In-form opener Salman Butt and Misbah-ul-Haq hit sparkling fifties to lead Pakistan Tigers to a convincing 40-run win over Pakistan Panthers in a practice T20 game here at the National Stadium on Thursday.
Butt (62) and Misbah (59) helped the Tigers accumulate an imposing 204-5 in 20 overs and it later turned out that the target was too big for Panthers, who had to largely rely on the services of second string batsmen.
Naved Latif (62) and Faisal Iqbal (45) did give the Panthers some hope though their cause got fatal blows early in the innings when fast bowler Mohammad Sami’s fiery new ball spell left them gasping for air at 19-4. In the end, the Panthers finished their 20 overs, 41 short of the victory target.
The Tigers opted to bat first after winning the toss. They lost opener Mohammad Hafeez (10) early while Yasir Hameed (
also fell cheaply. However, Butt and Misbah were involved in a 72-run partnership for the third wicket.
Butt’s 62 came off 40 balls and included eight fours and a six. Misbah hit six fours and a six in his 40-ball 59. Shoaib Malik chipped in with an unbeaten 49 that came off 30 balls. Sohail Tanvir took 3-47.
Sami, the most impressive of the pacers in the practice games, sent back Khurram Manzoor (0) and Imran Farhat (1) early and the Panthers were never really able to bat themselves in the match. Sami finished with 2-20 in his four overs.
The Pakistan team probables will have physical training sessions today after which they would play back-to-back matches on Saturday and Sunday under floodlights at the National Stadium. The camp will conclude on August 6 following a final physical training session. Pakistan will later announce their final 15-man squad for the inaugural T20 World Cup to be held in South Africa next month.
Scores: Pakistan Tigers 204-5 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 62, Mohammad Hafeez 10, Yasir Hameed 8, Misbah-ul-Haq 59, Shoaib Malik 49*; Mohammad Asif 4-0-41-0, Rao Iftikhar 4-0-43-1, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-36-0, Abdul Rehman 4-0-33-0).
Pakistan Panthers 164-7 in 20 overs (Imran Farhat 1, Naved Latif 62*, Faisal Iqbal 45, Sohail Tanvir 30; Mohammad Sami 4-1-20-2, Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-30-2, Najaf Shah 40-0-26-1, Fawad Alam 4-0-31-0, Salman Butt 4-0-54-2).
Toss: Pakistan Tigers
Result: Pakistan Tigers won by 40 runs
Umpires: Islam Khan and Saleem Badar
Scorer: Syed Imran Ali