Pakistan ‘A’ Record Another Victory Against Kenya

LAHORE: Openers Mukhtar Ahmed and Iftikhar Ahmed struck brisk half-centuries to steal the show in Pakistan A’s fourth consecutive victory over Kenya at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Friday.

The match was significant for Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who played it in order to check his remodeled bowling action.

Batting first after losing the toss, Mukhtar played a brilliant knock of 62-ball 87 and Iftikhar contributed with 55-ball 50 to help Pakistan ‘A’ mustered an imposing total of 224 for five.

The match was reduced to 28-over-a-side from 45 because of poor visibility due to dense fog. Floodlights remained on throughout the match to make the play possible.

Mukhtar and Iftikhar provided an opening stand of 145 runs by the 17th over to give Pakistan perfect start. Both the openers collected 68 runs in the first 10 overs.

But in next 10 overs, Pakistan ‘A’ batsmen showed more aggression despite losing Iftikhar at 145 for his splendid 50, studded with five fours, and next man Umer Siddique for a first-ball duck.

Then Mukhtar along with Saad Ali (19) took the total to 186 in the 22nd over as they mauled all bowlers. They both were removed by Emmanuel Ringera in the 23rd over on consecutive deliveries.

First, Mukhtar fell at the total of 186 when Gurdeep Singh held a fine catch. He hit 11 fours and two sixes and was also declared the Man-of-the-Match.

On the next ball, Saad was removed caught by Ken Owino.

At 194, skipper Fawad Alam, who had played good knocks in previous matches, was dismissed by Jimmy Kamande for a duck.

Zohaib Ahmad (25 not out) and wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan (12) gave fine finishing touches to the innings as Pakistan earned a total of 224 for five in 28 overs.

Nelson Odhiambo and Emmanuel Ringera earned two wickets each for 37 runs apiece.

In reply, Kenyan batsmen failed to look like formidable rivals at any stage as they were restricted to a total of 106 for nine when the two captains decided to close the match with one ball to the quota of 28 over was yet to be bowled.

Ajmal was brought in from the seventh over for his first spell of three overs, in which he remained unimpressive as the visitors faced no difficulty.

He was playing the match to examine if he had made any progress with his bowling action after almost three months of rehab.

He conceded 13 runs in his first three overs including nine in the third one.

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal bowls.—AFP

Then captain Fawad Alam brought Ajmal again from the 21st over of the innings to bowl three more overs.

In his sixth over, Ajmal, whose bowling was lacking his traditional bite, finally succeeded to remove a lower-order Emmanuel Ringera, caught by substitute Babar Azam at square leg for 10 to finish his bowling with figures of 6-0-23-1.

“There was no pressure on me for bowling in this match. My confidence will increase gradually,” Ajmal said in post-match talk with the media.

“Weather was cold today. It was not helping me enough to grip the ball. I am still satisfied with my performance.

“I am doing my best and the PCB is also helping me a lot. My efforts will hopefully pay off,” Ajmal said.

Overall, all Pakistan ‘A’ bowlers bowled economically. Captain Fawad Alam was the pick of the bowling, taking two wickets for 20 in five overs.

Pacers Zohaib Ahmad, Mir Hamza and Ahmed Jamal took one wicket each.

The fifth and final match will be played on Saturday.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Iftikhar Ahmed c Ngoche b Odhiambo50 Mukhtar Ahmed c Gurudeep b Ringera87
Umar Siddiq c Ngoche b Odhiambo0
Saad Ali c Ouma b Ringera19
Fawad Alam c Ouma b Kamande0
Zohaib Ahmed not out25
Mohammad Rizwan not out12

EXTRAS: (LB-7, W-22, NB-2)31

TOTAL (for five wkts, 28 overs)224

FALL OF WKTS: 1-145, 2-150, 3-186, 4-186, 5-194.

DID NOT BAT: Mir Hamza, Saeed Ajmal, Ahmed Jamal, Babar Azam.

BOWLING: Elijah Otieno 6-0-28-0; Eugine Ochieng 4-0-50-0; Nelson Odhiambo 6-0-37-2; Emmanuel Ringera 4-0-37-2; Jimmy Kamande 4-0-28-1; Shem Ngoche 4-0-37-0.

KENYA:

Alex Obanda lbw Hamza4
Kennedy Owino b A. Jamal10 Gurudeep Singh run out Zohaib5 Hamza Malik c Saad b Zohaib6 Morris Ouma b Fawad21
Nelson Odhiambo c Saad b Fawad22 Shem Ngoche not out13 Emmanuel Ringera c Babar b Ajmal10
Elijah Otieno c Ajmal b Mukhtar6
Eugine Ochieng c Hamza b Mukhtar0

EXTRAS: (LB-2, W-7)9

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 27.5 overs)106

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-12, 3-28, 4-40, 5-73, 6-82, 7-97, 8-105, 9-106.

DID NOT BAT: Jimmy Kamnde.

BOWLING: Mir Hamza 4-0-20-1; Ahmed Jamal 3-1-12-1; Saeed Ajmal 6-0-23-1; Zohaib Ahmed 4-0-14-1; Zafar Gohar 5-0-12-0; Fawad Alam 5-0-20-2.

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About Unknown

Muhammad Athar CH is the President of Press Club Sillanwali and Reporter of Dunya News Channel.