LAHORE: It seems that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) remains extremely confused on where to stage the National T20 Cup as it again shifted the tournament on Wednesday, this time from Multan to Peshawar, the original venue of the event.

This is the third time the venue for the 10-team event was changed in recent days. The matches, according to the latest change, will be played at the Imran Khan Stadium, the new name of Peshawar’s Arbab Niaz Stadium.

On Tuesday, when four participating teams following their travel plan reached Rawalpindi, where the tournament had been moved from Peshawar, they were asked by the PCB to move to Multan, citing that the said event had been shifted there.

As a result, the luggage of the teams was transported to Multan late Tuesday night. However, sources close to the situation told Dawn that now the luggage is returning to Peshawar from Multan.

Earlier, the tournament was to start from March 5 but now due to logistical issues, it will commence from March 7.

Interestingly, HBL Pakistan Super League chief executive Salman Naseer, during a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday, said that the Peshawar venue was not fully prepared to host matches due to some technical issues, including some related to the ground, no match of the PSL-11 will be held there.

Surprisingly, now a national-level tournament has been shifted to Peshawar.

Ten regional teams, divided into two groups, are going to participate in the National T20 Cup.

Lahore Whites, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Karachi Whites and Bahawalpur are included in Group ‘A’ while Group ‘B’ contains Lahore Blues, Sialkot, Multan, Abbottabad and Karachi Blues.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026

LAHORE: A brace by Abu Bakr Mahmood helped Pakistan defeat Austria 4-2 on Wednesday as the Green-shirts reached the semi-finals of the FIH Men’s World Cup qualifier in Ismailia, Egypt on Wednesday.

Pakistan, by winning this match, also topped Pool ‘B’ of the eight-team contest.

Besides Abu Bakr, other two goal scorers for Pakistan were Afraz and Mohammad Sufiyan Khan. For Austria, Kellner Maximilian and Scholz Maximilian scored one apiece.

Afraz gave Pakistan an early lead through a field goal in the fourth minute of the first quarter. Pakistan in the second quarter earned four penalty corners but failed to convert any of them. They got four more penalty corners in the third quarter but all were wasted before Abu Bakr scored in the 44th minute to put his team 2-0 ahead.

In the final quarter, Austria got a couple of penalty corners but could not score.

They finally got their opening goal through Kellner who scored in the 47th minute to reduce the lead to 2-1.

Pakistan then got three more penalty corners quickly but with no goal. Sufiyan in another field attempt then made it 3-1 in the 51st minute. The lead was extended to 4-1 by a goal from Abu Bakr a minute later.

Two minutes later, Scholz scored with a penalty stroke to make it 4-2.

Earlier in the event, Pakistan first defeated China 5-4 and then overpowered Malaysia 5-3 before toppling Austria to top the pool with nine points from three games.

The Ammad Butt-led team now just need to win the semi-final to qualify for this year’s FIH World Cup scheduled be staged in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, Netherlands from Aug 14 to 30. Top three finishers in the Ismailia event will qualify for the World Cup.

Pakistan will play the semi-final either against Japan or Egypt, both having three points each, who were scheduled to meet each other in their last Pool ‘A’ match late Wednesday night.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026

MUMBAI: England are drawing confidence from a run of tight victories ahead of their Twenty20 World Cup semi-final against India, captain Harry Brook said, adding that his team’s resilience would be a key factor on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium.

England’s route to the last four has not all been smooth sailing, with the two-time champions advancing after wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand, against whom they needed 43 runs off the final 18 balls to get over the line.

“We’ve won tight games, which in World Cups prove to be very important, and we’ve got a lot of confidence going into the deeper parts of the game,” Brook told reporters on Wednesday.

“We’ve won games, which we probably shouldn’t have won, and it just feels like we’ve never really been out of any game so far, which holds you in good stead in these world competitions.”

Brook’s own form has underpinned that message. The 27-year-old struck a 50-ball hundred to lift England past Pakistan in Pallekele.

