Pakistan took part in a useful warmup game against Guyana ahead of their 5 match ODI series against the West Indies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By PakPassion Staff (11th July, 2013)

 

After the shocking Champions Trophy performance, it was important for the batsmen to put up a total which the bowlers would have a chance of defending. Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez were both dismissed for 19 and 11 respectively though, suggesting that the form hadn’t quite returned.

Ahmed Shehzad on his return to the ODI side made an excellent contribution however. He scored 68 off 79 balls with nine boundaries and immediately justified his selection in the team. Misbah fell for 22 and was soon followed by Umar Akmal who was bowled by Bishoo for 9 to leave Pakistan struggling at 157/5. Asad Shafiq was dismissed shortly when he picked out the fielder at long on, to leave Shahid Afridi and Wahab Riaz to pick up the pieces.

Afridi hit a couple of sixes and produced a useful knock of 31 while Riaz made 23. Some good late hitting from Umar Amin helped push the total up to 246/9 from 50 overs, certainly competitive considering the strength of Pakistan’s bowlers.

Mohammad Irfan picked up where he left off at the Champions Trophy as he took two early wickets to set Guyana back to 18/2 after 3 overs. Sarwan and Johnson led the fightback though and their 50 partnership threatened briefly until Abdur Rehman got the big wicket of Sarwan. After that it was the Ajmal show as he spun webs around the Guyanese batsmen to finish with figures of 10-0-37-5 to destroy the middle and lower order.

Some sensible batting from Bishoo and Jacobs at the end helped Guyana make a game of it, but they were always behind the rate and Pakistan eventually won by 7 runs.

The first ODI takes place on Sunday in Guyana.