DUBAI, Jan 20: All-rounder Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan cracked a splendid 138 as Pakistan ‘A’ drew their two-day fixture against Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) XI at Dubai Cricket Council Ground here on Monday.
When the match was called off after the first mandatory over, ECB XI had reached 63 for two in their second innings. Syed Maqsood struck an unbeaten 41 with eight fours.
The highlights on the final day were the batting of Naveed, wicket-keeper Atiq-uz-Zaman and pace bowler Junaid Zia as Pakistan ‘A’ declared their first innings at 388 for seven in reply to ECB XI’s first innings total of 227.
Naveed, who captured four wickets on Sunday, was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his brilliant all-round performance.
Naveed and Atiq came together in a sixth-wicket partnership of 147 after Pakistan ‘A’ had lost the first five wickets for 147 runs.
Naveed hammered 12 boundaries during his 187-ball knock.
Atiq was bowled by medium-pacer Syed Maqsood after missing the line of a straight delivery. He smashed eight fours while facing 84 deliveries.
Earlier, ECB XI bowlers enjoyed a profitable first session by sending back three visiting batsmen after Pakistan ‘A’ resumed at 79 for two.
Pakistan ‘A’ lost their third wicket at 88 when overnight batsman Farhan Adil fell for five when he caught by Asim Saeed off pacer Ali Asad. Soon afterwards skipper Shoaib Malik was caught at the wicket for one.
Opening batsman Shadab Kabir, 41 overnight, progressed to 65 before being bowled by Ali. He struck five fours in his 70-ball innings.
But Naveed and Atiq then revived the innings. Later tailender Junaid kept the scoreboard rolling while helping himself to an unbeaten 53 off 75 balls with three hits to the fence.
Junaid helped Naveed put on 82 for the seventh-wicket before the latter departed in the final session of play when he attempted a big hit and was caught at long-on by Mahmood Bakhsh off leg-spinner Khurram Khan.
The sides play three one-dayers with the first taking place here on Tuesday.
Scoreboard
ECB XI (1st Innings) 227 (Asim Saeed 45; Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 4-54).
PAKISTAN ‘A’ (1st Innings, overnight 79-2):
Shadab Kabir b Ali 65
Salman Butt c Nadeem b Asim 2
Saeed bin Nasir c Fahad b Asim 33
Farhan Adil c Asim b Ali 5
Shoaib Malik c Nadeem b Asim 1
Naveed c Mahmood b Khurram 138
Atiq-uz-Zaman b Maqsood 81
Junaid Zia not out 53
Abdul Rauf not out 4
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, NB-1) 4
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 90 overs) 388
FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-75, 3-88, 4-89, 5-147, 6-294, 7-376.
BOWLING: Ali Asad 21-2-54-2; Asim Saeed 21-1-102-3; Syed Maqsood 18-0-100-1; Khurram Khan 15-1-57-1; Manik de Silva 5-0-24-0; Ausaf Ali 3-0-12-0; Fahad Usman 3-0-19-0; Arshad Ali 4-0-17-0.
ECB XI (2nd Innings):
Asim Saeed run out 0
Arshad Ali run out 0
Syed Maqsood not out 41
Fahad Usmani not out 15
EXTRAS (B-2, NB-5) 7
TOTAL (for two wkts, 13 overs) 63
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-5.
BOWLING: Junaid Zia 7-1-49-0; Danish Kaneria 6-2-12-0.
RESULT: Match drawn.
UMPIRES: Farid Malik and Razzaq Shah.
MATCH REFEREE: Mushtaq Mohammad. —APP