Pakistan U-16s go down fighting to Aussies

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Under-16 went down fighting by nine runs in the first one-dayer against Australia in Melbourne Tuesday.

Batting first Australia hit up 208 with Y Pednekar (55)and J Liebke (37) being the main scorers. Zaman Khan (3-36), Saim Ayub (2-20) and Aliyan Mehmood (2-22) were the pick of bowlers. Saad bin Yousaf (2-47) also bowled well. Pakistan Under-16 played well up front with Saim Ayub (51) and Hasan Abid Kiyani (53 not out) keeping the team in hunt for win after earlier fall of Mubashir Nawaz (0). Saim departure proved critical as Pakistan started losing wickets one after another. Khalilur Rehman (6), Umer Eman (2), Samir Saqib (0), Shaharyar Rizvi (0) failed to stay at the wicket for long.

Haris Khan (53) then struck two sixes and seven fours in his more than run a ball knock to take the team total closer to victory. At the end Pakistan fall short by just nine runs. T Sangha (3-37), B Simpson (3-51) and M Jenkins (2-49) bowled well for Australia.

Score: Australian Under-16 208 in 49.1 overs (Y Pednekar 55, J Liebke 37, Zaman Khan 3-36, Saim Ayub 2-20, Aliyan Mehmood 2-22)Pakistan Under-16 199 n 47 overs (Hasan Abid Kiyani 53*, Haris Khan 53, Saim Ayub 51, T Sangha 3-37, B Simpson 3-51, M Jenkins 2-49).