Rain washes out National One Day Cup final

NBP, Islamabad share prize as no reserve day with PSL coming up

KARACHI: It was a frustrating day for players and spectators alike at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore as rain washed out the final of the National One Day Cup between NBP and Islamabad, forcing the two sides to share the trophy.

The lack of a reserve day for the all-important final raised a few eyebrows but Pakistan Cricket Board domestic cricket operations general manager Shafiq Ahmed felt adding one wouldn’t have made a difference. “Rains will continue all across Punjab for the next two or three days,” he said, but did admit that a reserve day had never been on the agenda. “The schedule of the tournament was made two months ago and we had no idea about the weather.”





Ahmed added that the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which kicks off on February 4, was also a reason for not including a reserve day. “The PSL is about to start and players cannot wait as they have to depart for the UAE,” he told. “This was the only option.”

After winning five group matches and defeating UBL in the semi-final, NBP captain Kamran Akmal felt they were denied the opportunity to claim the title.

“We had a strong chance of winning the final as we had experienced players and [left-hand batsman] Fawad Alam was back in the team too,” said Akmal, who also won the best batsman of the tournament award with 576 runs to his name.



The best bowler of the tournament award was given to KRL’s Sadaf Hussain for his 20 wickets, while Ziaul Haq finished second in the category for his 19 wickets.

However, the 21-year-old felt he could have claimed the award had he been given the chance to bowl in the final.

“I was unlucky; in fact the whole team was unlucky,” he said. “We could have won and I could have been awarded the best bowler. I wish we could have rescheduled the final.”



The trophy and winning prize money of Rs1.5 million were shared between the two teams. Akmal, Zia and Lahore White’s Raza Ali Dar — awarded the best all-rounder for his 11 wickets and 293 runs — were awarded Rs50,000 apiece.

This was the third time in the last four editions that the one day cup final was abandoned due to poor weather in Punjab, which makes the lack of a reserve day all the more perplexing.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2016.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.