Press Release Pakistan Federation Baseball
LAHORE, March 28: Heroics efforts by pitchers Ihsanullah helped Pakistan to win the 10th West Asia Baseball Cup, after chalking-up a 4-1 win against Sri Lanka in the last league match at the Punjab Stadium here on Wednesday.
The crucial match, which was dominated by pitchers, Ihsanullah led Pakistan in this department in all the nine innings to solely perform the duty successfully as he conceded just one run to make the victory possible. The batters also did good efforts as they managed to score four runs, despite the fact the Sri Lankans were tough in both pitching and fielding.
But credit went to Ihsanullah who made the difference. Ihsanullah, who has imparted two months training in South Korea on scholarship sent down lethal deliveries as Sri Lankan batters remained on defensive.
There was no run scored in the first inning by either side. But Pakistan opened the account in the second inning when Farooq Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed collected one run each to take 2-0 lead for the team. In the third inning, Pakistan earned one more run through Arslan as it seemed at that moment, the Pakistani batters would get runs frequently in the next innings.
But tight pitching by both sides, did not allow any team to score a run in the next two innings. However, the visitors got their first run in the 6th inning through Peries to reduce the lead 3-1. Again there was no run scored in the 7th inning, as Pakistan plundered its last run in the 8th inning through Asif Mushtaq to seal the fate of the match.
Pakistan remained unbeaten in the event thus it has qualified for the main round of the Asia Cup to be held later this year. Besides Pakistan and Sri Lanka, two other countries which participated were Iran and Afghanistan. Iran came in third while Afghanistan remained at bottom.
Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Mashood was the chief guest and he distributed the prizes. He said the foreign teams must have enjoyed their stay in Pakistan. He said Pakistan was a safe country and its people wanted more international activities here and also announced Five Lac for Pakistan Team on behalf of Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shabaz Sharif , Mr.Yoo Daewoo Bus Express distribute the Silver Medals to SriLanka Team .D G sports Mr Usman Anwar , Khawar Shah Secretary General PFB,Mohsin Khan Vice President PFB, Wasal Mohmmad Associate Secretary, Haider Khan Lahri Associate Secretary ,Fakhar Shah, Jamil Kamran Amer Bhatti of Federation Baseball were present.
President Pakistan Federation Baseball Mr. Shaukat Javed praised the efforts of the Pakistan team for earning the top position in the event he also announced award of upees Five Lac for team . He thanked all the foreign teams for visiting Pakistan and hoped they had enjoyed their stay here. He said Pakistan had gained good standing in the baseball in Asia and currently it was at the 5th place.
