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The MCC has submitted a planning application to Westminster City Council for six floodlights at Lord’s to be installed at the start of each season from 2009 for five years.Having floodlights is one of the provisions for hosting ICC World Twenty20 matches next year and could also be used for one-day internationals and county matches. If the plan is approved there will be six light pylons, the tallest standing at just under 48 metres behind the Warner, Compton, Edrich, and Tavern Stands. They will remain in place throughout the season and removed each winter.The application follows an in-depth study by the MCC which looked at the growing demand for day/night games The MCC realises that Lord’s needs floodlights to remain an attractive venue for day/night matches. Lord’s is one of three grounds that will host the World Twenty20, conditional on the provision of floodlights that meet ECB standards and the requirements of broadcasters.The MCC has already experimented with temporary mobile floodlighting for a day/night match in 2007 but found that they failed to meet ECB standards and there were problems with light spill and glare. A further day/night trial with temporary mobile floodlights is scheduled for August 2008 to address some of these issues.The temporary floodlights now proposed for 2009 are specifically designed for Lord’s and will implement higher quality and more accurate lighting to minimise light spill for local residents and eliminate glare for players, umpires, broadcasters and spectators. It will also enable the MCC to continue to monitor the impact of floodlighting on both the game and across the wider neighbourhood over a longer period of time.”Floodlights are now a key component for staging one day and Twenty20 matches,” said Keith Bradshaw, the MCC secretary and chief executive. “This application provides a solution to floodlighting for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in 2009, a major international sporting event, as well as matches over the next five years. As the home of cricket globally, it is crucial that Lord’s continues to host these games.””The temporary option has been developed following a thorough analysis of floodlighting solutions. It’s important that we take into account the effect on the local area as well as how it fits in with the Lord’s masterplan, which will see significant and long-term improvements at Lord’s.”

The trial of Mark Vermeulen, who is charged with arson attacks on the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy and the Zimbabwe board’s headquarters, was postponed until December 6 after a brief hearing in Harare.Magistrate Omega Mugumbate agreed to a defence application for the adjournment in order to allow Eric Matinenga, Vermeulen’s lawyer, to free up his schedule. Matinenga is a leading advocate who also represented Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirayi, after he was accused of engaging the services of a Canadian political consultancy firm to assassinate President Robert Mugabe and topple his government in a coup.Vermeulen was released on bail but has to report to the police on a daily as well as surrender his passport. He faces two counts of arson and if found guilty he could be convicted to up to 25 years in prison with hard labour.

Ice delaying the start of play at Old Trafford and Derbyshire having to move their opening fixture because their ground is underwater – sure signs that the new domestic season is here. As England complete a tough winter in the 45-degree heat of Indore, county players the length and breadth of the country have been shivering their way through pre-season nets. The real action starts today as MCC take on Nottinghamshire in the traditional curtain-raiser at Lord’s.For all the hype that surrounds the never-ending cycle of international cricket there is something special about the anticipation of a new season. Everything is possible, places are up for grabs, names to be made and the thought of those long, warm summer days soaking up the action (but probably not until about August).County cricket always faces a tough fight with the summer now so packed with Tests and one-day internationals. Last year it had to battle for attention against the extraordinary Ashes and while the exploits of Andrew Flintoff and Co. will again, understandably, take centre stage for most of the summer the domestic game has much going for it. In many ways, the team fielded by England on their tour of India showed county cricket in its best light for a number of years.Shaun Udal was the most uplifting story; a player who has consistently tried his hardest for Hampshire year in, year out and suddenly he helped England pull off one of their greatest victories. Owais Shah was another who showed that county cricket can produce Test match batsmen, while if the game was as ‘soft’ as it is sometimes described then Alastair Cook and Monty Panesar would not have been as comfortable on the international stage.With Duncan Fletcher adding his voice to those fearing player burn-out the chances of England’s main players making county appearances once the internationals start is very slim – save a one-day final in the C&G Trophy or Twenty20. But that, in no way, means that there will be a shortage of talented players and exciting matches to enjoy.The main target, for those nine teams in the first Division, will be the Championship title, which currently resides with Nottinghamshire following their superb allround performances from 2005. They have a mature squad, but as the Australians have shown, if results continue to go your way age is only a number. However, they are far from sure of retaining their title and, if anything, don’t actually start the season as favourites.

