Making a statement: Wahab relieved after regaining lost form

Left-armer grabs three wickets in Lions’ 34-run win over Panthers.


Nabeel Hashmi March 28, 2012

KARACHI: Wahab Riaz’s flashes of brilliance in Lahore Lions’ win over Peshawar Panthers have given the fast-bowler some hope over his international future following a shock against India in the Asia Cup.

Riaz spear-headed his team to a 34-run win with figures of 4-2-9-3 and admitted handling pressure ably was key to success in the shortest format.

“Twenty20 cricket is all about handling pressure,” Riaz told The Express Tribune. “It will give you a chance to boost your confidence and you need to make sure you cash in on those opportunities. I was under pressure to perform and thankfully I did that, taking my side to the win while also making my presence felt.”

The presence of flat pitches has tilted the balance in favour of the batsmen when it comes to Twenty20 cricket but the Super-Eight T20 Cup is being played on pitches that have evened up the contest between bat and ball.

“The competition has been good as it has tested the batsmen more than normal with the ball moving around and it’s not been easy to hit the ball hard.”

Tournament to help players, says Riaz

Riaz added that the experience of playing under pressure in low-scoring ties will help players in the future if they were to come across such conditions against foreign teams. The fast-bowler also called for longer domestic Twenty20 events because the format provided players with a chance to make a name for themselves and also give the fans what they wanted to watch.

“Over the years, we’ve had teams playing each other just once in the group stages. It should be increased. The players want to play more and more Twenty20 matches as they are televised and one or two failures could harm their reputation.

“But if they have more matches to play, they will be able to redeem themselves in future fixtures.”

Malik lays into the Dolphins

Shoaib Malik grabbed a five-wicket haul and Imran Nazir smashed a hurricane half-century to help Sialkot Stallions thrash Karachi Dolphins by nine wickets in their Faysal Bank Super-Eight T20 Cup Group B match in Rawalpindi.

Batting first, Dolphins could only manage 123 for nine off their quota. Shahzaib Hasan top-scored with a run-a-ball 30 with five boundaries as Malik, who had earlier vowed to make a comeback as an all-rounder, pressed for a national return once again.

In reply, Nazir belted his opponents mercilessly on his way to 76 off just 47 balls, thumping five sixes and as many fours as the Stallions reached the target in 16.1 overs.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2012.

COMMENTS (8)

Bakhtiar Wain | 11 years ago | Reply

Does somebody know Wahab Riaz's first class record during the last 2 years? He did not probably take 3 wickets in an innings................. his selection in the team is as big a mystery as his coming back in form........................ he is just a thief who very happily accepts a jacket with graft money.....................

Adeel Syed | 11 years ago | Reply

Either make him a regular in the team or leave him out altogether. We have all seen what constant in-out does to a bowler when he went for 50 in 4 overs against the enemy.

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