Pakistan's ICC World Twenty20 squad members were given a rest from the RBS 20-20 Cup final, which was contested tonight between the Lahore Lions and the Sialkot Stallions.

The Stallions' skipper, Shoaib Malik, along with the Lions' openers Salman Butt and Ahmed Shehzad, and Kamran Akmal were given a day off before they fly out to England, along with the rest of the squad, tomorrow.

Imran Nazir stepped in for Shoaib Malik and captained the Stallions, taking them to their 4th consecutive domestic twenty20 title.

Batting first, the Lions posted 150 on the back of a typical Imran Farhat knock of 47 off 27 deliveries (6 fours, 2 sixes).

Imran Nazir was once again at the top of his game and took the match away from the Lions with his 3rd fifty in 4 matches. Nazir smashed the Lions around for a 26 ball 57 that included 3 sixes and 6 fours.

Nazir posted his 50 off only 17 deliveries, which was one of the fastest 50s in all twenty20 cricket. But he couldn't better his 2005 effort of 14 balls.

Imran Nazir's awesome form in the 20-20 cup, which he ended as the leading run scorer (211 runs in 4 innings at an average of 70), is a reminder to the selectors of what they are missing. He needs to be whisked away from domestic cricket and hurled back into the Pakistan ranks asap!

He wasn't the only "ICL rebel" who reminded the PCB selectors of where they had wronged in the past; Abdul Razzak was the leading wicket taker of the RBS Cup with 11 wickets in 5 matches, and well ahead of all others.

Something to think about PCB selectors!

For all those who keep doubting Kamran Akmal behind the stumps, here's a little something to think about: no one in Pakistan's domestic circles comes close to him when it comes to wicket keeping.

Before this RBS Cup got underway, PIA and Habib Bank were tied on a record 16 national one day titles.

Today, PIA went one up.

They beat the favorites National Bank of Pakistan by 59 runs to clinch their 17th record one day title.

Batting first, PIA posted 315 on the back of Shoaib Malik's explosive 96 of 80 deliveries and Yasir Hameed's 91.

Sarfraz Ahmed, the benched keeper gave PIA a flying start with a 40 ball 56.

In response NBP could manage only 256 as their attacking opening pair of Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed failed to get going.

A 4th wicket stand of 132 between Umar Amin (68) and Fawad Alam (74) threatened PIA but Aizaz Cheema's medium pace won the day for the champs as he finished with figures of 5-37 off 9 overs.

With the one-day cup over and a few good performances on display, it gives Pakistan a good platform to select the squad for the ODIs against Australia.

All of Pakistan's international stars were in good form throughout the competition.

Younis Khan - 299 runs in 5 innings at 99.67 with 1 fifty and a century.

Salman Butt - 505 runs in 7 innings at 126.25 with 1 fifty and 3 centuries.

Shoaib Malik - 241 runs in 6 innings at 48.20 with 2 fifties.

Misbah Ul Haq - 172 runs in 4 innings at 57.33 with 2 fifties.

Shahid Afridi - 167 runs in 5 innings at 41.75 with 2 fifties. Strike Rate? 133.60 - what else could you expect?

The bowling remains a worry as none of Pakistan's frontline pacers had a good outing while the likes of Uzair Ul Haq, Tariq Haroon, Asad Ali, Mohammad Aamer, and Mohammad Sami (The ICL Rebel) had very good tournaments.

Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, and Iftikhar Anjum were largely listless or absent.

Shoaib Akhtar turned up for a few matches for KRL and bowled economically without making much of an impact.

Shahid Afridi was his usual self picking up 7 wickets at 22.00 in 5 outings.

The fringe batsmen also impressed during the competition with Khalid Latif seriously pressing his claims to that 1 opening slot, which thus far has been filled by Khurram Manzoor or Nasir Jamshed.

Khalid Latif was the 2nd highest run scorer with 455 runs in 5 innings with 3 centuries including the record breaking 204*.

Khurram Manzoor did his chances no harm by scoring 246 runs in 6 innings with 3 fifties.

Nasir Jamshed had a poor tournament though managing only 153 runs in 7 innings.

Fawad Alam continued his awesome domestic run that has lasted for almost 5 years now, with his 246 runs coming at 46.40 with the help of 3 fifties.

While Sarfraz Ahmed displayed his batting prowess opening the innings for PIA in the competition and scoring 251 runs at an average of 50.20 and a strike rate of 125.20! His 6 innings included 4 fifties.

Opener and a keeper and a better balanced ODI XI?

The selectors have a task on their hands.

A number of international players as well as future prospects will be on show when PIA, who have won the National One Day Championship for a record 16 times, faces National Bank of Pakistan in the final the RBS Cup.

It will be some sight when Shoaib Malik (PIA) and Kamran Akmal (NBP) walk out for the toss tomorrow.

Shoaib Malik has with him the likes of Khurram Manzoor, Yasir Hameed, Sarfraz Ahmed, Najaf Shah, Anwar Ali, and Fazl-e-Akbar.

While Kamran Akmal will be leading Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Fawad Alam, Umar Amin, Wahab Riaz, and the future of Pakistan's pace attack - Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Talha.

