Shafiq's ton helps Pakistan A to score past 300

Skipper of Pakistan A, Asad Shafiq played a breezy inning scoring unbeaten 108 off 156 balls. He hit 13 fours and 4 sixes.  Many of his early runs came at the expense of Australia’s spinner as there was barely any turn in the pitch, nor was there much in it for the pacer. The century ahead of first test will definitely boost Shafiq’s confidence.

Pakistan A, who opted to bat first, lost two quick wickets when Shan Masood and one down batsmen Israrullah got out early leaving Pakistan A 11 for 2.

Opener Ahmad Shahzad, who took 12 balls to get off the mark, scored 55 runs off 100 balls.

Other useful contributions were made by Babar Azam (40) and Haris Sohail (43).

It is pertinent to mention that this match does not have first-class status and both teams agreed to use all the players in their squads, with a limit of 90 overs per innings.

In the allotted 90 overs Pakistan A made 305 for 8, the second day will begin with Australian batting.

The summarized score card is as follows,

Batting

Shan Masood 6, Ahmed Shehzad 55, Israrullah 5, Babar Azam     40, Asad Shafiq not out 108, Haris Sohail 43, Adnan Akmal    25, Raza Hasan 5, Mohammad Talha 2, Ehsan Adil not out 0

Did not bat: Karamat Ali, Attaullah, Imran Khan, Rahat Ali, Usman Khan

Extras    16, (b 2, lb 8, w 2, nb 4)

Total      305 (8 wickets; 90 overs) (3.38 runs per over)

Bowling

MG Johnson      15-3-40-1,

PM Siddle            16-3-61-2,

SNJ O’Keefe       23-8-76-3,

NM Lyon              19-2-68-0,

BW Hilfenhaus  13-3-37-1,

GJ Maxwell         3-1-12-0,

SPD Smith           1-0-1-1,