21 February 2004	Saturday	29 Zilhaj 1424

LAHORE, Feb 20: A scintillating century by opener Muhammad Fayyaz propelled Pakistan to a convincing eight-wicket win over India in the operning of the five-match series for the blinds at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Friday.

Fayyaz hammered 21 boundaries in scoring 148 off 85 balls as Pakistan surpassed the target of 295 in just 27.3 overs for the loss of two wickets.

After opener Muzaffar Ali was run out for six, Fayyaz steadied the innings with a 177-run second wicket partnership with Suleman Elahi (52, one fours, 45 balls) before Suleman was also run out. But Fayyaz, who was later adjudged the Man-of-the-Match, found another ally in Masood Jan (49, not out, five fours, 33 balls) and both plundered 90 runs to complete the win.

Fayyaz, who was declared Man-of-the-Final in the World Cup against India last year, said he was happy for winning another award. He said he was sure that he would play a good knock as he had noted the flaws of the Indian team during the world event.

Earlier, batting first after losing the toss, India got off to a fine start when openers Rajendra Varma (74, three fours, 67 balls) and Shekhar Naik (54, seven fours) took the total to 117 in the 16th over. Shekhar fell LBW to Waqas.

The visitors, losing two wickets at 179, were on course to set a formidable total. But they suffered a collapse as six wickets fell for the addition of only 12 runs to be all out in 37.5 overs for 294. The only other key scorer was Ashish Nagi who scored 52 with one boundary.

Pakistani fielders put up a fine performance as they ran out five Indian batsmen. Indian skipper Mavender Singh in post-match chat said batting collapse was a setback for him. But he admitted the rivals also played well.

Pakistan skipper Abdul Razzaq said he would try to win the remaining four matches of the series by vast difference.

Scoreboard

INDIAN BLIND TEAM:

Rajendra Varma run out 74

Shekhar Naik lbw b Waqas 54

Mavender Singh c sub (Tariq) b Suleman 25

Inder Singh run out 0

Ashish Nagi b Aamir 52

Nirmal Kumar run out 23

Vishal Kumar b Aamir 0

Amandeep Singh b Razzaq 0

Pusesh Raj run out 0

Nanaji run out 4

Rajesh Singh not out 0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-2, W-44, NB-14) 62

TOTAL (all out, 37.5 overs) 294

FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-179, 3-179, 4-216, 5-282, 6-282, 7-284, 8-284, 9-294.

BOWLING: Suleman Elahi 8-0-60-1; Mohammad Waqas 8-0-67-1; Aamir Ishfaq 6.5-0-42-2; Abdul Razzaq 7-0-47-1; Mohammad Shahbaz 8-0-69-0.

PAKISTAN BLIND TEAM:

Mohammad Fayyaz not out 148

Muzaffar Ali run out 6

Suleman Elahi run out 52

Masood Jan not out 49

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, W-33, NB-5) 41

TOTAL (for two wkts, 27.3 overs) 296

FALL OF WKTS: 1-9, 2-186.

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Waqas, Mohammad Shahbaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Ashraf, Aamir Ishfaq, Shariq Yasin.

BOWLING: Rajendra Varma 3-0-44-0; Rajesh Singh 5-0-61-0; Shekhar Naik 4.3-0-52-0; Nanaji 8-0-74-0; Amandeep Singh 5-0-42-0; Ashish Nagi 2-0-20-0.

RESULT: Pakistan won by eight wickets.

UMPIRES: Mohammad Dawood and Kamran Rafiq.

MATCH REFEREE: Azhar Zaidi.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Fayyaz.