Historic President’s Trophy Final Features Pink Ball and Rare Timed-Out Dismissal
Pakistan’s President’s Trophy final is rewriting the record books with the use of a pink ball under lights, a move necessitated by the ongoing Ramadan fast.
The match, played at Rawalpindi Stadium, has seen unconventional session timings, with some sessions stretching well past midnight and play concluding at 2:30 AM local time.
The final is contested between Pakistan Television (PTV) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), with both teams finishing the group stage tied on points.
In this historic fixture, play begins at 7:30 PM PKT after Iftar, with the first session followed by a tea break at 9:30 PM. The second session continues until 11:50 PM, and the final session starts at 12:20 AM.
Read More: Saud Shakeel Falls to Rare Timed-Out Dismissal in President’s Trophy Final
This altered schedule led to an extraordinary cricketing event: SBP lost four wickets in the space of just three deliveries.
Fast bowler Muhammad Shahzad took two wickets in consecutive balls, and a third fell when Pakistan batter Saud Shakeel was timed out — a rare dismissal in first-class cricket, occurring for only the seventh time in history.
Shahzad completed a remarkable hat-trick with the very next delivery, reducing SBP from 128-1 to 128-5. The team eventually finished their first innings with 205 runs.
In reply, PTV’s Shahzad and Waqar Hussain scored centuries, guiding their team to a total of 317.
