Pakistani batsmen Khalid Latif (2nd R) and Bilawal Bhatti (2nd L) celebrate their victory against Sri Lanka in the bronze medal cricket match at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou. -AFP Photo

GUANGZHOU: Skipper Khalid Latif smashed an unbeaten 53 off 42 balls as Pakistan won the cricket bronze medal at the Asian Games with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Friday.

Latif, whose five one-day internationals made him the only capped player in his young team, hit four sixes and two fours to lift Pakistan past Sri Lanka’s 135 all out with two overs to spare.

Three of those sixes came in one over from leg-spinner Malinga Bandara, boosting the total after Pakistan had lost four wickets for 85 runs.

Bilawal Bhatti returned unbeaten on a quickfire 24 off 14 balls that included the winning hit for a six off Nuwan Zoysa.

Pakistan made amends for the 22-run defeat in Thursday’s semi-final against Afghanistan, who take on Bangladesh in the final later on Friday.

Sri Lanka’s total revolved around an opening stand of 53 in eight overs between Zoysa and Jeevantha Kulatunga.

Kulatunga top-scored with 31, while Zoysa, who played 30 Tests and 95 one-dayers primarily as a left-arm seamer, hit two fours and a six in a run-a-ball 24.

Dilshan Munaweera’s 28 carried Sri Lanka to 100-3 by the 15th over, before the last seven wickets crashed for 35 runs, four batsmen being run out.

Left-arm spinner Raza Hassan was Pakistan’s best bowler with 2-19 from his four overs. – AFP

Afghanistan restricted Pakistan to 103-7 from its 20 overs after posting a decent 125-8 on Thursday. — Photo by AFP

GUANGZHOU: Afghanistan shrugged off their sensational Asian Games cricket triumph over Pakistan, insisting only a gold medal will now be good enough for their long-suffering, war-ravaged country. 

Afghanistan clinched a 22-run semi-final win over their neighbours to set up a Friday gold medal showdown with either Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.

“It’s a big win for Afghanistan. Every person at home is watching the match and everybody is happy about this win, so now we must win gold,” said captain Mohammad Nabi.

“Pakistan got off to a great start with their batting but we knew it was not all over and we kept our confidence.”

Vice-captain Karim Sadeq insisted that the whole the country was behind the battling team.

“On TV last night in Afghanistan, they told people to pray that we would win. Tonight they will be celebrating all over the country. It’s a dream for us,” he said.

In the first meeting between the two sides, Afghanistan scored 125-8 in their 20 overs before limiting Pakistan’s flamboyant batsmen to just 103-7.

Afghanistan’s score did not look enough as Pakistan made a lightning reply, racing to 30 off just three overs, but tight bowling and disciplined fielding prompted a middle-order collapse.

Pakistan fast bowler Aisaz Cheema said his teammates were devastated by the loss and hoped their demanding supporters at home would forgive them.

“We are very depressed. We cried at first because we expected to win,” he said.

“Everyone was watching at home. They will not be pleased, but they’ll forgive us in time.”

Pakistan manager Sadique Mohammad insisted the match was there to be won.

“It was very easy, we should have won. But our batsmen were not good, especially in the middle order. They thought they could get the target,” he said.

“But they played too slow and all the catches were taken. Had we got more sixes, we could have won.

“Our plan was to win the toss, put them in and get them out for 100. There was a lot of grass on the pitch and the ball would move around.”

Despite the defeat, Sadique believes Pakistan will be gold medal prospects in Incheon in South Korea when the next Asian Games roll around in 2014.

“This was not the best team from Pakistan. Hopefully we can play in the next Asian Games and send better players.”

Pakistan were unable to send a first-choice squad to Guangzhou with their Test and one-day team facing South Africa in the United Arab Emirates.

China never recovered from their precarious position of 11-4 when they started their reply while five of their batsmen were bowled as they failed to cope with Pakistan pace and direction. —AFP Photo

GUANGZHOU: Pakistan captain Khalid Latif smashed the first century of the Asian Games cricket tournament on Monday as the favourites crushed China by 128 runs to reach the semi-finals.

The 24-year-old opener hit an unbeaten 103 in 69 balls which featured eight fours and five sixes as Pakistan made 183-1 off their 20 overs with Sharieel Khan making 46.

