KARACHI, March 23: Yasir Arafat produced a devastating spell of pace bowling to help Pakistan ‘A’ trounce England ‘A’ in the third match of the triangular one-day tournament in Colombo on Wednesday.
Yasir returned splendid figures of six for 24 in nine overs as England ‘A’ were shot out for 79 in the 24th over of the match played at the Colombo Cricket Club.
England ‘A’s bowlers hit back immediately to have the Pakistanis reeling at 32 for four. But Misbahul Haq, the Pakistan ‘A’ skipper, held firm to steer his side home with more than 26 overs to spare.
England ‘A’, in fact, got off to a solid start after skipper Ian Bell chose to bat first. Vikram Solanki (15) and wicket-keeper Matt Prior (14) added 30 for the opening wicket, but once Solanki fell to Shahid Nazir, England never recovered.
England ‘A’ lost their last nine wickets for 35 runs within the space of 10 overs. That included a period when five batsmen were dismissed for the addition two runs in 11 deliveries.
Riaz Afridi went for five runs an over, but picked up three vital wickets as the spectacular collapse continued.
Apart from the openers, only Bell managed to reach double figures as extras became the highest score with 16.
Pace duo of Sajid Mahmood and Jonathan Lewis ensured Pakistan ‘A’ didn’t win the match easily. Mahmood sent back Wajahatullah Wasti, Pakistan’s hero against Sri Lanka three days ago, for seven before Lewis struck twice to get rid of Ashar Zaidi (8) and Hasan Raza (0).
And when Mahmood had Faisal Iqbal caught at the wicket for six, England ‘A’ were right back in the game. However, Misbah (19 off 49 balls) and Riaz Afridi (20 off 28) revived Pakistan’s hopes with a partnership of 39 in 61 balls.
Pakistan ‘A’ are almost through to Tuesday’s final after picking up six points to take their tally to 11 in two games. England ‘A’ have five, while Sri Lanka ‘A’ have yet to open their account after losing both their opening matches.
The hosts meet Pakistan on Thursday in a ‘must-win’ game.
Standings
(Tabulated under played, won, lost, no-result, tied, bonus points, total points, net run-rate):