Some bookmakers have Lancashire, fresh from promotion, as odds-on to claim the title that has proved elusive since 1934. But they start without any overseas players – Brad Hodge will join in early May after his wife gives birth – and are so far settling for just the one, although don’t be surprised to see Andrew Symonds arrive for a late-season stint. Expect a strong charge from Sussex, who have the services of Mushtaq Ahmed and a strong top-order with Chris Adams, Murray Goodwin, Matt Prior and Michael Yardy, while Warwickshire are stronger this season with two established overseas names in Heath Streak and Daniel Vettori.Hampshire will again rest heavily on Shane Warne, so long as his shoulder stands up to even more bowling, but he has the ability to bring the best out in younger players and keep an eye out for Chris Tremlett who will want to remind the selectors he is still around. Kent have never suffered Championship relegation and shouldn’t be pulled down in 2006, even if they struggle to bowl sides out twice, while Middlesex are also likely to be more troubled by the search for wickets than runs. Durham and Yorkshire will have to fight hard to hold onto their hard-earned top division slots with squads that are set to be pushed to the limit.In the second division, Worcestershire and Surrey are best placed to secure the two promotion slots as their squads have reasonable depth and experience. Essex have an exciting bunch of young players balanced with the experience of Andy Bichel and Darren Gough. Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire will need to battle against limited squads and Glamorgan have been dealt a tough blow with the loss of Matthew Elliott and Michael Kasprowicz. Watch out for the Aussie spin-twins, Cameron White and Dan Cullen, who could spring a surprise at Somerset, but it is hard to see beyond another season of struggle for Derbyshire and Leicestershire.As always at this time of the season there is a wealth of possibilities. All teams feel that it will be their season while players are dreaming of runs, wickets, catches and greater honours. It is sometimes hard to see through the mass of Tests and ODIs and realise what is happening at the level below, but if you have a moment take a glance at the county scorecards. There are six fascinating months of cricket ahead and you may just catch a glimpse of the next Cook, Panesar or Udal.

