Western Sydney United

Great start to 2016 Asia Cup with a win over Khalsa CC for our boys. Great team effort with a blazing start from Ikram Ahmed and great cameos from Bilal and Talal with Azeem Hameed finishing off with 2 consecutive SIXES to take it home. Once again Abdul Muhaimin was leading attack the bowling with great spells from Bilal and Qasim. Celebrated the win with Birthday Boy Bilal Fouzi

Western Sydney United is excited to announce their participation in 1st 2016 Asia Cup being played in the Parramatta region with the following squad:

Badar Asif (c)
Usman Malik
Ikram Ahmed
Bilal Fouzi
Talal Shah
Zayd Hameed
Usman Dodhy
Ali Hayder
Mohammad Qasim Butt
Azeem Hameed
Abdul Muhaimin
Murtaza Ahmed

Reserves:
Hassan Qureshi
Prince Bedi

Special thanks to Sam Singh and the Asia Cup team for organising this wonderful friendly tournament in the Western Suburbs of Sydney.

Western Sydney United has started this summer's Asia Cup with a strong statement. Scoring 200 runs in 25 overs and bowling the other team for just 77 runs. Batting was propelled by a quick 44 from Ikram Ahmed with decenr contributions from Zayd Hameed, Hassan Qureshi and Usman Dodhy. Bowling stars were Abdul Muhaimin with 4 wickets, Talal Shah with his deadly pace and miserly economy claimed 2 wickets for just 7 runs in 5 overs and upcoming bowler Azeem Hameed claimed 2 wickets too. An all round team performance saw them to a convincing victory. Abdul Muhaimin was the man of the match for his 4 wickets. Which he generously shared with Azeem Hameed for his bowling and soccer skills on the field.

Some clicks from the 2nd game of this year's winter cricket cup. A couple of big shots by Bilal Fouzi were captured here.

The boys in green came back with a convincing win to beat Predators in a one man show by allrounder Azeem Hameed. Loosing the toss and bowling first, a much more disciplined opening spell from Bilal Fouzi and Irshad Mulla, leaking only 22 in the first 4, laid the foundation for the fury to follow. The fury of the ferocious Azeem. Bowling spells well over 80 mp/h the WSU quickie quickly forced the opposition on the backfoot before sweeping the stage right form underneath their feet. His figures of 2-7 after 4, including 1 maiden, were well backed up by Abdul Muhaimin and the leggie Mohammad Qasim who both claimed a wicket each, the former being much more econimcal. But Qasim wasn't the only spinner who hurt the opposition only to get targeted back, Usman Malik also claimed his prize at a near identical economy rate. The increased pressure from successive wicket loss, proved too much for the Predators resulting in further two runouts, courtesy of some brilliant fielding by Ashir Khan and keeper Shahid Rafique. A much more constructed approach by captain Badar Asif and a decline from more than 50 to 27 sundries further helped restrict Predators to a total of 130/7.

From their, the journey was all but too easy. Until the predators struck only in the second over to remove the danger man Ali Hayder for none more than 7, shifting momentum back into the favor of Predators, for none knew how the WSU batsmen would respond to this. Would history (more like last week) repeat itself? A quick, unanticipated cameo from Bilal Fouzi however, helped sway the momentum back in his side's favour, boosting WSU from 1-9 after 2 overs, to 1-47 after 6 before the Predators claimed his wicket. Umair Raja followed, and in a good old fashioned WSU way, struck a 6 before being falling victim to LBW in a span of no more than 7 balls. Panick struck the dressing room, perhaps this would be another collapse. Maybe last week would repeat itself. The talented quickie Talal however, showed that his batting talent far exceeds just leaving deliveries onto the stumps and showed some class to finish the game off with a humongous SIX over mid-wicket. Scoring 41 off just 29 deliveries, WSU had no one to thank more than the opener Usman Malik who scored his maiden 50 of the season, in just the second game, helping WSU get over the line in a poised fashion. The innings lasted just 17.5 overs with a comfortable 7 wickets in hand.

The only question remains, can the boys continue this disciplined form into the coming big games? Only time will tell .... And did I hear a star performer returning this weekend for WSU? Can you guess who it is?

Some snaps from the first challenging WSU game against the Punjab CC

Western Sydney United has started their winter T20 season in a challenging way with a big blow to their squad by a thumb injury to Hassan Qureshi, a key allrounder. The WCC's first game was played last weekend and the team struggled in all areas of the game, maybe it was rustiness or just a bad day. They were one of the favorites going into the tournament but a thumping victory by Punjab CC has left them vulnerable exposing the inconsistency of their team. Can they make a comeback in the next game against the Predators, who also suffered a loss in the first round?
Players to watch out would be the debutant wicketkeeper Shahid Rafique and the lighting quick allrounder Talal Shah who was quite unlucky in the first game.

The team enjoying at the Pak vs Bangladesh warm up game supporting Team Pakistan

An intense day night ODI went down the wire, played on the beautiful Bruce Purser Oval

Western Sydney United giving a bit of insight on the team plans at the tournament launch