Sohail fifty leads Sialkot home

It was a match of no consequence for either team, but Sialkot Stallions will leave South African shores with greater confidence, having put in an all-round performance against the English domestic champions. Two individual performances from youngsters on either side stood out - Haris Sohail's unbeaten 63 the highlight, as it was a match-winning knock. Glenn Maxwell scored a counter-attacking 42 when his team, Hampshire, needed runs, but a score of 143 wasn't imposing enough for Sialkot.

Haris Sohail's unbeaten 63 made the difference © AFP  Enlarge

A combined bowling effort by Sialkot kept Hampshire to that score, well short of what Trinidad and Tobago had managed earlier in the day, with only 31 runs scored in the last five overs. Hampshire lost early wickets in search of quick runs, scratched around for the first ten overs, surged in the middle overs thanks to an entertaining cameo from Maxwell but lost their way after his dismissal. It was a pitch that offered something for the spinners and seamers. Sarfraz Ahmed, the tall left-arm seamer with an unusual action, got a few to bounce off a good length to pose questions for the openers. Shoaib Malik got turn and bounce and those that skidded through weren't easy to put away either.

Hampshire would have ideally liked one from the top order to bat through for the majority of the overs, but regular strikes stalled their progress. The run-outs didn't help - they lost two of their top order off direct hits. Hampshire had only managed 59 off the first ten overs and it was up to their overseas picks to give the innings a push.

Maxwell was harsh on the pull, connecting a few off the seamers and sending the ball several rows over the on side. He picked Naved-ul-Hasan for consecutive sixes in an over which yielded 16, and added 56 with Shahid Afridi. However, Sialkot pulled things back with a quiet over by the seamer Bilawal Bhatti, whose skiddy pace kept Maxwell in check. Hampshire were 113 for 4 after 16 overs and in the search for quick runs, both Maxwell and Afridi fell off successive balls off Umaid Asif. The lower order though failed to push the score past 150.

The Sialkot top order didn't look at ease against the Hampshire seamers, limping to 26 for 2 after the Powerplay. A couple of pressure-relieving boundaries by Sohail off the left-armer Chris Wood put Sialkot on the path to stability. It helped to have the experienced Malik at the other end as they calmly pushed the singles in between. Sialkot were 62 for 3 after ten overs, just three ahead of Hampshire's at the same stage.

Malik showed some aggressive intent, charging the left-arm spinner Liam Dawson and launching him for a six and four off consecutive deliveries. Crucially, Sialkot didn't let themselves get bogged down with a boundary drought - the pair ensured they picked up at least one boundary per over on an average. From the 11th to the start of the 18th over, when they were separated, they picked up ten boundaries. It also hurt Hampshire that their most experienced bowler, Afridi, couldn't effect the breakthroughs or stem the flow of runs. Sohail pounced on anything short and wide from Afridi, and by the time the spinner picked up a wicket - that of Malik - Sialkot were well on course needing 20 off 17. Malik's 96-run association with Sohail had all but sealed the game. It was a pity though that the tournament format didn't allow Sialkot to build on the momentum.

Sialkot Stallions finally get stage to strut their stuff

Two of the teams at this year's Champions League would have made their first appearance in at the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008.

The Titans have had the opportunity to qualify every year since then but only got it right in 2012. The other, the Sialkot Stallions, did not have that same chance. Relations between India and Pakistan soured after the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008 and Pakistan players and teams found themselves shut out of the competition.

If a representative from Pakistan had been let into the tournament in the previous three editions, that team would have been Sialkot in two of them. They were Pakistan's domestic winners in 2009 and 2011, and 2012 - Lahore Lions took the crown in 2010. And if the Champions League existed before that, Sialkot would have participated in most of those editions too.

So prolific has their form in the shortest format of the game been, that Sialkot have won seven of the nine editions of Pakistan's domestic 20-overs competition. They also hold the world record for the number of consecutive victories by any team in T20 cricket, with 25 wins.

As far as reputations go, Sialkot enter the qualifying stage with one of the biggest and theirs serves as proof that they belong at this level, something their captain Shoiab Malik has never doubted. "Wherever cricket is being played, Pakistan cricketers should go and play there," he said. "We know there are certain rules and regulations, but that is my opinion."

Sialkot, Malik believes, will take their chance to show what they are about. "We really like this format and we have done well in it. This tournament is an opportunity for us."

The two other teams in their group, Auckland and Hampshire admit to knowing very little about the Pakistan champions but the numbers and Malik's strong words should be an indicator of what they are up against.

Part of their prowess could come from the mystery factor. "There is an advantage for us because the other teams haven't seen some of our youngsters who have not played international cricket," Malik said. He mentioned bowlers Umaid Asif (who is "not young though, actually quite old") and Bilawal Bhatti (whose "name may be very difficult for you to pronounce but just look at it on his shirt") as examples.

Pakistan's newest international left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, who Malik said the media "must have noticed at the World T20," is also in the Sialkot squad and big things are expected of him. Malik seems to want bigger things from the more experienced members of the squad though.

He hopes the likes of Imran Nazir, Naved-ul-Hasan and Sarfraz Ahmed can show that although Pakistan, as a place, has been in the international wilderness, their domestic competition is thriving. Importantly, he pointed out that these players have travelled enough and played enough to be more than ready to compete in a tournament like this.

"We have some players who were with the Pakistan team and a lot of our others have been playing in England for the past 10 or 12 years," he said. "They have that awareness of the game and they have played with international cricketers before."

Despite their bravado, Sialkot lost a warm-up match to Yorkshire by 23 runs on arrival. Malik blamed a heavy travelling schedule and poor timing for the defeat. "We arrived in South Africa at around midnight on Saturday evening and played the game the next morning. We were very tired and we are still a little tired. But it's great to be here, it's a great tournament and we are know we are prepared for it."