LAHORE - Pakistan national team handed a 19-run defeat to Pakistan ‘A’ team in a well-contested match played here at jam-packed Gaddafi Stadium on late Saturday night.
The match was organised by the Sports Board Punjab (SBP) in collaboration with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). PTV Sports broadcasted the match while renowned commentator Syed Ehteshamul Haq amused the spectators with his ball to ball commentary.
The match began with the national anthem. Provincial minister for sports Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan was chief guest at the occasion while DG SBP Usman Anwar, South African Ambassador to Pakistan and Australian High Commissioner, the heirs of martyrs, sports stars i.e. M Asif, Aamir Atlas Khan, Rehan Butt, Kh Junaid, Madeeha Latif, Saira Shah, Neelum Riaz were also present there.
Pakistan team, batting first, posted a decent total of 151 for the loss of five wickets in the allotted overs. It was captain Misbahul Haq, who led the team well and played a significant innings of unbeaten 41. Khuarram Manzoor was the star of the match as he remained top scorer with 59 runs while Asad Shafiq also played well and gathered 23 runs.
Usman Shinwari though bowled extremely well and managed to grab first three wickets of national team yet he was not ably assisted well by others therefore they were unable to restrict the national team to low total. Usman Shinwari clinched 3-22 while Ataullah got 1-20 and Fawad Alam 1-37.
In reply, ‘A’ team could manage to score 132-8 in the allotted overs. Neither any sparkling innings was witnessed from ‘A’ team nor any batsman managed to score fifty. Haris Sohail collected 28 runs, Anwar Ali 25 and Sharjeel Khan 21. National stars excelled in bowling too. Saeed Ajmal and M Irfan bowled brilliantly and claimed two wickets each conceding 28 and 22 runs respectively. At the end, souvenirs were presented to heirs of martyrs and South African Ambassador and Australian High Commissioner.