Gold League
Karachi Urban took another step towards toppling Rawalpindi from the top of the Gold League table as they piled up 506 for 5 declared on the second day of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League match at the National Stadium . By the close of play, Rawalpindi had reached 122 for 3, still 357 away from averting the follow-on.Hasan Raza, the captain, hit an unbeaten 108 and Mohtashim Ali 67 in a 149-run fifth-wicket stand after overnight centurion Saeed Bin Nasir fell for 107. Raza, 24 and playing in his 139th first-class match, notched up his 27th hundred off 140 deliveries with the help of nine fours and two sixes. Asif Zakir (79) added 193 with Nasir.Rawalpindi progressed to 87 before three wickets fell for seven runs. Babar Naeem, the left-handed batsman, was unbeaten on 73, with14 fours and a six off 87 balls in just under two hours. Captain Mohammad Wasim has still not come out to bat, but Rawalpindi’s task to save the match is a difficult one.Karachi Urban, currently placed at number three in the seven-team Gold League table with 15 points, are in the ideal position to take their tally to 24 with an outright win and move to the top of the table.Playing like true champions, last season’s winners Sialkot transformed their poor situation on day one by taking their overnight 212 for 6 to an impressive 384 on the second day at the Jinnah Stadium . In reply, Lahore Shalimar had slipped to 139 for 6, with 96 required to make Sialkot bat again.Khalid Mahmood, Sialkot’s wicketkeeper was the man mainly responsible for the turnaround. Coming in at No.9, he first saw his partner Ayub Dogar leave the field with an injury. At 258 for 9, Ayub returned and the two proceeded to add an incredible 126 for the last wicket. Khalid remained unbeaten on 93, after being in sight of his first-class career’s third century, that came off a mere 110 balls in a little over two hours with nine fours and three sixes. Ayub, 28 overnight, had earlier helped add 67 for the seventh wicket with Tahir Mughal (31). He was last out, after having made 81 off 259 balls with eight fours and a six. Tahir then bagged 4 for 70 in Lahore’s innings, with only Ahmed Shahzad (52 off 115 balls) and Ashraf Ali (35*) offering resistance.Sialkot, with 12 points from their previous three matches, should now be looking towards an outright win so as to remain in contention for making the Gold League final.The chances for last season’s runners-up Faisalabad lifting themselves from the bottom of the seven-team Gold League brightened, as they gained the crucial first-innings lead against Peshawar at the Iqbal Stadium. Having dismissed second-placed Peshawar for a modest 215 on day one, Faisalabad took their overnight 39 for 0 to 254 for 9 by stumps, a lead of 39.The openers, Imran Ali (51) and Asif Hussain (48) added 94 before Ijaz Ahmed Junior hit an unbeaten 71 off 182 deliveries with ten fours. With a four-man attack, Arshad Khan, Peshawar’s captain, bowled superbly to pick up 4 for 74 in 34 overs. Riaz Afridi, the medium-pacer, sent down 32 overs for a return of 3 for 88.Champions in 2003-04 and runners-up during the two subsequent seasons, Faisalabad are trying desperately to avoid being demoted to the Silver League circuit.Silver League
Shoaib Khan,Quetta’s left-handed opener, hit a century as his team gained a first-innings lead of 97 over Hyderabad on day two at the Niaz Stadium.It was Shoaib’s second first-class hundred and personal best as Quetta, resuming at an overnight 91 for 4, overhauled Hyderabad’s 193 with an impressive total of 290. Shoaib batted for more than six hours, facing 253 balls and hitting six fours and a six. His fifth-wicket stand with Arun Lal (52) was worth 97.Farhan Ayub, Hyderabad’s in-form left-arm fast bowler, returned figures of 6 for 76, while Naseer Khan (42) and captain Faisal Irfan (35) chipped in with useful runs. In their second innings, Hyderabad were 1 for 37, still 60 behind.Following Multan’s poor show in their match against Islamabad yesterday, Abbottabad must have seen a flicker of hope to make the Silver League final as they gained a splendid 152-run first-innings lead over Lahore Ravi at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground . Having dismissed Lahore for 62 on the first day, Abbottabad resumed at their overnight 89 for 1 and managed 314. At stumps, Lahore Ravi had made 72 for 1, still 80 runs in deficit.Fast bowlers Wahab Riaz (4 for 77) and Imran Ali (4 for 64) acquitted themselves well but Abbottabad prevailed on a fruitful day. Opener Mohammad Naeem, who top-scored with 54, took his second-wicket stand with Wajid Ali (42) to 53. Later, debutant Hammad Ali (45 off 85 balls with five fours) and captain Sajid Shah (30) added a crucial 92 for the seventh wicket, their stand being boosted by several extras. There were eventually as many as 40 of them, with fast bowler Wasim Khan conceding 10 wides and seven no-balls.If Multan are beaten by Islamabad in their ongoing encounter, and Abbottabad win here, either side will have an identical record after five matches and a total of 21 points. Who goes on to meet Islamabad in the Silver League final will then be decided on the basis of net run-rate.Instead of Multan improving their position, it was table leaders Islamabad who were looking for their fifth straight win in as many matches, as they finished with a 324-run lead on day two at the Diamond Club Ground .In reply to Islamabad’s 314, Multan folded for 153 and conceded a 161-run lead. Centurion Azhar Mahmood, the captain, took 3 for 45 for Islamabad and medium-pacer Bilal Asad excelled with figures of 4 for 13 in 11.2 overs. In Islamabad’s second-innings 163 for 3 opener Raheel Majeed hit a 76-ball 71in just short of two hours, with 10 fours and three sixes.With four wins and a full 36 points, Islamabad have already qualified for the Silver League final, scheduled to be played from February 7. Multan, second-placed in the five-team table, have 21 points but now appear to be in danger of losing their position to Abbottabad.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDevendra Bishoo nearly pulled off a stunning heist in the last over•Caribbean Premier League

