LAHORE, Oct 4: A sparkling knock of 81 by opener Shan Masood and equally good bowling by leg-spinner Imad Wasim propelled Pakistan U-19 to an impressive seven-wicket win against Australia in the first game of the five-match one-day series at Sheikhupura Stadium on Thursday.

Set to achieve a target of 199, Shan cracked eight boundaries and one six off 102 balls, as Pakistan raced to victory scoring 202 for three with 8.3 overs to spare.

Shan with fellow-opener Ahmed Shahzad off to a fine start of 67. Ahmed, played with long handle, scored a brisk 40-ball 49 with nine boundaries and one six before he was caught by wicket-keeper Dom O’Brien off leg-spinner D Burns. But Ahmed stood his ground to register another innings building second-wicket partnership of 60 with Umar Amin (18). Ahmed was eventually caught by O’Brien off Burns when the target was only 14 runs away. Usman Salahuddin (33 not out) and Ahmed Iqbal (4 not out) achieved the target.

Earlier, Australian’s captain James Smith’s decision of batting first backfired mainly due to effective bowling of leg-spinner Imad Wasim, who grabbed five wickets for 38 runs in 10 overs to restrict the visitors to an attainable total.

He got able support from his captain Imad Wasim, who also excelled with the leather snaring three wickets for 42.

The visitors had made a fine start through skipper J Smith (37, seven fours) and A Murphy (37, four fours) of 51. But once both were dismissed, only O’ Brien (39), K Sarna (26), J Faulkner (21) and D Burns (16) could resist a little before all were out in 50 overs. The Pakistani bowlers bowled accurately , none of them delivered no balls or wides.

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