FAISALABAD, Oct 1: Scintillating centuries by opener Salman Butt and stand-in skipper Naved Latif laid the foundation of Pakistan ‘A’s comprehensive one-day series victory over Sri Lanka ‘A’ here Tuesday.

Pakistan ‘A’ cantered to a 92-run triumph in the second game of the three-match rubber at Iqbal Stadium, following their win by 51 runs in the opening tie at Multan last week.

Salman (113) and Naved (116) helped Pakistan ‘A’ to a massive 326 for three in 50 overs. Sri Lanka ‘A’, in reply, were bowled out for 234 in 39.3 overs after being docked two overs for slow over rate.

Electing to bat first on a easy paced strip, Pakistan ‘A’ sent the tourists on a leather chase as Salman Butt and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal began with an opening partnership of 108 in 18.2 overs.

Kamran fell after making 56 off 57 deliveries, hitting six fours and one six.

Naved, who was deputising for Moin Khan, continued his fine form by smashing 116 off just 101 balls while putting on 172 for the second wicket with Salman.

Salman, the 18-year-old left-hander, perished after making a 129-ball 113 which included 10 boundaries.

Man-of-the-Match Naved, who made 89 off 83 balls in the Multan game, slammed four sixes and 10 fours before he caught by Sri Lankan captain Thilan Samaraweera off pacer Chamila Gamage.

The only redeeming feature in the Sri Lankan innings was the batting of Jehan Mubarak, Naveed Nawaz and Kaushal Lokuarachchi. Mubarak and Nawaz hit fifties while adding 111 for the third wicket.

Mubarak top-scored with 68 off 54 balls, stroking 11 fours and one six. Nawaz contributed 63 off 74 balls with the aid of four fours and one six.

Late in the innings, Lokuarachchi struck a breezy 40. His 32-ball cameo was laced with five hits to the fence.

Qaiser Abbas, the slow left-armer, claimed three for 52 — including the left-handed duo of Mubarak and Nawaz — while paceman Umar Gul and Babar Naeem chipped in with two wickets apiece for 38 and 32 runs respectively.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN ‘A’:

Salman Butt c Gamage b Jayasinghe 113

Kamran Akmal c L’rachchi b R’singhe 56

Naved Latif c S’weera b Gamage 116

Qaiser Abbas not out 14

Yasir Hameed not out 2

EXTRAS (LB-9, W-15, NB-1) 25

TOTAL (for three wkts, 50 overs) 326

FALL OF WKTS: 1-108, 2-290, 3-318.

DID NOT BAT: Saeed bin Nasir, Babar Naeem, Yasir Arafat, Irfanuddin, Junaid Zia, Umar Gul.

BOWLING: Ranjith 10-0-58-0 (1nb, 3w); Jayasinghe 8-0-54-1 (1w); Gamage 10-0-63-1 (1w); Samaraweera 6-0-34-0 (2w); Rupasinghe 8-0-53-1; Lokuarachchi 8-0-55-0.

SRI LANKA ‘A’:

M.G. Vandort b Y. Arafat 9

J. Mubarak c Umar b Qaiser 68

D.A. Gunawardena b Umar 3

M.N. Nawaz b Qaiser 63

C.U. Jayasinghe c and b Irfan 1

B.M.A.J. Mendis c Naved b Qaiser 12

T.T. Samaraweera b Babar 24

K.S. Lokuarachchi lbw b Y. Arafat 40

C. Gamage run out 2

P.N. Ranjith lbw b Babar 6

N.S. Rupasinghe not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-1, NB-1) 5

TOTAL (all out, 39.3 overs) 234

FALL OF WKTS: 1-9, 2-12, 3-123, 4-124, 5-154, 6-173, 7-193, 8-200, 9-232.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 6-1-48-1 (1nb, 1w); Yasir Arafat 7-0-38-2; Irfanuddin 5-1-20-1; Junaid Zia 2-0-24-0; Qaiser Abbas 10-0-52-3; Salman Butt 4-0-17-0; Babar Naeem 5.3-0-32-2.

RESULT: Pakistan ‘A’ won by 92 runs.

UMPIRES: Afzaal Ahmed and Shakeel Khan.

TV UMPIRE: Zafar Iqbal Pasha.

MATCH REFEREE: Musaddeq Rasool.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Naved Latif.

FIRST MATCH: Multan, Pakistan ‘A’ won by 51 runs.

THIRD MATCH: Lahore, Thursday.

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