LEICESTER: Pakistan opener Babar Azam smashed his first Twenty20 hundred to inspire his country’s 58-run win over Leicestershire in their tour match at Grace Road here on Wednesday night.

The talented Babar hit two sixes and 13 fours in his 63-ball innings of 101, while putting on an opening stand of 104 with Fakhar Zaman, who slammed eight boundaries and a six in a blistering 52 from 30 balls, as the tourists reached 200 for six in their 20 overs.

Asif Ali hit up 22 off 15 balls but played second fiddle to Babar in their second-wicket partnership of 65.

Debutant paceman Ben Mike was the pick of the Leicestershire attack with three wickets for 38 runs, including the prized scalp of Babar, while Dieter Klein also chipped in with a pair of wickets.

In reply, Leicestershire got off to a poor start as the home side was reduced for 39 for four in six overs.

Wickets continued to fall at steady intervals and the only partnership of note came late on when Mike and Callum Parkinson put on 59 for the ninth wicket before Leicestershire were dismissed for 142 in 19.2 overs.

Having already began the tour with comprehensive one-day victories over the depleted teams both Kent and Northamptonshire fiel­ded, Pakistan face England in the one-off Twenty20 International in Cardiff on Sunday before the two teams launch their final preparations for ICC World Cup with a bilateral series of five One-day Inter­nationals from May 8 to May 19.

“It feels good that we arrived in England quite ahead of the World Cup and the players are doing well,” Babar said afterwards.

“I got out early in the first game before getting a half-century in the second match and I’ve now got a ton so it feels really good to get into form,” he added, praising Fakhar for Pakistan’s rollicking start to the innings. “Early on, Fakhar was going all guns blazing so I tried to give him more of the strike before taking matters into my own hands later in the innings.”

Babar was hopeful that the decision to come to England early will ultimately help Pakistan as they bid to win the World Cup for a second time in their history.

“Getting in early has helped us get accustomed to the conditions and we’ve also got good practice matches under our belt [before the England series],” he said. “We’re quiet confident of our chances and the team has gelled well. We’re performing in all departments and head into the World Cup with high hopes.”

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN: Fakhar Zaman c Ackermann b Mike 52 Babar Azam c Davis b Mike 101 Asif Ali c Munsey b Mike 22 Faheem Ashraf c Dearden b Davis 11 Imad Wasim b Klein 4 Sarfraz Ahmed not out 3 Hasan Ali b Klein 0 Haris Sohail not out 1
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-4) 6
TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 200
FALL OF WKTS: 1-104, 2-169, 3-188, 4-192, 5-198, 6-198. DID NOT BAT: Imam-ul-Haq, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain.
BOWLING: Ackermann 4-0-50-0; Klein 4-0-31-2 (1w); Davis 4-0-40-1 (1w); Mike 4-0-38-3 (1w); Parkinson 4-0-39-0 (1w).

LEICESTERSHIRE: H.G, Munsey c Shaheen b Imad 1 H.E. Dearden c Haris b Faheem 9 M.J. Cosgrove b Shaheen 19 C.N. Ackermann run out 5 L.J. Hill c Faheem b Hasnain 9 A.M. Ali lbw b Imad 10 H.J. Swindells lbw b Haris 7 B.W.M. Mike c Hasan b Shaheen 37 D. Klein b Hasan 0 C.F. Parkinson run out 27 W.S. Davis not out 0 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, W-10, NB-1) 18
TOTAL (all out, 19.2 overs) 142
FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-31, 3-39, 4-39, 5-60, 6-63, 7-78, 8-81, 9-140. BOWLING: Imad Wasim 4-0-19-2; Faheem Ashraf 3-0-30-1 (1w); Hasan Ali 3-0-21-1; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2.2-0-12-2 (1w); Mohammad Hasnain 3-0-27-1 (1nb, 2w); Haris Sohail 3-0-17-1 (1w); Fakhar Zaman 1-0-9-0.
RESULT: Pakistan won by 58 runs. UMPIRES: P.J. Hartley and T. Lungley.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2019