“I don’t believe that we need a perfect game to win the competition. The games that we have won have been nowhere near perfect, and we still managed to get the wins convincingly in some of them, and then tight in the other games,” Brook said.

“It’s just the unity that we’ve had to be able to get across the line, the belief that everybody’s shown throughout the games and the calmness that we’ve had when the bowlers have stood at the top of the mark.

“I do believe that India were favorites from the start of the competition, as they should be on their home soil, with home crowds and knowing the venues better than anyone else,” said Brook. “But T20 is such a fickle game, anything can happen.”

Former captain Jos Buttler’s form has been scrutinised, with the opener making only 62 runs in seven matches.

Buttler hit for an extended period in the nets on Wednesday.

“I think leaving him [Buttler] alone is probably the best thing to do. He’s been a powerhouse cricketer for many years there should be no reason to question why he’s in the team,” Brook said.

England’s top two wicket-takers in the tournament are spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson.

“I feel like England always get a bad rap about playing against spin. We’ve gone to Sri Lanka and we’ve won six games in a row against subcontinent sides, who are very good in their own backyard,” Brook said.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence playing on turning pitches. [Varun] Chakravarthy is one of the best bowlers in the world, and I’ll try my best to face him and score as many runs as I can against him.”

The winners on Thursday will advance to Sunday’s final against South Africa or New Zealand, who meet in the other semi-final on Thursday at Mumbai.

INDIA SEEK TO BEAT ‘STREET-SMART ENGLAND’

India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel warned the hosts will need a “special performance” to beat a “street-smart” England the semi-final.

Sanju Samson’s sparkling 97 not out enabled India to chase down 196 against the West Indies in a winner-takes-all clash on Sunday in Kolkata.

Morne said India would again need someone “to put their hand up” against Brook’s side to keep the nation’s dream of a home World Cup win alive.

Morkel agreed India had not put together a flawless display in the tournament yet, but said that did not matter.

“We haven’t really spoken about the perfect game,” Morne told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium after India’s final training session before Thursday’s big clash.

“It’s not about how you get to the semi-finals. It’s about the next two games, how we’re going to play there.

“I think the quality of this team has been shown that on the day somebody will put their hand up.

“Then hopefully, especially tomorrow night, we can put that special performance in.” It is the third T20 World Cup in a row that India will play England in the semi-finals.

Both previous times the winners went on to lift the trophy. In 2022, England crushed India by 10 wickets in Adelaide and beat Pakistan in the Melbourne final. Two years ago India won in Guyana by a similarly dominant 68 runs before downing South Africa in Barbados.

This time, though, India will have the backing of 35,000 fiercely partisan fans in Mumbai.

“It’s a big occasion tomorrow night here, a semi-final, a great stadium to play a great game of cricket,” said Morkel. “So hopefully the boys can rock up tomorrow and just be calm and execute those skills.”

India are leaving nothing to chance in their preparations.

Training on Tuesday night was delayed by an hour so it did not coincide with a lunar eclipse, which is considered unlucky in India.

“I was told about the lunar eclipse and the session was pushed backwards,” admitted Morkel.

“I think the most important thing to focus on was the quality the guys put in at training, which was great to see.”

India hosted the T20 World Cup in 2016 and lost in a Mumbai semi-final to eventual champions the West Indies.

India are wary of the threat posed by England, who were shaky in the group phase but powered through the Super Eights with wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand.

“They’re a team that’s street smart. Obviously there’s a lot of quality in their side,” said Morkel. “Their batting is deep, which makes them a very dangerous side. With the ball, they’ve got a lot of attacking options.

“The way they approach a T20 game, fearless, trying to take the game on, will give you opportunities.

“Tomorrow is going to be a good shoot-out between two aggressive teams.“The side that can hold their nerves and play the conditions and read some of the conditions quite well and the quickest [will win].”

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026