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| December 8, 2005 | Thursday | Ziqa’ad 5, 1426 |
Bazid leads Pakistan ‘A’ to thrilling win over England
LAHORE, Dec 7: A brilliant unbeaten 90 off 88 balls by Bazid Khan guided Pakistan ‘A’ to a nail-biting one-wicket victory over England in the one-day practice match at Bagh-i-Jinnah on Wednesday.
England now head into Saturday’s opening clash of the five-match against the hosts in a demoralizing state of mind.
It was Pakistan ‘A’s second notable win over England, having also won the three-day game at the same venue last month.
Chasing 237 in 45 overs, Pakistan ‘A’ got home with one ball to spare with Bazid anchoring the innings superbly to score 237 in 45 overs, Bazid, who scored 90.
It was important that Bazid kept his cool when the final over arrived with 10 still required with just two wickets standing.
James Anderson conceded two runs to Tahir Khan off the first ball. But Tahir was run out off the next delivery.
With eight needed Bazid took two runs off the third ball and then hit successive boundaries off the next two to ensure victory.
The home team made a poor start when Yasir Hameed was caught by Vikram Solanki off Anderson.
Rafatullah Mohmand added 47 for the second wicket with Ashar Zaidi (16).
Rafat and Bazid shared the biggest stand of the innings as they put on 62 off 89 balls before the former was spectacularly caught by Kevin Pietersen at mid-wicket for a well-played 55. Rafat’s 76-ball innings was laced with four boundaries.
Abdul Razzaq, the Pakistan ‘A’ skipper, struck two fours but was bowled for nine, providing Paul Collingwood with his second scalp, to leave his team at 135 for four in the 29th over.
Bazid and Faisal Iqbal put on 55 for the fifth-wicket in 60 deliveries to raise home team’s hopes.
Off-spinner Shaun Udal, the super sub, then gave away 16 runs in one over before Faisal was caught behind off Plunkett for a 33-ball 31 that included four fours and one six.
Anderson then brought England right back into the game taking the wickets of Yasir Arafat (6), Zulqarnain Haider (2) and Rao Iftikhar (0) in quick successions.
At 217 for eight, Pakistan ‘A’ were far away their target, but thanks to Bazid, the home team scampered to victory. Bazid’s match-winning knock contained five fours and two sixes.
Earlier, the major contributors in England’s 236 for seven were Collingwood and Matt Prior. Collingwood was unbeaten on 75.
Prior, the reserve wicket-keeper, capitalised on his role as an opener by making 72 off 84 balls with the aid of 12 boundaries.
Once again Strauss and Pietersen disappointed. Strauss, leading the tourists while England stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick, all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and fast bowler Steve Harmison rested, struggled for 21 balls before he was caught behind off Riaz Afridi.
Pietersen perished when Yasir Arafat bowled him for two. But Collingwood batted intelligently to help England reach a respectable total while striking seven fours in his 79-ball knock.
SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND:
A.J. Strauss c Zulqarnain b Riaz 5
M.J. Prior c Imran b Tahir 72
V.S. Solanki c Tahir b Razzaq 26
K.P. Pietersen b Yasir Arafat 2
P.D. Collingwood not out 75
G.O. Jones c Bazid b Tahir 16
I.D. Blackwell c Zulqarnain b Iftikhar 15
K. Ali c Riffat b Iftikhar 4
I.R. Bell not out 12
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-7) 9
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 45 overs) 236
FALL OF WKTS: 1-21, 2-95, 3-101, 4-134, 5-173, 6-200, 7-204.
DID NOT BAT: S.D. Udal, L.E. Plunkett, J.M. Anderson.
BOWLING: Rao Iftikhar 8-2-36-2 (5w); Riaz Afridi 8-0-49-1; Yasir Arafat 9-0-53-1; Abdul Razzaq 5-0-25-1; Imran Tahir 8-0-33-0 (2w); Tahir Khan 7-0-38-2.
PAKISTAN ‘A’:
Yasir Hameed c Solanki b Anderson 9
Rafatullah Mohmand c Pietersen b C’wood 55
Ashar Zaidi c C’wood b Plunkett 16
Bazid Khan not out 90
Abdul Razzaq b C’wood 8
Faisal Iqbal c Jones b Plunkett 31
Yasir Arafat c Strauss b Anderson 6
Zulqarnain Haider b Anderson 2
Rao Iftikhar b Anderson 0
Tahir Khan run out 10
Imran Tahir not out 0
EXTRAS (LB-3, W-2, NB-7) 12
TOTAL (for nine wkts, 44.5 overs) 239
FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-62, 3-122, 4-135, 5-193, 6-215, 7-217, 8-217, 9-224.
DID NOT BAT: Riaz Afridi.
BOWLING: Anderson 8.5-2-46-4; Kabir Ali 9-0-55-0 (6nb, 2w); Plunkett 9-0-42-2 (1nb) Collingwood 9-0-36-2; Blackwell 5-0-24-0; Udal 4-0-33-0.
UMPIRES: Mohammad Nazir Jr and Iftikhar Malik.
NOTE: 12 players per side (11 bat, 11 field).
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