Asad scores ton as Pakistan take 98-run lead

NORTHAMPTON, England: Asad Shafiq scored a splendid hundred, while half-centuries from Haris Sohail and Babar Azam helped Pakistan reach 357-7 to end the second day of their four-day match against Northamptonshire with a lead of 98 runs.

Pakistan resumed their innings at 6-0 on Saturday after they had bowled out Northamptonshire for 259 on the opening day.

Openers Azhar Ali and Imam-ul-Haq struggled early on. Azhar (9) was trapped lbw by Gareth Wade. Imam was dismissed in similar fashion by Rob Keogh when he was on 11 to leave Pakistan at 41-2.

The left-handed Haris was then joined by Asad as together they steered the tourists to 177. Haris hit 12 boundaries in his 79-run knock. Keogh ended the partnership when he had Haris caught by Steven Crook.

Asad and Babar then frustrated Northamptonshire with some fine batting. The pair dominated the bowling attack in their 110-run partnership. Babar (57) played an aggressive knock laced with six boundaries. He was caught by Ricardo Vasconcelos off the bowling of Keogh.

Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (8) was bowled out by Brett Hutton and Shadad Khan (3) soon followed him to the pavilion when he was caught by Rob Newton off Steven Crook. The duo also had Fahim Ashraf (10) out in identical manner.

Asad was brilliant as he hit three sixes and 11 boundaries in his solid 224-ball knock. He was unbeaten on 135 at the crease with Mohammad Amir (12*) at stumps.

On Friday, Shadab rattled the hosts with figures of 6-77. But the seamers were inconsistent.

Rahat Ali trapped Ben Duckett lbw. He then dismissed Crook caught at third man top-edging a cut. Amir, back in the UK after his stint with Essex last season, was used in short bursts without success and Mohammad Abbas, signed by Leicestershire this summer, bowled well but also went wicketless, leaving Shadab to ensure a good first day for the tourists.

Score Board

Northamptonshire won toss

Northamptonshire 1st Innings

*R I Newton c Sarfraz b Shadab 35

B M Duckett lbw b Rahat 26

L A Procter run out 1

R E Levi lbw b Shadab 31

†A M Rossington st Sarfraz b Shadab 90

J J Cobb b Shadab 7

R I Keogh lbw b Shadab 0

S P Crook c Faheem b Rahat 10

R Vasconcelos b Shadab 30

B A Hutton b Haris 8

G Wade not out 1

Extras (b 4, lb 12, nb 4) 20

Total (all-out; 73.4 Overs) 259

Fall: 1-36, 2-41, 3-104, 4-105, 5-132, 6-143, 7-168, 8-248, 9-249, 10-259

Bowling: Amir 13-3-40-0; Abbas 13-2-34-0; Rahat 10-4-25-2; Faheem 13-3-50-0; Shadab 19-1-77-6; Asad 1-0-1-0; Haris 4.4-0-16-1

Pakistan 1st Innings

Azhar Ali lbw b Wade 9

Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Keogh 11

Haris Sohail c Crook b Keogh 79

Asad Shafiq not out 135

Babar Azam c Vasconcelos b Keogh 57

*†Sarfraz Ahmed b Hutton 8

Shadab Khan c Newton b Crook 3

Faheem Ashraf c Newton b Crook 10

M Amir not out 12

Extras (b 12, lb 15, nb 6) 33

Total (7 wickets; 99 Overs) 357

To bat: M Abbas, Rahat Ali

Fall: 1-15, 2-41, 3-177, 4-287, 5-308, 6-311, 7-321

Bowling: Hutton 21-4-55-1; Wade 17-4-60-1; Procter 13-2-48-0; Keogh 24-4-83-3; Crook 19-2-61-2; Cobb 5-0-23-0

Umpires: I Ramage (Scotland) and M Saggers (England)