In reply to Leicester’s 296 for seven declared, where the tourists toiled without much success in the field, the Pakistanis finished on 280 for seven in reply before stumps were called. Leading the side with regular captain Shahid Afridi opting to rest, Salman Butt handled the new ball with care together with his partner Imran Farhat. While Farhat failed to post a decent score, caught after scoring only six, Butt scored 57 before retiring out to give other batsmen batting opportunity.
Newcomer Azhar Ali, recalled Yasir Hameed and youngster Umar Amin then posted decent contributions before retiring out too as Pakistan looked for valuable batting practice in their only warm-up before the Lord’s Test. Shoaib Malik, however, failed to post a big score in the innings and was dismissed for 10 that he had scored off 27 deliveries.
Pakistan had also opted for Zulqarnain Haider behind the stumps to give regular wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal a break given the hectic schedule ahead. While Haider was not presented any opportunities behind the stumps, he faced 59 deliveries while batting and scored 15.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10ht, 2010.
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