Both PIA and NBP cruised through the group stages winning all but one of their matches and easily getting past the Mutlan Tigers and Lahore Lions in the semis respectively.

Salman Butt has been in fine form for NBP during the competition and is also the leading run scorer with 497 runs in 6 innings with 3 fifties and an unbeaten 150.

While Uzair Haq of NBP, a 22 year old pacer playing his 2nd season of List A cricket, is the leading wicket taker of the competition with 15 wickets in 6 matches.

While for PIA its been Khurram Manzoor, Yasir Hameed, and Sarfraz Ahmed who have been in good touch throughout the tournament.

On current form I would tip NBP to win the RBS Cup, but when it comes to domestic titles Shoaib Malik has had a lot of luck lately.

Should be an interesting game tomorrow.

Salman Butt, the Pakistan opener, smashed an unbeaten 92 off only 25 deliveries for National Bank of Pakistan in their RBS Cup match against Lahore Eagles.

Yes 25!

If he got to 100, it would have been faster than Shahid Afridi's, which came off 37 deliveries.

I've seen that Afridi innings. To imagine an innings more attacking than that one is nothing short of extraordinary.

What's really special about Butt's innings is that he unleashed 16 boundaries and 4 sixes in his innings of 92.

Thats 20 scoring shots for 88 runs!

He faced another 5 deliveries and scored another 4 runs, so he hardly had any non-scoring strokes in this belligerent innings.

At the receiving end was Usman Sarwar, who unfortunately was playing his first List A game.

After figures of 3-0-78-0, he must be wishing he hadn't.

The result?

NBP chased 122 in only 6 overs.

Pakistan's domestic ond day competition, the Royal Bank of Scotland Cup, started a week ago in various centres around the country.

I haven't been able to cover the competition till now, besides Khalid Latif's awesome double ton, but have got enough info now from different places to update you guys.

Captaincy Musical Chairs

The tournament began with some confusion regarding the captain of a couple of teams.

When the squads were announced for PIA and Habib Bank, the 2 leading teams in Pakistan's domestic one-day history with 13 titles each, Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan were slated to captain them, respectively.

Shoaib Malik declined to captain PIA and the next day it was announced that Faisal Iqbal would captain the team.

However, when their first match against KRL took place, it was in fact Shoaib Malik who led the team.

While Younis Khan was supposed to captain Habib Bank, in their first match against WAPDA, Younis asked Shahid Afridi to lead the team.

So the former Pakistan captain is leading his side, but the current Pakistan captain is not.

Strangeness.

ICL Returnees

The RBS Cup is also the first domestic outing for Pakistan's ICL recruits with a number of them returning to their domestic teams, while others joining new departments.

Mohammad Yousuf was roped in to captain WAPDA and failed in his first domestic match in over a year as he was dismissed by Afridi for only 5.

Rana Naveed, Shabbir Ahmed, and Shahid Yousuf also turned out for WAPDA under Mohammad Yousuf.

They might as well have been called the Lahore Badshahs!

While Imran Farhat, Hasan Raza, and Humayun Farhat turned out for Habib Bank, whom they have played for since their first class debuts.

All 7 ICL returnees turned out in the same match as Habib Bank took on WAPDA.

Abdul Razzak made a succesful return to domestic cricket while leading his team, ZTBL, to a comfortable victory over Pak Customs.

Razzak, who is captaining ZTBL, first bowled a good spell with figures of 1-46 and then smashed an unbeaten 60 off 47 deliveries to complete their chase with over 11 overs to spare.

Mohammad Sami returned to his home team, the Karachi Dolphins, and had an immediate impact with figures of 4-50 in his first game against Abbotabad.

Current Standings

The 20 teams - 12 regions and 8 departments have been divided into 4 groups.

Multan Tigers, who besides Abdur Rauf have no big name in their line up, are leading Group A; having won all their 4 matches thus far.

Islamabad Leopards and Faisalabad Wolves, with 1 win each, are jointly at the top of group B, with the Leopards slightly ahead on NRR.

PIA and ZTBL are leading Group C with PIA ahead on NRR.

While Habib Bank, Lahore Eagles, and National Bank are on top in Group D having won their only match in the competition this far. Habib Bank is ahead on NRR.

Khalid Latif, the Pakistan under 19 world cup winning skipper, who played a couple of ODIs for Pakistan last year, knocked a superb double century in today's RBS Cup game between the Karachi Dolphins and the Quetta Bears.

Batting first, the Dolphins piled on 364-2 in their 50 overs with Khalid carrying his bat and scoring an unbeaten 204.

Khalid faced 163 deliveries for his knock and smashed 19 boundaries and 7 sixes.

This is the 2nd double century in domestic one day games in Pakistan, following Mohammad Ali's effort of 207 in the 2004-05 season.

Khalid's score is also the 5th highest score in all List A cricket and will fit in between Alvin Kallicharan's and Alistair Brown's in this list.

Khalid, who is captaining the dolphins in the ongoing RBS Cup, continued his good form in the competition with his 204* following his match winning 105 in the previous match against the Rawal Pindi Rams.

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