July 21, 2007	Saturday	Rajab 05, 1428

LAHORE, July 20: Captain Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat’s productive knocks steered the ‘B’ team to a resounding eight-wicket win against Salman Butt’s ‘A’ side in the first Twenty20 practice match at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.

Set 120 to win, Malik hit a 25-ball 41 with four boundaries, while Farhat struck an unbeaten 36 off 44 balls with three boundaries as the ‘B’ team achieved the target in 17.1 overs for the loss of only two wickets.

Imran Farhat and Imran Nazir’s (12) opening stand could yield only 23 runs as the latter was caught and bowled by Shoaib Akhtar, who delivered four overs each for both the sides to test his stamina. After Nazir’s departure, Shoaib Malik joined Farhat as both added 71 for the second wicket.

When Shahid Afridi broke the partnership, removing Malik for 41, Farhat found another reliable partner in Yasir Hameed (20) as both guided their team to victory without further damage.

Shoaib and Afridi claimed one wicket apiece for 36 and 18 respectively whereas Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq remained wicketless.

Earlier, Salman Butt played a captain’s knock of 52-ball 67 without getting any support from team-mates Mohammad Hafeez (1), Misbah-ul-Haq (1) and Mohammad Yousuf (1) all getting out cheaply as the ‘A’ side were folded for 119 in 19.5 overs. Faisal Iqbal (15) was the second highest scorer after Salman.

Shoaib Akhtar (2-17), Mohammad Asif (2-22), Rao Iftikhar (2-19), Shoaib Malik (2-34) and Abdul Rehman (2-23) shared the wickets equally.

The second Twenty20 tie of the four-match series at the national training camp will be held on Saturday.

Selectors Shafqat Rana and Saleem Jaffar witnessed the match while chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed is likely to arrive home on Saturday to observe the remaining games.