the final day of the four-day fixture.

Resuming at 99-3 while chasing 316 for victory, Multan were on course to achieve their target when Naved Yasin and Ali Niazi shared a superb fifth-wicket partnership of 146 after Rameez Alam was out for 61 (119 balls, 12 fours).

But paceman Tanvir Ahmed, the leading championship’s wicket-taker, broke the threatening stand by removing Ali Niazi for 77 (110 balls, 11 boundaries).

Sami then bowled Naved, who made 113 in the first innings, for a defiant 84 (173 balls, 13 fours) as Multan lost their last six wickets for just 26 runs.The win puts Karachi Blues back on top of their group with 36 points.

Meanwhile, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) maintained their winning sequence in Group ‘A’ after defeating KRL by six wickets at the latter’s stadium.

Habib Bank, inspired by medium-pacer Sarmad Anwar’s career-best 6-70, beat ZTBL by 83 runs at the Marghzar Ground in Islamabad to draw level on points with SNGPL. Both teams have secured 33 points but the bankers have played an extra game to SNGPL’s four.

Islamabad’s medium-pacer Shahzad Azam also recorded his best figures as he claimed 7-36 (match figures of 11-157) to help his team end their winless run in an emphatic innings and 70-run demolition of Faisalabad at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital.

Our Sports Reporter adds from Lahore: PIA’s hopes of improving their position on the points table received a huge setback when Wapda whipped them by 141 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium.

PIA, chasing 279, crashed to 137 all out in the second innings after starting the last day at 17-0. Only Fahad Iqbal made a noteworthy contribution of 40 while the in-form Test opener Khurram Manzoor failed for the second time in the match when he was dismissed by lanky left-arm speedster Sarfraz Ahmed for five.

Sarfraz took 3-22 to finish with match bag of 8-62. The result also helped Wapda improve their position to fifth place from a poor seventh. PIA who were joint leaders before this round, now drop down to fourth place.

National Bank are only three points adrift of SNGPL and Habib Bank after completing a resounding innings and 68-run win over Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) with medium-pacer Uzair-ul-Haq taking his maiden 10-wicket match haul (11-105). Uzair, who took 5-40 in the first innings, snared career-best 6-65 as SSGC were all out for 191.

The high-scoring Group ‘B’ tie between Hyderabad and Lahore Ravi at the LCCA Ground ended in a draw with the visitors batting throughout the final day to reach 346-9 after starting at 61-4. The saviours for Hyderabad, who earned three points, were Lal Kumar (87) and Mir Ali Talpur (79) with their highest first-class scores.

DAWN.COM | Cricket | Sami bowls Karachi Blues to victory

coOoLBreeze

Oh damn.. signs look not good for our circket

Decent 6Chora

Iconoclast

faints

Lucid Chaotic

Dhobi bhai would be extremely happy today

HomiD

Well, if that happens it will be quite stupid of the selectors. Now, we have a good core of fast bowlers Asif, Aamir, Gul and backup fast bowlers who can be groomed, Yasir Arafat (more of an allrounder), Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Abdur Rauf, Sohail Tanvir...Oh, did I forget Rao intentionally :-). And then talent like Mohammad Aamir comes from nowhere at age 17 and takes over the international stage and makes his place permanent in the playing 11. So that can happen again in the future.

HomiD

More bad news...Mohammad Sami confident of national comeback

Mohammad Sami is confident of staging a comeback to the Pakistan team, following his ICL stint, through his performances for Karachi Blues in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

"I feel there is still cricket left in me and that is why I am playing on the domestic circuit for Karachi Blues - to win back my place in the team," Sami told APP. "Though I bowled really well in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, I managed just 13 wickets. I am really working hard to excel and get the attention of selectors."

The 28-year-old fast bowler joined the unofficial league after 33 Test and 83 ODIs for Pakistan. He has taken 81 Tests wickets at an expensive 51.37, including eight on his debut against New Zealand. He also has 118 ODI wickets at 26.49.

"I will shortly be presenting my NOC to PCB," Sami said. "But I am waiting for my third installment of payments from ICL. Representing Pakistan had always been a great honor for me. I am fully focused on producing my best in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy."

Sami praised his new-ball partner Tanvir Ahmed for his outstanding performance in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy so far. Tanvir leads the bowling charts with 39 wickets from four matches at 13.97, and has been key to Karachi's domination at the top of Group B. "Due to his [Tanvir's] excellent bowling we recorded three victories," Sami said.

Mohammad Sami confident of national comeback | Pakistan Cricket News | Cricinfo.com

ravage

Yar I dont think Sami is that bad.... maybe it has been a while since I saw him in action... but Im forgetting why he doesnt deserve a recall esp now that Shoaib is retired (officially or unofficially)