President's Trophy Final in Pakistan's domestic cricket cup sets odd timings, playing till 2:30 AM to catch attention

Some history is being made in Pakistan during the ongoing final of the President’s Trophy, the nation’s domestic first-class tournament. The match is being played under lights with a pink ball, a first in Pakistan, as the players are observing Ramadan.

The fast has meant that the matches are being played with some strange session timings, leading to an entire session being played after midnight, with stumps being called at 2:30 AM local time.

The match is being played between Pakistan Television and State Bank of Pakistan, both of whom finished on 149 points in the group stage thanks to 5 wins, two losses, and one draw each.

The match is being played at the Rawalpindi Stadium, with the entirety of day’s play taking place after the fast is broken during Iftar, after sundown. The first session starts at 7:30 PM PKT, with a pink ball being used in a first for Pakistan domestic cricket.

The session timing sees a tea break at 9:30 PM, before the second session takes place between 9:50 and 11:50. The final session only begins at 12:20 AM.

Shakeel timed out in strange circumstance

The strange session timings also led to an extremely rare occurrence, which saw what must be a first for high-level cricket as SBP lost four wickets in the space of just three deliveries. SBP were batting on 128-1 when fast bowler Muhammad Shahzad took two wickets in two deliveries.

The next wicket fell as Pakistan batter Saud Shakeel, was timed out, marking only the seventh time this has occurred in first class cricket. Shakeel, who scored a half-century against India in the ICC Champions Trophy, is the first Pakistan batter to be dismissed in this manner.

However, to make matters even stranger, Muhammad Shahzad completed a hat-trick off the very next ball, meaning in the space of three deliveries SBP had gone from 128-1 to 128-5. Their innings wouldn’t get going from that point, as they only put up 205.

Muhammad Shahzad’s fine match would continue as he brought up a century in the batting innings for PTV, with Waqar Hussain also scoring a century as PTV put up a score of 317 in their effort to take a strong first innings lead.

PTV were then able to use a late tilt at their opponents to take a wicket in the late-night session, leaving SBP on 37-1 at stumps on day 2.

ICC Champions Trophy , ICC Champions Trophy Schedule , and Champions Trophy 2025 Points Table – stay ahead with real-time match updates, team standings, and insights. Check live cricket score , player stats, and ICC rankings of top players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli . Get expert analysis, match previews, and in-depth coverage of ICC CT 2025, IPL 2025 Schedule and IPL 2025, all on HT Crickit, powered by Hindustan Times – your trusted source for cricket news along with India vs New Zealand Live Score. .freemium-card h4{color:#fff; padding-bottom:20px;} .freemium-card .freemium-content .subcTxt{padding-bottom:16px; color:#fff;} .freemium-card .freemium-content{width: auto; max-width: inherit;} .freemium-card .freemium-content .subcTxt{max-width:inherit; font-size:18px; padding-top:0; line-height:24px} .freemium-card .btnSubc{margin} .freemium-card .btnSubc a{background:#000; color:#fff; min-width:auto; padding:5px 15px; border-radius:6px; font-size:16px; line-height:22px; font-weight:700;} .freemium-card{height:285px} @media (max-width: 767px) { .freemium-card h4{font-size:28px} .freemium-card .freemium-content{max-width:360px; padding: 20px;} .freemium-card{height:303px; background-position: 100% 0; } }