Azeem Ghumman, who led Pakistan to the under-19 World Cup title, remained unbeaten on 23.

It was China’s second successive defeat in the tournament, having lost to Malaysia by 89 runs, and ended their brief, first flirtation with international cricket.

China never recovered from their precarious position of 11-4 when they started their reply while five of their batsmen were bowled as they failed to cope with Pakistan pace and direction.

Only Li Jian reached double figures, making 14 with three confident fours.

Raza Hassan took 3-10 while Aizaz Cheema finished with figures of 3-15 for Pakistan.

The Pakistan captain got a lucky escape on 27 when Wang Jing dropped a simple chance at long on while Latif also got a reprieve on 89 when Sun Duo could not hold onto a chance at the same position.

“The ball was not coming on to the bat early in the innings and perhaps that was the reason we could not cross the 200-run mark,” Latif said.

Latif completed his century in the last over when he drove to midwicket for two runs. His maiden century in T20 cricket included eight fours and five sixes – one of which landed outside Guanggong Cricket Stadium.

Latif said he hoped success at the Games would help resurrect his international career with the 2011 World Cup starting in South Asia in February.

“I wasn’t expecting this. I played well in domestic matches and now here with the national team,” said the skipper, who has played in five one-day and five Twenty20 matches.

“I did well because the Chinese bowling was not good. I definitely hope that my performance here will help me get back into the national team.”

China captain Wang Lei described Pakistan as a “champion” team.

“Pakistan is a champion team and we got a chance to learn how to bowl, bat and field from them.”

“We did our best, but we really need time. That will enable us to get better in cricket. Hopefully, we will have more opportunities to play against top teams,” said Wang.

Pakistan will likely to be joined in the semi-finals by Bangladesh and Afghanistan with Malaysia, Hong Kong, Maldives and Nepal all hoping to grab the final last-four place.

Cricket – which made its debut at the Guangzhou games – is one of the rare sports in which China could not win a medal in Guangzhou.

Last week, Pakistan’s women’s team won the first ever cricket gold medal awarded in the Asian Games, defeating Bangladesh in the final. Japan took bronze with a win over China. —Agencies

Nida Rashid's brilliant match-winning performance included four wickets and 51 runs. —AP Photo

GUANGZHOU: Pakistan created history Friday in crushing Bangladesh by 10 wickets to win the first-ever Asian Games women’s cricket tournament.

The victory handed Pakistan their first gold of the Guangzhou Games and prevented Bangladesh from claiming their country’s first ever at an Asiad.

The win comes as welcome relief at a time of major problems for the men’s game in Pakistan, which has been embroiled in spot-fixing and disciplinary issues for much of the past year.

Bangladesh’s total of 92 all out never looked enough as Pakistan openers Nida Rashid and Javeria Wadood made a positive start to their run chase, playing a full range of shots and looking to score at every opportunity.

Bangladesh couldn’t force a breakthrough as Nida raced to a half-century off just 41 balls.

The Pakistan pair reached their target with more than four overs to spare.

Nida’s 51 not out included seven fours while there were three boundaries in Javeria’s unbeaten 39 off 51 balls.

A jubilant Pakistan team raced around the outfield after their emphatic win.

“We are excited and happy. Pakistan must be proud of us,” said skipper Sana Mir.

Javeria said the win would help the women’s game grow in Pakistan.

“It is the first gold medal for Pakistan in this Asian Games. I am very proud of that,” she said.

A disappointed Shohaly Akther of Bangladesh said: “Our performance was not good. Pakistan’s batting was really good. I am not proud of getting a silver medal.”

But coach Dipu Rai Choudhury said he was pleased with his team’s performance.

“If we had won today, we would have been heroes here. But we are still heroes.”

Bangladesh scored freely in the early part of their innings, but Pakistan’s bowlers tied them down, forcing them to take risks, which led to wickets tumbling.

Captain Salma Khatun top-scored with 24, with Nida taking 4-16 and skipper Sana 2-23.

Earlier, China’s hopes of claiming the bronze medal were shattered by Japan in a seven-wicket defeat.

China were restricted to 65-6 off their 20 overs before Japan reached their target with four balls to spare.

Japan captain Ema Kuribayashi, who plays club cricket in New Zealand, top-scored for her side with a steady, unbeaten 24.

