KARACHI: Karachi Dolphins will start a campaign on Wednesday (tomorrow) to regain lost cricketing glory, when they play a Group A match in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Cup National One-day Cricket Championship 2008-09 against Abbottabad Rhinos, here at the National Stadium, in a tournament that’s getting under way at various centres around the country.With the pall of gloom that set in after a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team motorcade in Lahore last week, and the Pakistan team’s tour of Bangladesh put off for a few days, the launch of the national limited overs competition offers a glimmer of hope and excitement for the local cricket fans. It is expected that all the leading Pakistan team stars will also be seen in action, till it’s time for them to answer the call of national duty.
While Karachi outfits have claimed the most (6) national one-day titles from among the country’s regional association teams, the last time they won a trophy was back in 2000-01 when Karachi Whites took the National One-day Tournament for Associations. Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), who won the cricket double crown last season, were recently dethroned as the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy champions. But they will from Thursday begin the defence of their National One-day Cup title.
A total of 22 teams, the same as in the 2007-08 season’s ABN-AMRO (that’s how the Royal Bank of Scotland were known until then) Cup National One-day Championship, will be taking part this season also. The participants have been divided into four groups.While the matches in Groups A and C will start with the first round on Wednesday, the opening fixtures in Groups B and D have been scheduled to begin from Thursday. The two semifinals will be played at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore and Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad simultaneously on March 22, while the final has been scheduled for Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on March 24.
There are six teams each in Groups A and D. Group A, which has matches set aside for Karachi and interior Sindh cities of Hyderabad and Mirpur Khas, includes Rawalpindi Rams, Hyderabad Hawks, Multan Tigers, Quetta Bears, Karachi Dolphins and Abbottabad Rhinos.The six teams in Group D, to be contested on grounds in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura, are National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), SNGPL, Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Lahore Eagles and Karachi Zebras.
The Group B matches will be played in Sargodha, Peshawar, Sialkot and Sialkot. This pool has five teams: Lahore Lions, Faisalabad Wolves, Peshawar Panthers, Islamabad Leopards and Sialkot Stallions.Group C also comprises five teams. These are Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), Pakistan Customs and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). The matches here will be played in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.Limited overs one-day cricket, consisting of 35 (eight-ball), 40 or 50-over matches, was introduced in Pakistan soon after official One-day International matches made their mark in early 1971. The inaugural such domestic competition here was the Pakistan Television (PTV) Trophy in 1971-72, several matches of which were also telecast.
The PTV Trophy lasted only one season though. It was won by the PIA with Lahore (Division) ending as the runners-up.
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