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel huffed and puffed and just scraped through to their first win of the season by three wickets in a low-scoring encounter against Guyana Amazon Warriors. Requiring five in the last over, T&T nearly found a way to lose as legspinner Devendra Bishoo picked up his second wicket of the over with the penultimate delivery, but on inspection a no-ball was called by the third umpire because the bowler had overstepped. With one to get and two balls still remaining, Kevon Cooper smashed the free-hit for six to win it for Red Steel.Cameron Delport had got Red Steel off to a brisk start in the chase of 119, making 22 out of a first-wicket stand of 23 with Jacques Kallis. Darren Bravo and Kallis then added 38 in 44 balls, but both got out in quick succession. Again a partnership built, with Dwayne Bravo and Kamran Akmal adding 31, and Red Steel were comfortably placed at the end of 15 overs – needing 20 to win off 30 balls.Kamran played an inspired cameo – 30 off 17 – but was dismissed in the 16th over with Red Steel still requiring 13 for victory with four overs remaining. However, three frugal overs ensued, including a tight 18th over by Bishoo, in which he took one wicket and conceded just one run. Tasked with defending five off the last, Bishoo conceded three singles and took a wicket in his first four balls, and also had Cooper stumped off the fifth. That delivery, however, turned out to be a no-ball, too large an error in a game of small margins.Amazon Warriors had made a poor start to the game after choosing to bat, losing two wickets in the third over. Lendl Simmons and Brad Hodge began rebuilding with a 35-run stand, before Hodge was caught and bowled off Samuel Badree for 19. Sunil Narine came out to bat at No. 5 but couldn’t get going, eventually holing out to long-on for 14. Simmons was bowled just after he reached his half-century as Amazon Warriors slumped to 104 for 7. They were soon bowled out for 118. Dwayne Bravo produced his career-best bowling figures of 4 for 18, while Kallis and Cooper took two wickets each.

Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, has resisted from hitting the panic button following his side’s 167-run loss to England at Headingley. Though Pakistan have lost the series 2-0 with one Test to go, Woolmer firmly maintained that he would fight calls for players to be axed.”What we need to do is to keep this team solid and not to panic. We have been outplayed by a better team at home and we need to work on our cricket,” he told reporters. “I don’t want to throw individuals out of my team, I want to make sure they get better. We just need to go back to the drawing board and make sure we get things right. We don’t need to make wholesale changes. I shall resist that. It’s important we remember this team has done well for almost two years.””Some teams might have rolled over but we fought through all of this Test match. We fought back when England scored 500, got a lead and then bowled them out. We conceded the game in the morning, unfortunately. We had a realistic chance of winning but we threw our chance away in the first hour,” Woolmer added.Woolmer gave England their due while lamenting the spilled chances. “England played very well. They played better than us throughout the series, it’s as simple as that,” he said. “We made too many mistakes. We never quite got it together as a team. There were good individual performances but when we dropped catches and gave England a lifeline it cost us the series. England’s record at home has been outstanding for the last four years and you have to be at the top of your game to beat them. We weren’t.”The other area of concern was the fitness of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. Both fast bowlers have been sidelined with injury and did not take part in this series, but Woolmer said he would not rush either of them. “Shoaib hasn’t bowled for about six months [and] Asif hasn’t bowled for a month,” he said. “We’ll have a look at Shoaib [in Pakistan’s next tour game] but to rush him back after six months of not bowling, I think any bowler would shudder at the thought if they were not fit. It’s going to be up to him to prove that he is fit. If he isn’t, he won’t play. Our three seamers bowled very well on Monday and to bring in players who have not played for a long time would be wrong on those people.”The final Test begins on August 17 at The Oval.

