KARACHI: Pakistan’s batting woes continued in the Southern hemisphere on Thursday when they fell for 208 on the opening day of their three-day day-night game against a Cricket Australia XI in Cairns.
But Misbah-ul-Haq must still have ended the day as a happy man after Mohammad Amir finally highlighted the fact that he could be the captain’s trump card in the three-Test series which begins with a pink ball match in Brisbane from December 15.
Amir was at his brilliant best as he took three quick wickets with the pink ball, two of the CA eleven’s batsmen getting scalped off the pacer’s first two deliveries.
Amir’s new-ball partner Rahat Ali also picked up a wicket in his only over as Cricket Australia XI closed the day at 4 for 3 in three overs.
Another piece of good news for Pakistan was that their senior batsman Younis Khan was finally in the runs as he hit a fifty to shield the Pakistani innings from a complete collapse.
Having opted to bat, Pakistanis were kept in check by regular strikes from Cricket Australia’s seamers. Mark Steketee and Cameron Valente did the bulk of the damage, claiming combined figures of 7 for 83.
Younis, who managed all of 16 runs in four innings in New Zealand, hit form and briefly steadied Pakistanis’ innings with 54 off 138 balls, including four fours. Barring Younis, Sarfraz Ahmed was the only other batsman to pass 25.
Misbah, who had missed the Hamilton Test, following the death of his father-in-law, returned with 20 off 44 balls, before Valente had him caught behind. The visitors were ultimately bowled out in 84.5 overs.
Speaking after the day’s play, Younis said, “Cricket Australia XI bowled really well. They hit the deck hard and didn’t give us any easy runs. The outfield was large as well. It was a good effort by them.
“I’m happy that we got to come here early and have time for preparation, which we didn’t get in New Zealand. We had a nice net session before this and we have time to think about the Australia tour and the Australian team. It wasn’t a bad day at all for us, especially with the four wickets in the end. I feel bad for the [Cricket Australia XI] youngsters. It’s not easy to play under the lights, especially if you’re facing someone like Amir. Here in Australia the ball usually seams, but under lights, swing comes into play.”
Earlier, the visiting team’s cricketers held one-minute silence for the victims of Wednesday’s plane crash back home before the start of the match.
Pakistan International Airlines’ Flight PK-661 was en route to Islamabad from Chitral on Wednesday when it lost communication with air traffic control and crashed some ten kilometers of Havelian. All 47 people on board including famous religious scholar Junaid Jamshed, a former pop star, died in the crash.