“We fought with calmness and concentration. We just tried to avoid getting out. We were focusing on doing our jobs,” said Kuribayashi.

She said the win would be a major boost to the sport in Japan.

Pakistan chased down the target of 62 runs in 10.4 overs, with the loss of one wicket. —AFP Photo

In the second semi-final match, Pakistan chased down 62 runs in 10.4 overs for the loss of opener Javeria Wadood (29) after Japan managed 61-8 off its allotted 20 overs. Nida Rashid remained unbeaten on 27 off 29 balls.

Ema Kuribayashi, who scored a half century against Nepal on Wednesday, again top scored for Japan with 24 before she holed out off the bowling of spinner Rashid.

Spinner Sana Gulzar (2-8) was the main wicket-taker for Pakistan.

Earlier, Bangladesh opener Fargana Pinky scored better than a run-a-ball unbeaten 20 after spinners Salma Khatun (3-4), Suktaraa Na (2-0) and Shohaly Akhter (2-5) ran through the China batting.

Medium fast bowler Jahanara Alam (2-6) gave Bangladesh a perfect start when she bowled star batter Sun Huan (1) as Japan lost wickets with regular intervals.

“We are just babies (of cricket) if you compare us with them,” Sun told reporters of the vast difference in experience between the teams. “It’s good enough for us to make it to the top four.”

Pakistan and Bangladesh meet Friday in the final, while China plays Japan for bronze medal. —AFP

“We never get this kind of media attention at home. I am just so glad the sport made it to the Asian Games,” said Pakistan skipper Sana Mir. —AFP Photo

“We never get this kind of media attention at home. I am just so glad the sport made it to the Asian Games,” said Pakistan skipper Sana Mir.

“There is always TV coverage when the men’s team plays in Pakistan because it is huge, but you never see us playing on the big screen.”

Although there are around 600 women players in Pakistan under the age of 19 and around 1,200 seniors, earnings are meagre.

“It’s the love of the sport which keep us going,” Pakistan team manager Ayesha Ashhar told China Daily newspaper.

“We would like to be treated and rewarded just like the men’s team.”

Mir admits that in a rigidly conservative country like Pakistan, many women face restrictions on when and where they can play, but 26-year-old Mir is relieved that she faced no such problems.

“I have to thank my parents and brother for their support, otherwise I could not have made it this far,” said the captain.

Ashhar also had words of encouragement for the China team, predicting they could become a force in the region within three years.

“Cricket needs many years to become established. For China, the challenge is to attract enough talented players and coaches. But I believe that when China chooses to develop a sport it succeeds,” said Ashhar.

China manager Liu Rongyao also has high hopes for the national team.

“All we need is time,” said Liu. “In 10 years’ time, China will be among the top three women’s teams in Asia.”

Syeda Nain Fatima Abida of Pakistan (C-L) and compatriot Nida Rashid (C-R) react after their team defeated China during the women's group pool A, match 5 cricket at the Guanggong cricket stadium during the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on November 15, 2010. -Photo by AFP

GUANGZHOU: Pakistan reached the Asian Games women’s cricket semi-finals on Monday with a nine-wicket rout of China which left the hosts needing to win their last group game to stay alive.

China, who had opened their campaign with a 55-run win over Malaysia, were restricted to just 60-4 when they batted first on Monday with Pakistan cruising to victory in the 13th over.

Huang Zhou and Zhang Mei, with 14 runs each, were China’s top scorers against a tight, well-disciplined Pakistan attack.

Javeria Wadood (27 not out) and Nida Rashid (27) put on 60 for the first wicket for Pakistan with Wadood hitting her fourth boundary to bring up victory.

Despite the defeat, Huang revelled in striking a six, a rare achievement in the women’s game.

“This was the first six of the Asian Games, but one of our batters did it in India before this tournament,” said the opener.

Pakistan bowler Asmavia Khokhar praised her team’s fielding which put a brake on the Chinese hopes of setting a big total to chase.

“We protected the boundaries well so they couldn’t get too many fours,” she said. “They had to settle for just ones and twos.”

Pakistan now have two wins in two matches in Group A following their eight-wicket victory over Thailand.

Later Monday, Japan tackle Bangladesh in Group B in a match-up of two sides who won their opening games. -AFP