MANCHESTER (England), June 17: Pakistan handed a new-look England side a harsh lesson as they restricted the home side to 204 for nine off 50 overs in their first One-day International on Tuesday.
The home side made a bright start but leaked wickets regularly, Shoaib Malik taking three for 26 with his off spin and Mohammad Sami hurrying all the batsmen with his searing pace, as they slumped from 106 for three.
Vikram Solanki, back after a three-year international exile, scored an attractive if risky 36 as 50 came off the first eight overs as England opted to bat in the Old Trafford day-nighter.
But the key dismissals were those of the team’s most seasoned batsmen, Marcus Trescothick (18), new skipper Michael Vaughan (27) and Andrew Flintoff (39) all making starts but failing to push on.
England looked well placed before Vaughan, having faced 34 deliveries, looked to run the ball to third man and edged seamer Umar Gul tamely behind.
The innings was then strangled by some fine bowling and by some shrewd captaincy from Rashid Latif as 26 runs came off 10 overs in mid-innings.
Flintoff, batting at five and dropped twice, threatened with a swept boundary off Malik’s spin before rifling an Abdul Razzaq delivery back past the bowler. But he then needlessly pulled the same bowler straight to deep square leg.
Four wickets fell for 17 as Pakistan, themselves with a new-looking team but with much more experience in their ranks, took complete control.
All-rounder Rikki Clarke was bowled for a second-ball duck on his debut, naively exposing his stumps by sweeping at Malik while wicketkeeper Chris Read holed out with another sweep.
Left-handed batsman James Troughton only managed six but Anthony McGrath, the third one-day debutant, played sensibly for a back-to-the-wall 33.
ENGLAND:
M.E. Trescothick c Rashid b Sami 18
V.S. Solanki b Hafeez 36
M.P. Vaughan c Rashid b Umar Gul 27
J.O. Troughton c Rashid b Umar Gul 6
A. Flintoff c Yasir b Razzaq 39
A. McGrath c Sami b Shoaib Malik 33
R. Clarke b Shoaib Malik 0
C.M.W. Read c Imran b Shoaib Malik 5
A.F. Giles run out 3
D. Gough not out 14
J.M. Anderson not out 6
EXTRAS (LB-6, W-6, NB-5) 17
TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 204
FALL OF WKTS: 1-45, 2-64, 3-96, 4-106, 5-152, 6-152, 7-164, 8-169, 9-194.
BOWLING: Azhar Mahmood 7-0-24-0; Mohammad Sami 10-2-52-1; Mohammad Hafeez 10-0-41-1; Umar Gul 7-0-33-2; Abdul Razzaq 6-0-22-1; Shoaib Malik 10-2-26-3.
PAKISTAN:
Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Rashid Latif, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul.
UMPIRES: D.R. Shepherd (England) and D.B. Hair (Australia).
TV UMPIRE: P. Willey (England).
MATCH REFEREE: G.R. Viswanath (India).—Reuters





