Group B

After bowling Assam, who had been 132 for 6 overnight, for 193, Delhi‘s batsmen piled on the runs in Vadodara. Three of their top five made fifties – captain Unmukt Chand scored 55, Nitish Rana was unbeaten on 72 and Rishabh Pant, who played the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, was not out on 84 off 83 balls. Pant’s innings included seven fours and five sixes.The batsmen’s efforts made the second day’s play near perfect for Delhi. It had begun with Pradeep Sangwan ripping through the tail to finish with 3 for 47 – Assam’s Tarjinder Singh was left stranded with 61 runs to his name – and it ended with Delhi ahead by 48 runs with seven wickets remaining.A maiden first-class century from 19-year old Kaushal Singh helped Jharkhand secure an 83-run lead over Maharashtra in Delhi.Coming in at 108 for 5 in the 35th over, Kaushal batted through to stumps on the second day and helped his team overcome a top-order wobble. And it wasn’t like he was plodding along either. His 121 runs came off only 178 balls, with 15 fours and three sixes and that aggression meant the seventh and eighth-wicket partnerships with Shahbaz Nadeem and captain Varun Aaron contributed upwards of 50 runs each.Maharashtra, despite having only 210 on the board, would have felt hopeful considering Shrikant Mundhe began the day with two wickets in the space of four overs. But they couldn’t finish well.Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah fell two runs shy of a career-best score as his team racked up a total of 430 against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram.Shah began the day on an unbeaten 120 and was the eighth wicket to fall for 193, an innings that lasted over six hours and included 36 fours. His strike-rate was an impressive 84.64. He added 110 runs with Chirag Jani for the sixth wicket which pushed the score over 300. Marshalled by Shah, the tail made some handy contributions as well to put Saurashtra in a position of strength.Rajasthan bowled them out with just enough time for them to bat again – 1.4 overs – which they got through unscathed.Half-centuries from Faiz Fazal and Ganesh Satish pushed Vidarbha into the lead against Odisha in Visakhapatnam. Fazal made an unbeaten 76. Satish was on 74 when he was caught behind with five overs left for stumps, a minor positive for Odisha, who had begun the day on 134 for 6 only to be bowled out for 150.Vidarbha were dominant from the very first ball they bowled on Friday – it bowled Odisha’s Biplab Samantaray for 53. Srikanth Wagh, who produced the wicket, finished with 3 for 13. Offspinner Akshay Wakhare then cleaned up the tail and finished with 3 for 19.Vidharba’s innings suffered a setback when opener Sanjay Ramaswamy was bowled for 13 by seamer Deepak Behera but Fazal and Satish negated Odisha’s bowling and added 158 for the second wicket. They have a 32-run lead and eight more wickets to work on building it further.

Bangladesh know they can hold their own, they also know they can beat India; now it’s a matter of believing they can win again. They began leaning on hope once the first match started slipping, despite having outplayed India for 80 overs of the contest. How well they recover will determine how close the second one-dayer will be.India are bound to feel relieved after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik masterminded a rescue act. Realising that the weather here will take a lot out of them, they chose to not practise today, conserving their energy instead.They may also ease Dhoni’s workload tomorrow, as India’s manager Ravi Shastri had mentioned after the first game, by having Karthik share the wicketkeeping duties with him. They will also hope to win the toss tomorrow, bat first, and post a big total. Rahul Dravid has expressed his dislike for fielding first here – it’s not easy to bat on a sluggish pitch after fielding in the sweltering heat.Dravid and Shastri had said that a few other teams would have failed in Thursday’s chase, given the climatic and match conditions. They will also need to tell themselves that those few other teams would have been much more alert in the field, giving themselves 25 to 30 runs less to chase.For Bangladesh, batting in the slog overs remains a worry, as does any form of bowling that isn’t left-arm spin. They would have ideally looked at 20 more runs in the last 10 overs but their batsmen, slight of build, couldn’t generate enough power against India’s slower bowlers; nor did they get enough pace to execute the cute little paddle shots they played so effectively against South Africa in the World Cup clash at Guyana.

Bangladesh missed Mashrafe Mortaza yesterday and will need him back, as India may again try to go after their opening bowlers. As of now, the word on Mortaza is “so far so good”. Habibul Bashar, the captain, said that the physio had given him a test, was satisfied, and will give him another tomorrow. “He is 70% fit and the physio is confident.”Bashar’s batting form has been another cause for concern. In the 10 games he’s played since the start of the World Cup, he has scored 105 runs at 11.66 and is under fire. He’s perhaps playing only because this is a very young team and no one else seems to be in a state to captain. His job, he knows, is quite simple. “If you don’t score, the pressure will be there. The best thing is to come back and score runs, the pressure won’t be there.” Bashar is likely to announce his retirement at the end of the series; regaining his touch in a must-win game wouldn’t be a bad idea.The conditions are not expected to change, except there’s a chance of a washout. Thunderstorms are expected and the forecasts predict a 90% chance of rain. They will play on a different pitch, but it is not expected to be too different in character.Two spent teams went off the field yesterday – India physically and Bangladesh mentally. Bashar put it the best: “Plenty of people come in this hot weather to watch us the whole day. We feel bad for them. It’s not only not easy to play, it’s not easy to watch either. We would love to win this game for them; they will feel less heat.”Teams (likely)Bangladesh1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Saqibul Hasan, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Aftab Ahmed, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shahadat Hossain, 11 Syed Rasel.India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 MS Dhoni (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid (capt), 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth, 11 Munaf Patel.

