LAHORE – Pakistan outclassed Afghanistan 21-1 in the inaugural match of the 1st SAARC Baseball Cup 2011, which commenced here at the Punjab Stadium on Tuesday. The home team thrashed the Afghan pitchers from the very beginning, reaching a score of 14 in the first innings. Batters Arshad Khan and Farooq Khan batted with authority and scored two runs each, with one home run. Sumair, Imtiaz, Zubair Nawaz, Arif Iftikhar, and Asif also made useful contributions. They scored 2 runs each.
In the second innings, Pakistani batters continued to dominate, but this time less aggressively. They scored six runs. Iftikhar scored a home run. The hit was so huge that the ball landed outside the stadium. Imtiaz, Arshad, Farooq Khan, Mohammed Arif and Asif also scored one run each. The match ended in the third innings when Zafar hit a home run to take the total to 21. Afghanistan’s Nisar scored a consolatory home run in the third innings.
Earlier, Baseball Federation of Asia Secreaty General Hyun Lee, President SAARC Baseball Federation and Pakistan Baseball Federation Shaukat Javed met the players of both teams. Waheed Akhtar Ansari, Additional Secretary Sports Punjab and Chairman Reception Committee were also present. Sri Lanka will face Nepal today at 3:00pm.
