LAHORE: Pakistan ‘A’ made light work of the touring Afghanistan side as they effortlessly cruised to an eight-wicket victory in the first of two unofficial One-day Internationals at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Monday.

After dismissing the tourists for an inadequate total of 122 in the 39th over, Pakistan ‘A’ needed just 16.1 overs to reach the modest target. Umar Akmal ended the match in fine style by lifting Karim Sadiq for a six to finish undefeated on 47. Umar’s 30-ball knock also featured six boundaries and another six.

Discarded Test opener Khurram Manzoor dominated the first-wicket partnership of 58 in eight overs with the left-handed Shan Masood by striking nine boundaries on his way 41 from only 25 deliveries before being bowled by paceman Izatullah Dawlatzai.

The solitary disappointment for the home team was Umar Amin who caught by Afghanistan skipper Nawroz Mangal off left-arm paceman Dawlat Zadran for a three-ball duck.

Shan batted in his customary steady manner to score 29 off 40 balls while hitting three fours in the unbroken 62-run stand with the dominant Umar Akmal.

Earlier, put into bat by Pakistan ‘A’ captain Shahid Afridi, Afghanistan launched their innings promisingly as Karim Sadiq and wicket-keeper Mohammad Shahzad added 42 for the opening wicket inside the first 12 overs.

Zulfiqar Babar, the veteran slow left-armer, broke the partnership by having Karim caught by Mohammad Imran Khan for 14. Shahzad and Javed Ahmadi then took the score to 65 before the innings fell apart with the last six wickets crashing for just 34 runs.

Left-arm paceman Wahab Riaz sent back Shahzad, Afghanistan’s top run-getter with 33 (51 balls, five boundaries) and Mangal off successive balls. Ahmadi made 23 off 54 balls with two fours until he was sixth out. Gulbodin Naib (11) and Hamza Hotak (12) were the only other batsmen to enter double figures.

Zulfiqar and Afridi gave little away as they conceded 26 and 24 runs, respectively while bowling their full quotas and snared six wickets between them. Wahab, who was later adjudged Man-of-he-Match, had figures of three for 18 in 7.5 overs.

The second game will be played on Tuesday before the teams meet in a Twenty20 match on Wednesday.

Scoreboard

AFGHANISTAN: Karim Sadiq c Imran b Zulfiqar    14 M. Shahzad c Khurram b Wahab    33 Javed Ahmadi c Anwar b Zulfiqar    23 Nawroz Mangal c Kamran b Wahab    0 Asghar Stanikzai b Zulfiqar    6 Mohibullah Paak b Afridi    6 Rahmat Shah run out    5 Gulbodin Naib b Afridi    11 Hamza Hotak b Wahab    12 Dawlat Zadran c Anwar b Afridi    4 Izatullah Dawlatzai not out    0 EXTRAS (LB-4, W-3, NB-1)    8 TOTAL (all out, 38.5 overs)    122 FALL OF WKTS: 1-42, 2-65, 3-65, 4-75, 5-88, 6-90, 7-95, 8-111, 9-115. BOWLING: Mohammad Imran Khan 5-0-16-0 (1w); Anwar Ali 6-0-34-0 (1w); Zulfiqar Babar 10-1-26-3; Wahab Riaz 7.5-0-18-3 (1nb, 1w); Shahid Afridi 10-1-24-1. PAKISTAN ‘A’: Khurram Manzoor b Izatullah    41 Shan Masood not out    29 Umar Amin c Nawroz b Dawlat    0 Umar Akmal not out    47 EXTRAS (LB-3, W-4, NB-1)    8 TOTAL (for two wkts, 16.1 overs)    125 FALL OF WKTS: 1-58, 2-63. DID NOT BAT: Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Imran Khan. BOWLING: Dawlat Zadran 8-1-43-1 (1nb, 2w); Izatullah Dawlatzai 4-0-34-1 (2w); Hamza Hotak 2-0-19-0; Gulbodin Naib 2-0-20-0; Karim Sadiq 0.1-0-6-0. RESULT: Pakistan ‘A’ won by eight wickets. UMPIRES: Ghaffar Kazmi and Zameer Haider. TV UMPIRE: Ahmed Shahpakteen (Afghanistan). MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Anees. MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Wahab Riaz.