India face old rival Pakistan in final today
Saturday, 14 June 2008
High-flying India meet Pakistan in the final of the Kitply Cup today (Saturday) at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in the city with both teams hoping to clinch the title, reports UNB.
The day/night match will begin at 3:00 pm with state-run BTV and Neo TV telecasting the match live from the SBNS.
This will be the 115th One Day International (ODI) encounter between the two sub-continental power houses, with Pakistan still having a better record of 66 wins, while India recently improved their tally to 44 wins. The other four matches ended without result.
The Indian side marched to the final with unbeaten run as they outclassed Pakistan by 140 runs in their first match and followed it up with an emphatic 7-wicket victory over the hosts in their second encounter.
On the other hand, a 70-run victory in the inaugural match over the Tigers was good enough for Pakistan to ensure the final berth although they conceded a humiliating defeat in their second match against India.
Ahead of the Saturday's final, both the teams had their last moments of practice sessions at the match venue. All the members of the Pakistan squad were present during the practice session.
On the other hand, only seven Indian players -- M Dhony, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina -- were at the nets, practising bowling and fielding at the SBNS.
The Pakistan side did their full stretch practice in the morning under the supervision of coach Geoff Lawson. They first had fielding practice at the main ground and later moved into the indoor facility to have some net practice.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Geoff Lawson said, "It won't matter for us who play against us tomorrow. In every game, we play and set out to win."
Asked whether he considered the final match as a do or die affair, the Aussie coach of Pakistan said, "It's a final, not a do or die match. Any team can lose a match and if we lose, we will head towards home and prepare ourselves for the next tournament (Asia Cup)."
Asked to comment on the previous match where they conceded a humiliating defeat to India, he said the result was uncharacteristic of how they were playing in the recent times. "When a team plays a poor game, as a team member you always get hurt. But after that we worked very hard Thursday."
Lawson, however, claimed that Kamran Akmal's disputed catch in the last match against India was accurate and Virender Sehwag should have been declared out. "I thought the catch was there," he told a journalist.
He didn't make it known if there will be any change in their squad for the final match.
About the pitch, he said, "This has been a really good one-day pitch. Terrific pitch and we have been fortunate that we have some pretty good fast bowlers and spinners."
Asked to comment on Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf's reaction after their 140-run defeat, Lawson said, "There wasn't a strong reaction from the PCB. I know PCB chairman and he is entitled to the opinion."
Indian coach Garry Kirsten, on the eve of another India-Pakistan match said, "It's always a great clash. There will be a different Pakistan team out there. They will be really motivated. We expect them to play their best."
About the opening combination of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, he said, "We know it's a good opening pair, but not expecting things to happen always. If they fail, we've enough quality players in the middle order to back up well."
About any change in the final 12-member squad, the former South African opener informed that they haven't decided yet saying, "Our team is playing well at the moment. Every one is feeling good and we are looking forward to doing what we need to do."
About the pitch, Kirsten also echoed the Pakistan coach and termed it as good for batting.
Replying to another query, he said, "Certainly the guy's are really motivated to play good cricket for their country
The day/night match will begin at 3:00 pm with state-run BTV and Neo TV telecasting the match live from the SBNS.
This will be the 115th One Day International (ODI) encounter between the two sub-continental power houses, with Pakistan still having a better record of 66 wins, while India recently improved their tally to 44 wins. The other four matches ended without result.
The Indian side marched to the final with unbeaten run as they outclassed Pakistan by 140 runs in their first match and followed it up with an emphatic 7-wicket victory over the hosts in their second encounter.
On the other hand, a 70-run victory in the inaugural match over the Tigers was good enough for Pakistan to ensure the final berth although they conceded a humiliating defeat in their second match against India.
Ahead of the Saturday's final, both the teams had their last moments of practice sessions at the match venue. All the members of the Pakistan squad were present during the practice session.
On the other hand, only seven Indian players -- M Dhony, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina -- were at the nets, practising bowling and fielding at the SBNS.
The Pakistan side did their full stretch practice in the morning under the supervision of coach Geoff Lawson. They first had fielding practice at the main ground and later moved into the indoor facility to have some net practice.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Geoff Lawson said, "It won't matter for us who play against us tomorrow. In every game, we play and set out to win."
Asked whether he considered the final match as a do or die affair, the Aussie coach of Pakistan said, "It's a final, not a do or die match. Any team can lose a match and if we lose, we will head towards home and prepare ourselves for the next tournament (Asia Cup)."
Asked to comment on the previous match where they conceded a humiliating defeat to India, he said the result was uncharacteristic of how they were playing in the recent times. "When a team plays a poor game, as a team member you always get hurt. But after that we worked very hard Thursday."
Lawson, however, claimed that Kamran Akmal's disputed catch in the last match against India was accurate and Virender Sehwag should have been declared out. "I thought the catch was there," he told a journalist.
He didn't make it known if there will be any change in their squad for the final match.
About the pitch, he said, "This has been a really good one-day pitch. Terrific pitch and we have been fortunate that we have some pretty good fast bowlers and spinners."
Asked to comment on Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf's reaction after their 140-run defeat, Lawson said, "There wasn't a strong reaction from the PCB. I know PCB chairman and he is entitled to the opinion."
Indian coach Garry Kirsten, on the eve of another India-Pakistan match said, "It's always a great clash. There will be a different Pakistan team out there. They will be really motivated. We expect them to play their best."
About the opening combination of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, he said, "We know it's a good opening pair, but not expecting things to happen always. If they fail, we've enough quality players in the middle order to back up well."
About any change in the final 12-member squad, the former South African opener informed that they haven't decided yet saying, "Our team is playing well at the moment. Every one is feeling good and we are looking forward to doing what we need to do."
About the pitch, Kirsten also echoed the Pakistan coach and termed it as good for batting.
Replying to another query, he said, "Certainly the guy's are really motivated to play good cricket for their country