Pakistan Probables snub Khyber Lions as pacers impress

Pace men Mohammad Sami and Fazl-e-Akbar exploited the conditions at Peshawar's Shahi Bagh Stadium to their maximum advantage as they shared seven wickets between them restricting Khyber Lions to 146 in 37 overs, after Pakistan Probables, playing first, had scored 205 in their allotted overs.

Fazl-e-Akbar, the right-handed medium pacer, took three wickets in his opening spell to leave the home side reeling at 21 for 4 by the eighth over, until a valiant effort led by Hasan Raza and Younis Khan in the middle of the innings took them past 100-run mark by the 25th over.

After finding their side deep in trouble at 21/4, these two shared a partnership of 95 runs for the fifth wicket and brought their side within sight of victory. Had these two carried on for some more time, the result of the match might have been altogether different.

However, after the fall of Younis Khan's wicket at 116 and Hasan Raza's at 129, the writing looked very much on the wall for the home side. The inevitable was delayed only due to some grit shown by Atiq-uz-Zaman and the skipper Arshad. They had taken the score past 145, when Sami came with his little gem of an over.

In fact, the process which was started by Fazl-e-Akbar was brought to a climax and then finished in a befitting manner by Mohammad Sami. Bowling from the Pavilion End, young Karachi pace man first induced Atiq to hoist a catch to Mushtaq at square leg. He followed this up by bowling out the remaining two batsmen - Sajid Shah and Kashif Raza - without any addition to the total. He finished with excellent figures of four for 29.

Fazl-e-Akbar, who set the pace for Probables' victory, finished the match with three wickets for 30 runs. Abdur Razzaq, overshadowed by the performances of these youngsters, also bowled well taking one wicket for 44 in 9 overs.

Earlier, it was up to the efforts of Inzamam-ul-Haq (56), the skipper of Pakistan Probables, and Misbah-ul-Haq (45) who shared an 87-run fourth wicket partnership to lay the foundation for a respectable score for their team.

Coming to the crease after finding their side in trouble at 60 for three by the 15th over, they drafted their innings with caution, taking the score close to 150-run mark. However, after the dismissal of these two in quick succession, the remaining Probables' batsmen could not take up the challenge of score few runs in final overs.

They were restricted in their efforts by some fine bowling by Sajid Shah (3 for 54) and Kamran Hussain (3 for 39). The late order of Pakistan Probables, despite the presence of experienced campaigners like Afridi and Moin Khan in their ranks, could only muster 50 runs in the last ten overs, losing four wickets in the process.

In a brief ceremony following the match, Hasan Raza, the highest scorer of the game, was awarded the man of the match award, whereas Yasir Hameed was adjudged the best fielder.