Regional T20 hit by fixing row

Former players demand inquiry against Sialkot Stallions .

KARACHI:

Allegations of match-fixing have once again surfaced in Pakistan cricket as former cricketers accused former champions Sialkot Stallions of ‘suspicious play’ in the on-going Faysal Bank T20 Cup for Regions.

Former Test player and TV commentator Basit Ali raised doubts on the Group A match between Stallions and Karachi Dolphins played on Tuesday.

He accused the former champions of a negative and deliberate slow approach as they caved in for a paltry 91 in 19.4 overs.

Dolphins won the match by six wickets while Stallions were not affected by the result as they had already qualified for the quarter-finals at that stage. There were a total of 120 dot balls played in the entire match.



“Stallions definitely played in a suspicious manner against Dolphins,” Ali told The Express Tribune.

“I called their coach Ijaz Ahmed Jr and asked about his team’s approach, a top class cricketer can figure out if something is going wrong. “

Ali added that PCB must form a committee involving former captain Rashid Latif and Sarfraz Nawaz to probe the match.

Stallions played their quarter-final under protest by wearing black armbands and requested PCB not to include Ali in the commentary panel provided by the state broadcaster.

After the match, skipper Shoaib Malik who top-scored for his team with 21 runs off 31 balls in the match against the Dolphins told the media: “We deny these baseless allegations against the Stallions and I won’t go into details as that will only hurt Pakistan cricket.”

Responding to media reports, PCB said that each domestic match is monitored by the anti-corruption unit of the board under the PCB domestic anti-corruption protocols. Thus the board will not comment further on the issue, it added.

Latif also calls for inquiry

Latif stressed that the board must not take these allegations lightly because a player of Ali’s stature has raised the issue.

“I feel the board has failed to handle the issue properly, since Ali’s statement indicates that something is definitely wrong. There must be proper inquiry and the matter shouldn’t be swept under the carpet,” Latif insisted.

Leopards outrun wobbling Stallions

Islamabad Leopards shocked the Stallions in their quarter-final clash with a seven-wicket win at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Asked to bat first, the Stallions scored just 116 for six. Malik top-scored with 49 off 52 hitting five boundaries while Umar Gul and Zohaib Ahmed got two wickets apiece.

In reply, Leopards made 117 for three with an over to spare as Afaq Raheem (30) and Babar Azam (29) played crucial knocks.

Hafiz Saad Naseem played an inspirational knock of 61 that included three sixes and as many fours to propel Lahore Lions to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Lions edged out Multan Tigers by 11 runs in the second quarter-final of the day.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2014.

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