LAHORE: Pakistan Tuesday took a giant step toward reviving international cricket at home with a 20-run victory over the World XI in a match before excited crowds amid tight security.
The Twenty20 match, accorded international status by the International Cricket Council, is the first game of only the second series Pakistan has hosted since militants attacked the bus of the visiting Sri Lankan team in March 2009, killing eight people and injuring seven players and staff.
Long before it began at 7 p.m. (1400GMT), around 9,000 police officers and paramilitary forces were deployed to the area, cordoning off the team’s hotels and stadium.
But the large security presence did little to temper the enthusiasm of fans in the cricket-mad country.
“I came here early to watch the teams come but that was not possible due to security so I only watched them in the ground and it made my day,” said spectator Azfar Ali.
Pakistan, sent into bat by World XI skipper Faf du Plessis, notched 197-5 with Babar Azam hitting a rapid 52-ball 86. His career best Twenty20 score had ten boundaries and two sixes.
Azam added 122 for the second wicket with Ahmed Shehzad (39) as Pakistan built on the loss of opener Fakhar Zaman for eight.
Shoaib Malik smashed a 20-ball 38 with two sixes and four boundaries to give the final touches to the innings.
The World XI started off well with Tamim Iqbal hitting 18 with three boundaries and Hashim Amla smashing three boundaries and a six in his 17-ball 26 but left-arm pacer Rumman Raees dismissed both in the same over to put the brakes on their innings.
Skipper Faf du Plessis hit four boundaries and a six while Darren Sammy smashed three sixes — both scoring 29 — but were unable to see their team through.
For Pakistan, paceman Sohail Khan and leg-spinner Shadab Khan finished with two wickets apiece.
World XI skipper du Plessis blamed his dismissal for the team’s loss.
“I needed to get a 50 or 60 for us to win,” he said, adding that it was “great to play in front of the Pakistani fans.”
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed thanked the crowd.
“It was a historic occasion and I thank the crowd for coming in good numbers,” said Ahmed.
“It was a very important match and I think no praise is too high for our players, especially Azam.”
The second game is on Wednesday and the third on Friday — both in Lahore.
Du Plessis said it would be a “quick turnaround, I don’t think I’ve ever played two T20s in two days.”
Pakistan hopes the series will showcase an improved security situation as it seeks to entice other foreign opponents. Sri Lanka are due to play a Twenty20 in October, and will be followed by the West Indies who are due to play a mini-series of three Twenty20s in November.
Tuesday marked the first time that five of the Pakistan players — Ashraf, Zaman, Shadab, Raees and Hasan Ali — played an international match on home soil.
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Pakistan celebrates international cricket revival with win
Pakistan celebrates international cricket revival with win
Medvedev swats Auger-Aliassime aside to reach Dubai final
DUBAI: Daniil Medvedev is one victory away from repeating a title run for the first time in his career after he punched his ticket to the Dubai final with a 6-4, 6-2 success over top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday.
Medvedev, a former world number one, boasts 22 career titles but has bizarrely never won the same tournament twice.
The ex-US Open champion has a chance to change that when he takes on Dutch world number 25 Tallon Griekspoor in the final on Saturday in Dubai, where he lifted the trophy in 2023.
“If you give me some fast courts like they were before, maybe I can do something like this, but there aren’t many courts like this on the tour anymore,” said Medvedev, who is through to the 42nd final of his career.
“If I manage to put (on an) even better performance tomorrow, I have a chance to win,” he added.
Griekspoor shocked Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6 (8/6) in a match that included controversy.
After saving three break points to hold for 6-5 in the opening set, Griekspoor took an off-court medical timeout for what appeared to be a groin/hamstring injury.
Griekspoor returned several minutes later, broke Rublev’s serve and took the opening set.
The 29-year-old Dutchman was putting on a brilliant serving performance despite his mobility issues and he kept it up in the second set.
The contest turned into an ace-fest and the set fittingly went to a tiebreak.
Rublev squandered a 3-0 lead in the breaker and two set points from 6-4 up as Griekspoor once again found his best tennis.
