NAIROBI, Sept 4: Led by a satisfying performance in the field, especially by their spinners, Pakistan ended up as comfortable winners against Kenya in the final match of the Quadrangular tournament on Tuesday.
Chasing a paltry 93, victory was achieved with the loss of only two wickets with skipper Shoaib Malik, opening the innings with Mohammad Hafeez, scoring an aggressive 42 and Misbah-ul-Haq finishing things off with a well-paced 31.
Fawad Alam, the left-handed debutant, was the other not-out batsman as Pakistan romped home with six overs to spare.
Earlier, Kenya, who won the toss and batted, got off to a poor start when Shoaib Akhtar grabbed two early wickets; David Obuya caught at second slip by Misbah and Jimmy Kamande’s mistimed pull taken by Salman Butt at mid-on.
Tanmay Mishra struck two fours off Shoaib Akhtar but was deceived by a quicker ball to be trapped in front by Fawad. Kenya slid to 43 for 5 after Abdur Rehman, also a left-arm spinner, claimed two wickets in quick succession; Thomas Odoyo was stumped by Kamran Akmal and Tony Suji was bowled sweeping.
Fawad and Rehman did not concede a boundary, and Shoaib Malik, exploiting the effectiveness of the spinners, brought on Younis Khan and Hafeez; both of whom picked up wickets in their first over. Alex Obanda was stumped while Collins Obuya, Kenya’s highest scorer with 17, was bowled by Hafeez.
Rajesh Bhudia struck Hafeez over the long-on boundary, but Lameck Onyango was stumped off the same bowler. With his third stumping, Kamran had now broken the Twenty20 record for the most stumpings in an innings.
Younis then claimed his second wicket when Budhia missed a slog. Peter Ongondo hit a six over long-on, but was caught at long-off by Rehman while attempting another big stroke as Younis finished with career-best figures of 3 for 18.
Pakistan, together with Kenya and Bangladesh, now head to South Africa for a few warm-up matches before the start of the World Twenty20 on Sept 11.
Scoreboard
KENYA:
D.O. Obuya c Misbah b Shoaib Akhtar 4
J.K. Kamande c Salman b Shoaib Akhtar 0
T. Mishra lbw b Fawad 13
C.O. Obuya b Hafeez 17
T.M. Odoyo st Kamran b Rehman 5
A.O. Suji b Rehman 4
A. Obanda st Kamran b Younis 5
R.L. Bhudia b Younis 0
L.N. Onyango st Kamran b Hafeez 4
P.J. Ongondo c Rehman b Younis 16
H.A. Varaiya not out 5
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, W-1, NB-5) 10
TOTAL (all out, 19.4 overs) 92
FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-8, 3-32, 4-37, 5-43, 6-55, 7-57, 8-69, 9-69.
BOWLING: Shoaib Akhtar 3-0-22-2 (5nb); Umar Gul 3-1-7-0 (1w); Fawad Alam 4-0-15-1; Abdul Rehman 3-0-7-2; Younis Khan 3.4-0-18-3; Mohammad Hafeez 3-0-19-2.
PAKISTAN:
Shoaib Malik c C.O. Obuya b Varaiya 42
Mohammad Hafeez c Varaiya b Ongondo 12
Misbah-ul-Haq not out 31
Fawad Alam not out 3
EXTRAS (B-1, W-4) 5
TOTAL (for two wkts, 14 overs) 93
FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-73.
DID NOT BAT: Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul.
BOWLING: Ongondo 3-0-11-1 (3w); Bhudia 4-0-29-0; Varaiya 4-0-33-1 (1w); Onyango 3-0-19-0.
RESULT: Pakistan won by eight wickets.
UMPIRES: S.R. Modi and I. Oyieko.
MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Younis Khan.
MEN-OF-THE-SERIES: Mohammad Ashraful (Bangladesh) and Shoaib Malik (Pakistan).—Agencies
