Shadab’s Greens face Shaheen's Gold for National Champions Cup

Shadab Khan-led Rivaj Pakistan Greens won all three of their league stage games and aim to finish as champions in the final of the Al Batal Presents University of Lahore National Champions Cuo 2026-27 at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Greens will be faced by Shaheen Shah Afridi’s Sparco Pakistan Gold, who made the best use of a slim opportunity to qualify for the final with a thumping and net run rate-boosting win over UOL Pakistan Whites on Sunday. The final will be live-streamed on Tapmad and Tamasha in Pakistan, on PCB YouTube channel overseas and will be broadcast on PTV Sports.

In the previous fixture between Gold and Greens, the latter romped to a 128-run win with the help of Fakhar Zaman’s century and three wickets for Mohammad Hasnain. Among Gold batters, only Shamyl Hussain had threatened with a quick fifty, while Shaheen and Abdul Subhan had picked up three wickets each.

On Tuesday, Gold’s major challenge with the ball will be to stop Fakhar, who sits atop the run charts with 238 runs off two games, in which he scored as many centuries facing a total of 209 balls. Farhan Yousuf, Omair Yousuf and Shadab himself will be the other threats with the bat.

Greens will welcome back Naseem Shah who had rested in their last league match and has taken four wickets in two games. Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Salman Mirza and Hasnain form a well-rounded pace attack for the Greens that will be complimented by the leg-spin of Shadab and left-arm spin of Mehran Mumtaz.

As for Gold, they will look up to Shamyl Hussain to provide a fiery start with the bat and Haider Ali and Saad Khan to emulate their match-winning alliance from their must-win game against Whites. Kamran Ghulam is also capable of absorbing pressure in the middle overs.

Abdul Samad, Mohammad Imran and Razaullah provide lower order batting firepower to Gold. Apart from Shaheen, who won player of the match award for his three wickets in last match, the Gold will rely on Razaullah’s raw pace and Faisal Akram’s left-arm wrist-spin.

On the tactics board, it will also be a tussle between head coaches Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan Gold) and Ijaz Ahmed Jnr (Pakistan Greens), who have spent a lot of time in the same dressing rooms during their playing and coaching career.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Captain Pakistan Gold: “The first two games were not in favour but we then sensed an opportunity to qualify and had planned to bowl first to make the most of it. Our players put in a lot of effort against Whites. The Greens are playing really well and Fakhar’s batting has made matches one-sided.

“The tournament has been very good and we have seen a couple of close games as well. It has helped us gauge the fitness of players as well. The tournament has also served its purpose of helping us test out pool of players as part of the ODI World Cup preparations.”

Shadab Khan, Captain Pakistan Greens: “Our attitude in the field has been really good and I feel our team had enough players who knew the local conditions well and also built on the work done in the recent NCA white-ball camp. Whole team has put in a great effort and for me they all standout.

“We will try to keep things simple in tomorrow’s final while also knowing that a team like Gold that got into the final through a small opportunity can be dangerous. I feel my bowling is also improving gradually and with the bat I try to stand up whenever the team needs me.”

Pakistan Greens:

Shadab Khan (captain), Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Farhan Yousuf, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saad Baig (wicket-keeper) and Sameer Minhas

Reserves: Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Amir Khan and Mohammad Suleman

Pakistan Gold:

Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abdul Samad, Abdul Subhan, Faisal Akram, Haider Ali, Kamran Ghulam, Muhammad Akhlaq (wicket-keeper), Muhammad Imran, Saad Khan and Shamyl Hussain

Reserves: Razaullah, Muhammad Imran Jnr and Khawaja Muhammad Nafay