# 1996–97 Singer Akai Cup

The 1997 Singer Akai Cup was held in Sharjah, UAE, between April 3-11, 1997. Three national teams took part: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe.
The 1997 Singer Akai Cup started with a double round-robin tournament where each team played the other twice. The two leading teams qualified for the final. Sri Lanka won the tournament and US$40,000. Runners-up Pakistan won US$25,000 and Zimbabwe US$10,000.
The beneficiaries of the tournament were Waqar Younis and Saeed Ahmed who each received US$35,000, and Aslam Khokhar, Israr Ali and Zulfiqar Ahmed (all Pakistan) who each received US$10,000.

## Squads
### Pakistan

* Wasim Akram (captain)
* Rameez Raja
* Sajid Ali
* Ijaz Ahmed
* Shahid Afridi
* Inzamam-ul-Haq
* Saleem Malik
* Mohammad Wasim
* Mushtaq Ahmed
* Moin Khan (wicket-keeper)
* Saqlain Mushtaq
* Waqar Younis
* Mohammad Zahid
* Shahid Nazir

### Sri Lanka

* Arjuna Ranatunga (captain)
* Sanath Jayasuriya
* Romesh Kaluwitharana (wicket-keeper)
* Marvan Atapattu
* Aravinda de Silva
* Hashan Tillakaratne
* Roshan Mahanama
* Ruwan Kalpage
* Kumar Dharmasena
* Chaminda Vaas
* Upul Chandana
* Muttiah Muralitharan
* Nuwan Zoysa
* Sajeewa de Silva

### Zimbabwe

* Alistair Campbell (captain)
* Andy Flower (vice-captain/wicket-keeper/coach)
* Eddo Brandes
* Stuart Carlisle
* Grant Flower
* Everton Matambanadzo
* JA Rennie
* Bryan Strang
* Paul Strang
* Heath Streak
* Dirk Viljoen
* Andy Whittall
* Guy Whittall
* Craig Wishart

## Matches
### Group stage

| Team | P | W | L | T | NR | NRR | Points |
| Sri Lanka | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +0.197 | 6 |
| Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +0.275 | 4 |
| Zimbabwe | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -0.455 | 2 |
* 3 April 1997 Scorecard
| Zimbabwe 187/9 (50 overs) | v | Sri Lanka 188/3 (45.4 overs) |
| A Flower 38 (61) PA Strang 38 (52) WPUJC Vaas 3/25 (10 overs) | | PA de Silva 60 (81) GW Flower 1/15 (4.4 overs) |
* Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: DB Cowie (NZ) and RS Dunne (NZ) Player of the match: PA de Silva (SL)
* Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field.
* DP Viljoen (ZIM) made his ODI debut.
* 4 April 1997 Scorecard
| Sri Lanka 243/8 (50 overs) | v | Pakistan 224/9 (50 overs) |
| PA de Silva 97 (137) Saqlain Mushtaq 3/47 (10 overs) | | Shahid Afridi 67 (55) M Muralitharan 3/38 (10 overs) |
* Sri Lanka won by 19 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: RS Dunne (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: PA de Silva (SL)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to field.
* 6 April 1997 Scorecard
| Pakistan 187 (50 overs) | v | Zimbabwe 94 (31.4 overs) |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq 46 (68) HH Streak 3/37 (10 overs) | | CB Wishart 29 (38) Mushtaq Ahmed 2/20 (7 overs) |
* Pakistan won by 93 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: DB Cowie (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* 7 April 1997 Scorecard
| Sri Lanka 251/7 (50 overs) | v | Pakistan 200 (45.4 overs) |
| PA de Silva 134 (131) Saqlain Mushtaq 2/42 (10 overs) Saleem Malik 2/42 (9 overs) | | Inzamam-ul-Haq 62 (66) HDPK Dharmasena 3/27 (9.4 overs) |
* Sri Lanka won by 51 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: DB Cowie (NZ) and RS Dunne (NZ) Player of the match: PA de Silva (SL)
* Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.
* 8 April 1997 Scorecard
| Zimbabwe 203 (49.5 overs) | v | Sri Lanka 153 (46.1 overs) |
| GJ Whittall 44 (59) RS Kalpage 3/38 (9 overs) | | RS Mahanama 42 (70) HH Streak 2/12 (8.1 overs) |
* Zimbabwe won by 50 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: RS Dunne (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: GJ Whittall (ZIM)
* Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.
* 9 April 1997 Scorecard
| Pakistan 151/9 (50 overs) | v | Zimbabwe 119 (40.1 overs) |
| Moin Khan 61 (97) HH Streak 4/18 (10 overs) | | A Flower 28 (54) Mushtaq Ahmed 4/27 (10 overs) |
* Pakistan won by 32 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: DB Cowie (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: Moin Khan (PAK)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

### Final

* 11 April 1997 Scorecard
| Pakistan 214 (49.2 overs) | v | Sri Lanka 215/6 (49.2 overs) |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq 61 (75) M Muralitharan 3/42 (10 overs) | | PA de Silva 87* (124) Saqlain Mushtaq 2/41 (10 overs) |
* Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: RS Dunne (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: PA de Silva (SL)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.