Pakistan crowned Independence Cup champions

Ahmad Shahzad’s blistering knock followed by some impressive bowling helped Pakistan seal iconic Independence Cup with 33-run victory over World XI on Friday.

The day started with the visitors captain Faf du Plessis winning the toss and opting to bowl first.

The Green Caps produced another brilliant performance with the bat, courtesy Shahzad’s 89 off just 55 balls with the help eight fours and three sixes, as Pakistan posted more than competitive 183 for the loss of four wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

For World XI, Perera was the pick of the bowlers as he claimed two wickets and gave away 37 in his four overs.

In reply, the visiting team had a solid start but kept losing wickets at regular intervals and was eventually restricted to 150 for the loss of eight wickets in their 20 overs.

All-rounder Perera and South African David Miller finished with the top score of 32 each, whereas opener Hashim Amla scored 21 at the top of the innings.

For Pakistan, pacer Hasan Ali was the pick of the bowlers as he claimed two wickets and just gave away 28 runs in his four overs.

So that’s it everyone. What a historic week for Pakistan it proved to be, and we kept you updated throughout. Hopefully you all had a good time. Till next time, it’s goodbye from Azeem Siddiqui and Abdul Majid Awan. Ciao

WXI 150-8 (20 overs)

Just five runs off the over. Great finish for Pakistan.

Rumman Raees to bowl final over.

WXI 145-8 (19 overs)

Just five off the over. Great finish by the pacer.

Hasan Ali to start his final over.

WXI 140-8 (18 overs)

Just three runs and a wicket off the over. Brilliant over from the left-amer.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908742024509186053

Shinwari to bowl his final over.

WXI 137-7 (17 overs)

Nine runs and a wicket off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908741154602143745

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908740344057090048

Hasan Ali to start his new over.

WXI 128-6 (16 overs)

Nine off the over. Good one for World XI.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908739630912167936

Rumman Raees to start his new over.

WXI 119-6 (15 overs)

Just seven off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

Usman Khan Shinwari to start his new over.

WXI 112-6 (14 overs)

Seven runs and a wicket off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908735929489219584

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908735603637936129

Rumman Raees to start his new over.

WXI 105-5 (13 overs)

Twenty four off the over. The most expensive of the match so far.

FOUR! Another one. What batting from Perera.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908734630089682945

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908734193898807300

Shadab Khan to start his new over.

WXI 81-5 (12 overs)

Eight off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908733926155390978

Hasan Ali to start his new over.

WXI 73-5 (11 overs)

Just five off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

Shadab Khan to start his new over.

WXI 68-5 (10 overs)

Nine runs and a wicket off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908731401033396225

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908730648214605830

Imad Wasim to bowl his final over.

WXI 58-4 (9 overs)

Five off the over. Good start for the leg-spinner.

Shadab Khan to start his first over.

WXI 53-4 (8 overs)

Just four runs and a wicket off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908729256531955712

Imad Wasim to start his new over.

WXI 49-3 (7 overs)

Just seven off the over. Not a bad start from the left-arm spinner.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908728132177416193

Mohammad Nawaz to start his first over.

WXI 42-3 (6 overs)

Maiden over. Brilliant bowling from the left-armer.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908727487408066560

Rumman Raees to start his first over.

WXI 42-3 (5 overs)

Just five runs and two wickets off the over. Great one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908725941765013505

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908725620292689920

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908725165340741633

Hasan Ali to start his first over.

WXI 37-1 (4 overs)

Fourteen off the over. Great one for World XI.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908724566255652865

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908724319290785792

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908723886489038850

Shinwari to continue.

WXI 23-1 (3 overs)

Eight off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908723052107747329

Imad Wasim to continue.

WXI 15-1 (2 overs)

Just two runs and a wicket off the over. Brilliant bowling from the left-armer.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908722411364929537

Usman Khan Shinwari to bowl his first over of the day.

WXI 13-0 (1 over)

Thirteen off the over. Great start for World XI.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908720969707065344

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908720802744455168

It’s Tamim Iqbal and Hashim Amla to open for World XI, whereas it’s Imad Wasim to start for Pakistan.

So that’s it from us for now. We will join you for the second half soon.

PAK 183-4 (20 overs)

Just eight runs and two wickets off the over. Great finish for the World XI.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908716317519306755

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908715805600305153

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908715619733917696

Thisara Perera to start his new over.

PAK 175-2 (19 overs)

Eleven off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908714758559412225

Morkel to start his final over.

PAK 164-2 (18 overs)

Twenty two runs and a wicket off the over. Brilliant over for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908713641746341890

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908712835152273408

Ben Cutting to start his new over.

PAK 142-1 (17 overs)

Fifteen off the over. The best of the innings for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908711505864089601

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908710611239960577

Morne Morkel to start his new over.

PAK 127-1 (16 overs)

Ten off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908708941617598466

Perera to start his new over.

PAK 117-1 (15 overs)

Ten off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908708522409545728

Imran Tahir to start his new over.

PAK 107-1 (14 overs)

Just six off the over. Good one for World XI.

Thisara Perera to start his new over.

PAK 101-1 (13 overs)

Six off the over. Good one for World XI.

Sammy to start his final over.

PAK 95-1 (12 overs)

Ten off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908704949516800001

Samuel Badree to start his new over.

PAK 85-1 (11 overs)

Nine off the over. Good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908703738432557056

Sammy to start his new over.

PAK 76-1 (10 overs)

Ten off the over, finally good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908702744302800900

Imran Tahir start his second over.

PAK 66-1 (9 overs)

Seven runs and a wicket off the over. Good one for the visitors.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908701484870782976

Sammy to start his second over.

PAK 59-0 (8 overs)

Six off the over. Another good over for World XI.

Imran Tahir to start his new over.

PAK 53-0 (7 overs)

Just two off the over. Good one for World XI.

Darren Sammy to star his first over.

PAK 51-0 (6 overs)

Thirteen off the over. Best over of the innings so far for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908698403785363457

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908697746609201154

Thisara Perera to start his first over.

PAK 38-0 (5 overs)

Just four off the over. Another good one for World XI.

Ben Cutting to start his first over.

PAK 34-0 (4 overs)

Six off the over. Another good one for World XI.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908695387111923718

Morkel to continue.

PAK 28-0 (3 overs)

Just six off the over. Good one for World XI.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908694722750894081

Badree to continue.

PAK 22-0 (2 overs)

Ten off the over. Another good one for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908693364043866112

Morne Morkel to start his first over of the day.

PAK 12-0 (1 over)

Twelve off the over. Great start for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports/status/908692440835600384

It’s Ahmad Shahzad and Fakhar Zaman to open for Pakistan, whereas leg-spinner Samuel Badree to start for West Indies.

So the team news is pacer Hasan Ali comes in for Pakistan in place of Sohail Khan, whereas for World XI, George Bailey and Darren Sammy replaces Paul Collingwood and Tim Paine.

TOSS: The news from the middle is World XI captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bowl first.