President’s Cup: NBP, WAPDA to vie for place in final today

Both teams looking forward to giving their best.

KARACHI: NBP and Wapda will lock horns in the second semi-final of the President’s Cup one-day tournament to decide who will fight SNGPL for the coveted crown at the National Stadium.

Both teams have enjoyed a reasonable amount of success in their respective groups, winning three of their four matches to end up with six points. While NBP were able to top their group, Wapda were placed second in Group B.

The toss played a vital role in the first semi-final with SNGPL thrashing HBL by eight wickets. The match was forced to start early and the last-minute rescheduling spoilt what could have been the match of the tournament with 16 international players in the two teams.

However, the second semi-final will start at the original time and the development has pleased the players.

“Thankfully our match will not start at 8:30am otherwise the coin toss would have been the key factor,” a NBP player told The Express Tribune. “Toss is all about luck and in such a scenario the game is decided at the start. As for our preparations, we’ve got a good mix of young and senior players and things look good for us. But we won’t take things for granted against a strong Wapda side and hopefully it will be a good contest.”

Wapda’s strength has been their top-order with opener Rafatullah Mohammad  leading the run-scorers with a tally of 303. His opening partner Saad Naseem (160) has also been of immense value to the team. However, it is Sohaib Maqsood who has been the finisher for the side and has scored 302 runs so far. Pacers Nasir Malik and Junaid Khan have shared the burden by taking eight and six wickets respectively.

NBP will rely on Kamran Akmal, who has scored 223 runs, while the likes of Sami Aslam (160) and Fawad Alam (154) would also come in handy. However, Nasir Jamshed’s form has been a worry for NBP as he has only managed 26 runs in three outings.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2013.