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Pakistan will go all out

Sports Reporter
Players arc returning to the stage today. -The SAARC cricket tournament, the first-ever Instant
cricket competition comprising four countries of South Asia — India, Pakistan, Shri ; Lanka and Bangladesh — resumes today after a day's uncalled for rest with Pakistan playing their last league match against Shri Lanka.
Cricket came to an abrupt halt on Monday with a section of agitated people, protesting the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India forced their .way in to the stadium during the Bangladesh-India match on Monday and exploded home-made crackers which led to the premature death of the match.
Sent in to bat first by Bangladesh captain Minhazul Ahedin Nannu. the Indian openers Nayjot Singh Sidhu an^ Surendra Bhavc had put on 30 on the board from 8.1 overs when trouble broke out in the stands and players ran for the safety of the pavilion, Hfedortllhg trJ^p mint of the 'Bangladesh Cricket Control Board (BCCB), the unfinished match will be held tomorrow, Thursday night .from the beginning. Spectators who entered the field on the fateful day will be able to watch tomorrow’s match by producing the remainder of their tickets at the gates.
Returning from futurity's reference to the immediate present, today's match holds the key to Pakistan's hopes of qualifying as,the finalists as well as a very, very tenuous possibility of Shri Lanka's staying in the competition.
Shri Lanka are yet to open their account with a lowly nett run rate of 2.11. So the is-
landers have to beat Pakistan today by a mile and the chances of such a feat are very bleak indeed regarding the strength of the second string team from the youngest Test playing nation of Asia. The Shri Lankan's will look for inspira-
’tion from paceman Wendall Labrooy', younger brother of Ttest paceman Graeme Labrooy and hard-hitting opener Sajith Ferriando. Wendall Labrooy, the young right-arm fast medium bowler, has been bowling impressively, showing fine turn of
speed and control. Along with Tanveer Mehdi of Pakistan Labrooy has appeared to be the quickest of operators with the, IcaUjcrTh this tournament.' ' "
'Sajlth -Fernando, the lefthanded opening batsman, impressed with his aggressive batting in the match against India which Shri Lanka lost by 67 runs. Apart from being a hard-hitting batsman adept in lofting the ball over the fielders' heads in the initial overs Fernando is quite an. accurate off-spin bowler.
The rest of the Shri l.ankan team has not clicked yet. Highly rated players like Nlshant Ranatunga, Chaminda Mendls and Pubudu Dissanayekc have not done anything to draw attention.
The Pakistan team with two Test cricketers — wicketkeeper captain Moln Khan and batsman Zahid Fazal — In their
ranks have riot given any signs of upsetlng pre-tournament favourites India so far. Quite a few individual pcrformahces have been there, particularly in the match against Bangladesh which the World Cup champions won by five wickets.
The Pakistani B team is yet to stake its claims for the trophy scheduled to be decided on December 11. Their prefaced paceman Tanveer Mehdi has enhanced his reputation as th? fastest bowler of the tournament. Shahid Anwar, Shahcd Javed and Basit All Will be the mainstays in their batting. Pakistan are better off than Shri Lanka with one win and an average run rate of .51.
India arc at the top of the Sioints table with four points roni two matches and a fairly healthy met run rale of 1.03. Bangladesh' who created sensu tion on the opening day beat-’ing Shri Dinka arc placed second only to*Indla with one win. one loss; two points and a net run- rate of 9.
In the event of a defeat by a reasonable margin Pakistan ^Wfi^'^S^ II. In tnat case, hoWeve^thcy will have to wait for the result of 'the match between Bangladesh and India. Assuming that both Pakistan and Shrf Lanka lose their last matches then the nett run rate will be the criterion to decide the second finalists.
Whatever the equation. Pakistan have lo go all out In today's match to improve their run rate, so that they stay ahead of Bangladesh. A victory for Pakistan In today’s match and a defeat for Bangladesh will, however, rule out any room for calculations with the former joining India as Jhe1 bther finalists.
The match starts al 9:30 am.