Pakistan ‘A’ lose low-scoring Test
Pakistan ‘A’ manages to scrape past 100 but still loses the second unofficial ‘Test’ by 39 runs.
LAHORE:
Pakistan ‘A’ managed to scrape past 100 but still lost the second unofficial ‘Test’ by 39 runs against Sri Lanka ‘A’ on the third day at Hambanthota.
Hammad Azam, who remained Pakistan’s main hope on the third morning, was the first man out on the day, trapped leg-before by Jeevan Mendis for 40. The hosts wrapped up the win quickly in the low-scoring match, with no team scoring over 200 runs and Mendis finishing up with an impressive five for 32.
Pakistan captain Azeem Ghumman admitted that the poor batting display not only cost them the match but has been a cause of concern for the team throughout the tour as well.
“I must admit that our batting has been the main concern throughout the tour,” Ghumman told The Express Tribune. “I was optimistic about the four-day games but the departure of Asad Shafiq [to Englnd to join the senior squad], our main batsman, cost us.” Pakistan have been unable to find much success on the tour after losing the two-Test series 1-0 and were also failed to make it to the final of the triangular series that also involved South Africa ‘A’ as well as the hosts, winning just one game out of four with Shafiq scoring a century in his last match on the tour.
“We lost the matches because of our inconsistent batting. The conditions here have never been easy,” added Ghumman.
“But if you’re asking if we didn’t play with the right combination in the match, I don’t think that’s true. We had the best players but they couldn’t perform upto expectations. Even I was unable to perform as well.
“But in this match the pitch played a vital role. It behaved unexpectedly with odd bounce and this is why both teams did not manage high scores.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2010.
Pakistan ‘A’ managed to scrape past 100 but still lost the second unofficial ‘Test’ by 39 runs against Sri Lanka ‘A’ on the third day at Hambanthota.
Hammad Azam, who remained Pakistan’s main hope on the third morning, was the first man out on the day, trapped leg-before by Jeevan Mendis for 40. The hosts wrapped up the win quickly in the low-scoring match, with no team scoring over 200 runs and Mendis finishing up with an impressive five for 32.
Pakistan captain Azeem Ghumman admitted that the poor batting display not only cost them the match but has been a cause of concern for the team throughout the tour as well.
“I must admit that our batting has been the main concern throughout the tour,” Ghumman told The Express Tribune. “I was optimistic about the four-day games but the departure of Asad Shafiq [to Englnd to join the senior squad], our main batsman, cost us.” Pakistan have been unable to find much success on the tour after losing the two-Test series 1-0 and were also failed to make it to the final of the triangular series that also involved South Africa ‘A’ as well as the hosts, winning just one game out of four with Shafiq scoring a century in his last match on the tour.
“We lost the matches because of our inconsistent batting. The conditions here have never been easy,” added Ghumman.
“But if you’re asking if we didn’t play with the right combination in the match, I don’t think that’s true. We had the best players but they couldn’t perform upto expectations. Even I was unable to perform as well.
“But in this match the pitch played a vital role. It behaved unexpectedly with odd bounce and this is why both teams did not manage high scores.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2010.