An unbeaten 78 from Yuvraj Singh helped Punjab take another step closer to the knockouts as they beat Rajasthan by six wickets to register their fourth win in five matches. Manender Singh, playing in only his second List A game, top-scored with 118 in Rajasthan’s 270 for 7, but it wasn’t enough as Punjab’s launch pad was set by Jiwanjot Singh (66) and Mandeep Singh (60). That smoothened the passage of victory as Yuvraj hit 10 fours and two sixes in his 59-ball knock and Punjab won with 32 balls to spare. Brainder Sran, the left-arm pacer, was Punjab’s best bowler of the day, finishing with figures of 4 for 60.Services were consigned to their second successive loss as Mumbai put it past them by six wickets in a Group A fixture. Nakul Verma’s half-century was the lone bright spark in a disappointing batting effort as Services were bowled out for 151 in 42.1 overs. The bulk of the damage was done by pacer Shardul Thakur who finished with 4 for 19.The in-form Akhil Herwadkar piloted Mumbai’s chase with a 48-ball 46, while Shreyas Iyer, coming in at No. 3, contributed 35. Although Mumbai lost three quick wickets with the target in sight, victory was never in doubt. They eventually crossed the line in 25.2 overs to post their third win in four matches.Assam, who came within touching distance of upsetting Punjab on Monday, suffered a batting collapse as Hyderabad beat them by 72 runs to register their first win in the tournament. Hyderabad, who were sent in to bat, were propelled to 271 for 8 courtesy Tanmay Agarwal’s 83. Hanuma Vihari, the captain who walked out to bat at No. 3, chipped in with 51 as he and Agarwal put on 107 for the third wicket to set the foundation for a big total.As many as six Assam batsmen got off to starts, with Pallavkumar Das’ 54 at the top of the order being the highest. The pace duo of Ravi Kiran and Chama Milind picked up three wickets each as Assam were bowled out for 199. With five losses in as many matches, Assam have only pride to play for in their final league fixture of the tournament on Thursday.

The 50th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier domestic competition gets underway today, with 22 teams, comprising nine departments and 13 regions, in the fray.Eight matches will be played today, with the key clashes being the Group A match between Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Pakistan Customs, and the Group B match between Karachi Blues and Rawalpindi.The two matches in Karachi have been postponed to tomorrow in light of the bomb blasts on Thursday (October 18) which killed approximately 140 people and injured hundreds.Two teams from the Gas departments, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL), and Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGC), will be making their debuts at the top-grade. SSGC qualified for the first-class circuit after winning the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II Championship title last season.Meanwhile, Pakistan Customs has included three overseas players in its squad- Rawait Khan, Bilal Shafayat, and Mohammad Nabi Khan, who plays for Derbyshire, has represented Customs in three consecutive seasons from 2002-03. Shayafat, an allrounder with Northamptonshire, had played for National Bank in the 2002-03 season. Nabi is a 22-year-old middle-order batsman and offspinner, who made his first-class debut for MCC against Sri Lanka A earlier this year. However, he has played in Pakistan before, representing Afghanistan in the National Inter-District Senior Championship.A total of 55 matches will be contested prior to the final, which will be played between January 1 to 5, though the venue hasn’t yet been confirmed.Group A
HBL, Pakistan Customs, Lahore Ravi, The Water and Power Development Authority , Sialkot, NBP, Faisalabad, Multan, Karachi Whites, Hyderabad and SSGC.
Group B
Khan Research Laboratories, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, Pakistan International Airlines, SNGPL, Karachi Blues, Rawalpindi, Lahore Shalimar, Peshawar, Islamabad, Abbottabad and Quetta.