India to take on World in ICL final

HYDERABAD: World XI beat Pakistani XI by six wickets to set up the summit clash with ICL India in the T20 tri-series at the Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.

Ian Harvey, who dominated with the bat with an unbeaten 52, steered the Rest of the World side to the total of 113 runs with immaculate ease. Luck can be flirtatious as it showed in the tournament after Pakistan were in shambles after their inexorable march in the Edelweiss 20s challenge.

Losing the final to Hyderabad Heroes in the T20 tournament not only seemed to dent the team’s hopes, but brought about a drastic change in their body language and performance.

Having being drubbed in two games on the trot by a novice Indian side, the Inzamam-ul-Haq-led team was in deep distress again on Monday as they fumbled to score against the World XI.

Pakistan could hardly muster 113 runs and looked without a plan in their must-win game. Other than winning the toss, skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq failed to manage any upper hand as his team plunged to one of its most abominable performances.

While Rest of the World skipper Chris Cairns looked focused and in complete control of the situation, the Pakistan camp looked lost and petrified. The opening pair was a complete mismatch in absence of the in-form Imran Nazir, who sustained a groin injury on Sunday.

Though Abdul Razzaq looked to consolidate the Pakistan innings sacrificing his usual belligerence, the openers struggled to play their natural game. Daryl Tuffey and Van der Wath wrecked the initial havoc by bowling to a tight length and Razzaq departed in the third over mistiming a shot off Tuffey.

Inzamam walked in early to change the fortunes for his side but alas, the skipper too perished to Van der Wath in the fourth over. It seemed like some curse had befallen the side as the batsmen kept playing shots that defied logic and lacked pragmatism.

Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Naved Latif, went back to the pavilion within a space of three overs and from 17 for 1 in three overs the score plunged to 62 for 6 at the end of 10.

Scorecard
ICL Pakistan
A Razzaq c Chandana b Tuffey 11; T Umar st Vincent b Chandana 19; Inzamam-ul-Haq c Chandana b van der Wath 1; I Farhat c Martyn b Elliott 20; N Latif c van der Wath b Hall 1; H Raza lbw b Chandana 4; H Farhat c van der Wath b Elliott 10; Naved-ul-Hasan c Martyn b Elliott 18; R Afridi b Hall 1; A Khan b Hall 8; S Ahmed not out 2; Extras: (b 4, lb 2, w 9, nb 3) 18; Total 113 all out in 19.4 overs Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-19, 3-52, 4-53, 5-62, 6-62, 7-84, 8-100, 9-105, 10-113; Bowling: JJ van der Wath 4-0-18-1, DR Tuffey 4-0-24-1, AJ Hall 3.4-0-22-3, UDU Chandana 4-0-26-2, MTG Elliott 4-0-17-3
ICL World XI
M Elliott c H Farhat b R Afridi 26, I Harvey not out 52, L Vincent b R Afridi 0, D Martyn c I Farhat b R Afridi 21, U Chandana b R Afridi 0, M Atapattu not out 12. Extras (w 3, nb 3) 6. Total (4 wkts; 17.2 overs) 117; FoW: 1-49, 2-49, 3-96, 4-96; Bowling: S Ahmed 2-0-23-0, Naved 4-0-30-0, A Razzaq 3-0-21-0, Arshad 2-0-13-0, R Afridi 4-1-16-4, I Farhat 2-0-10-0, Taufeeq 0.2-0-4-0.