The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Pakistan `A' sets a stiff target for Indians

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Saturday, May 06, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Pakistan `A' sets a stiff target for Indians

Raza leads from the front with an unbeaten century

— Photo: PTI

FIRST STRIKE: Reetinder Singh Sodhi has Pakistan `A' opener Muhammad Hafiz caught behind by Dinesh Kaarthick.

ABU DHABI: Riding on a brilliant hundred by skipper Hasan Raza, Pakistan `A' punished the Indian speedsters, who failed to capitalise on a good start and allowed their rivals to overcome initial hiccups to pile up 288 runs for the loss of four wickets in the finals of the Eurasia Cup here on Friday.

The Indian pacers failed to impress in the crucial tie and released their grip on the Pakistan `A' batting line-up, which was reeling at 88 for three in 15 overs.

Dubbed as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Piyush Chawla scalped two in his first two overs to give India `A' the upper hand.

Chawla was undoubtedly the pick of the Indian bowlers as he along with Reetinder Singh Sodhi proved to be the most economical. Chawla finished with two for 41 after scalping Taufeeq Umar (40) and Shahid Yousuf (23) in quick succession.

Defiant knock

Pakistan chose to bat first after winning the toss and Raza led from the front to score a defiant unbeaten 106 after his team was shaken up by Chawla's brilliant bowling.

Raza's knock was well supported by Misbah-ul-Haq, whose innings of 73 was cut short when he was run out. The pair shared a vital 174-run fourth wicket partnership.

The duo's innings helped steady the ship and was a platform for the flurry of runs that followed in the slog overs.

Sodhi was the first to strike, dismissing Mohammad Hafeez (19) with Pakistan's score at 46 and finished his 10 overs conceding just 39 runs with one maiden.

The rest of the pack was far from impressive as R.P. Singh disappointed with figures of 10-60-0 and V.R.V. Singh went for 77 off his nine.

Venugopala Rao conceded 16 off his two overs.

Pakistan did not have any trouble as they scored freely towards the end and came up with the challenging total of 288.

The scores: Pakistan `A' — M. Hafeez c Kaarthick b Sodhi 19, T. Umar st Kaarthick b Chawla 40, S. Yousuf c Uthappa b Chawla 23, H. Raza (not out) 106, Misbah-ul-Haq (run out) 73, B. Khan (not out) 11; Extras (lb-8, w-6, nb-2) 16. Total (for 4 wickets, 50 overs) 288.

Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-85, 3-88, 4-262.

India `A' bowling: R.P. Singh 10-0-60-0, V.R.V. Singh 9-0-77-0, Sodhi 10-1-39-1, Chawla 10-0-41-2, Jadeja 9-0-47-0, Rao 2-0-16-0. — UNI

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