Yasir hammered 108 as the home side cruised to victory with no less than nine overs to spare after Australia ‘A’ had made 232 for seven in their 50 overs after skipper Adam Voges chose to bat first.
Yasir, who struck 15 boundaries in his 111-ball innings, dominated the unbroken third-wicket partnership of 165 with Faisal Iqbal, who finished with a neat 76 off 96 deliveries. The Pakistan ‘A’ captain laced his knock with six fours and a six each off spinners Cullen Bailey and Dan Cullen.
Taufiq Umar, the left-handed former Test opener, hit a brace of fours, before he lost his off-stump to lanky left-arm paceman Doug Bollinger for nine.
Fellow opener Khalid Latif, however, was in punishing mood as he blasted six boundaries in making an enterprising 32 off 36 balls. Bollinger, who was wayward in direction, finally saw the back of Khalid when Luke Butterworth held a miscued pull stroke at mid-wicket.
After rain delayed the start by 30 minutes, Australia ‘A’ suffered an early setback when wicket-keeper/batsman Luke Ronchi was run out without scoring in the second over as Sarfraz Ahmed, the young Pakistan ‘A’ wicket-keeper, effected a direct hit while the opener was trying to take a suicidal single.
Phil Jaques, the left-handed opener who is bidding to regain his Test place, revived the innings somewhat by sharing two productive partnerships with David Hussey and Voges. Jaques and Hussey added 49 for the second wicket before Hussey was trapped LBW by speedster Mohammad Irshad for 18.
The stand between Jaques and Voges was worth 51 until it was broken by off-spinner Tahir Khan, who won a leg-before-wicket verdict against Jacques. Jaques contributed 46 off 65 balls and hit five fours.
But a double strike by Taufiq Umar tilted the balance towards Pakistan ‘A’. The part-time off-spinner dismissed Voges (44 off 69 balls, fours) and Cameron Whites (12) in identical fashion; clean bowling them.
James Hopes finished with an undefeated 55 off 46 balls.
The second match will be played at the Sheikhupura Stadium on Friday.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA ‘A’:
L. Ronchi run out 0
P.A. Jaques lbw b Tahir 46
D.J. Hussey lbw b Irshad 18
A.C Voges b Taufiq 44
C.L White b Taufiq 12
J.R Hopes not out 55
L.R Butterworth run out 22
A.A. Noffke run out 1
C.B. Bailey not out 11
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-13, NB-9) 23
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 232
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-49, 3-100, 4-130, 5-141, 6-190, 7-193.
DID NOT BAT: D.J. Cullen, D.E. Bollinger.
BOWLING: Najaf Shah 9-2-38-0 (2nb, 2w); Sohail Tanvir 10-0-40-0 (5nb, 2w); Mohammad Irshad 5-0-39-1 (1nb, 5w); Tahir Khan 10-0-46-1 (3w); Mansoor Amjad 10-0-35-0 (1nb); Taufiq Umar 6-0-33-2 (1w).
PAKISTAN ‘A’:
Khalid Latif c Butterworth b Bollinger 32
Taufiq Umar b Bollinger 9
Yasir Hameed not out 108
Faisal Iqbal not out 76
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-4, NB-3) 8
TOTAL (for two wkts, 41 overs) 233
FALL OF WKTS: 1-29, 2-68.
DID NOT BAT: Naved Latif, Mansoor Amjad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Tahir Khan, Mohammad Irshad, Najaf Shah.
BOWLING: Noffke 6-0-44-0; Bollinger 7-1-45-2 (2nb, 4w); Hopes 8-1-39-0 (1nb); Cullen 6-0-32-0; Bailey 8-0-43-0; Butterworth 5-0-23-0; White 1-0-6-0.
UMPIRES: Nadeem Ghauri and Zameer Haider.
MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Anees.