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RAWALPINDI, Sept 17: A polished knock of 146 by opener James Hopes guided Australia ‘A’ to 318 for five in their first innings on the opening day of second ‘Test’ against Pakistan ‘A’ at KRL Stadium on Saturday.
Hopes blasted 16 boundaries while facing 214 balls during his 270 minutes, before he was bowled by medium-pacer Mohammad Asif — one of three wickets to fall in the afternoon session — after the tourists, with skipper Brad Haddin opting to bat, had gone to lunch at 97 for one in 23 overs.
Pakistan ‘A’ skipper Misbahul Haq took the new
ball after 80.1 overs and was rewarded with two wickets on an otherwise perfect batting strip.
Left-arm paceman Najaf Shah had Brad Hodge brilliantly caught by Bazid Khan at third slip while Asif clipped the bails to remove Hopes.
Brad Hodge, who hit eight fours in scoring 68 off 136 balls, figured in a 94-run stand for the third wicket with Hopes who earlier put on 84 for the opening stand with Michael Hussey.
Australian Test all-rounder Shane Watson was batting on 20 and Haddin was on five when stumps were drawn for the day in the four-day match.
Pakistan ‘A’ lead the series 1-0 after winning the winning first match at the Army Cricket Stadium earlier in the week.
SCOREBOARD
AUSTRALIA ‘A’ (1st Innings):
M.E.K. Hussey lbw b Asif 15
J.R. Hopes b Asif 146
M.J. North b Mansoor 18
B.J. Hodge c Bazid b Najaf 68
D.J. Thornely run out 21
S.R. Watson not out 20
B.J. Haddin not out 5
EXTRAS (B-5, LB-1, NB-19) 25
TOTAL (for five wkts, 90 overs) 318
FALL OF WKTS: 1-84, 2-149, 3-243, 4-284,
5-308.
BOWLING (to-date): Mohammad Asif 20-3-80-2; Najaf Shah 13-3-41-1; Mohammad Irshad 14-2-60-0; Mansoor Amjad 23-3-73-1; Ashar Zaidi 13-0-34-0; Imran Farhat 7-1-24-0.
UMPIRES: Nadeem Ghauri and Siddique Khan.
MATCH REFEREE: Khateeb Rizwan.—APP