“I have no idea how I pulled off this one,” said Griekspoor, who produced 19 aces to Rublev’s 20.
“I could barely walk from the end of the first set. I guess unlucky and lucky at the same time.
“And then I got very lucky in the tiebreak to win it in two sets. Because if this was going three, it was going to be an extremely hard story for me,” he added.
Griekspoor’s third consecutive top-20 win of the week earned him a spot in a sixth tour-level final — his second at the 500 level.
It is unclear how fit he will be for his final against Medvedev on Saturday though.
“I landed with a serve and I felt something in my hamstring,” Griekspoor said of his injury.
“I’m just going to try to recover as well as possible, do everything I can and hopefully be ready for tomorrow,” he added.
Rublev was understandably disappointed.
“Tallon, I guess he was not feeling well, but out of it he did as best as he could. He started to go for the shots and all of them went through,” he said.
“I don’t know if he will be able to play tomorrow, but today was his day.”
Earlier on center court, Medvedev played a perfect match to improve his record against Auger-Aliassime to 8-2.
In a high-quality semifinal, the players were neck and neck through the first nine games before a perfectly-struck lob from Medvedev drew the error that gave the third seed a set point on the Canadian’s serve.
Medvedev converted it on the back of a 24-shot rally to secure a one-set lead in 44 minutes.
The 30-year-old kept pressuring the Auger-Aliassime serve and broke in game four on his way to a 4-1 advantage in the second set and he never looked back, wrapping up the win in one hour and 23 minutes.
Medvedev, a former world number one, boasts 22 career titles but has bizarrely never won the same tournament twice.
The ex-US Open champion has a chance to change that when he takes on Dutch world number 25 Tallon Griekspoor in the final on Saturday in Dubai, where he lifted the trophy in 2023.
“If you give me some fast courts like they were before, maybe I can do something like this, but there aren’t many courts like this on the tour anymore,” said Medvedev, who is through to the 42nd final of his career.
“If I manage to put (on an) even better performance tomorrow, I have a chance to win,” he added.
Griekspoor shocked Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6 (8/6) in a match that included controversy.
After saving three break points to hold for 6-5 in the opening set, Griekspoor took an off-court medical timeout for what appeared to be a groin/hamstring injury.
Griekspoor returned several minutes later, broke Rublev’s serve and took the opening set.
The 29-year-old Dutchman was putting on a brilliant serving performance despite his mobility issues and he kept it up in the second set.
The contest turned into an ace-fest and the set fittingly went to a tiebreak.
Rublev squandered a 3-0 lead in the breaker and two set points from 6-4 up as Griekspoor once again found his best tennis.
“I have no idea how I pulled off this one,” said Griekspoor, who produced 19 aces to Rublev’s 20.
“I could barely walk from the end of the first set. I guess unlucky and lucky at the same time.
“And then I got very lucky in the tiebreak to win it in two sets. Because if this was going three, it was going to be an extremely hard story for me,” he added.
Griekspoor’s third consecutive top-20 win of the week earned him a spot in a sixth tour-level final — his second at the 500 level.
It is unclear how fit he will be for his final against Medvedev on Saturday though.
“I landed with a serve and I felt something in my hamstring,” Griekspoor said of his injury.
“I’m just going to try to recover as well as possible, do everything I can and hopefully be ready for tomorrow,” he added.
Rublev was understandably disappointed.
“Tallon, I guess he was not feeling well, but out of it he did as best as he could. He started to go for the shots and all of them went through,” he said.
“I don’t know if he will be able to play tomorrow, but today was his day.”
Earlier on center court, Medvedev played a perfect match to improve his record against Auger-Aliassime to 8-2.
In a high-quality semifinal, the players were neck and neck through the first nine games before a perfectly-struck lob from Medvedev drew the error that gave the third seed a set point on the Canadian’s serve.
Medvedev converted it on the back of a 24-shot rally to secure a one-set lead in 44 minutes.
The 30-year-old kept pressuring the Auger-Aliassime serve and broke in game four on his way to a 4-1 advantage in the second set and he never looked back, wrapping up the win in one hour and 23 minutes.
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