Key batsmen fail to impress in Pakistan intra-squad practice match

Pakistan batsmen, who are likely to be part of the top and middle-order during the upcoming Test series against England, failed to impress during the second intra-squad practice match at the Incora County Ground, Derby on Friday.

After being put into bat by Sarfaraz-led PCB White, right-arm pacer Sohail Khan quickly removed both openers of PCB Green, Shan Masood (9) and Abid Ali (1), with only 10 runs on the board.

Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali also didn’t last long as he was trapped leg-before-wicket (lbw) for 6 by Sohail.

Pakistan limited-overs captain Babar Azam top-scored with 32 before being caught behind by Sarfaraz Ahmed on the bowling of pacer Imran Khan.

All-rounder Faheem Ashraf also impressed with the ball as he picked up crucial wickets of middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq (9) and in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan (18), who scored an unbeaten century in the previous practice match.

PCB Green were eventually bowled out for 113 runs, as Sohail picked up his second fifer of the tour and ended up with figures of 5-37 in 16 overs.

At stumps on day one, PCB White were 88/3 with Fawad Alam and Sarfaraz Ahmed unbeaten on 18 and 6 runs, respectively. 

This fixture is Pakistan’s last match practice before the much-anticipated Test series kicks off on August 5 at Old Trafford Manchester.

14-player lineups:

PCB Green: Azhar Ali ©, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah

PCB White: Sarfaraz Ahmed ©, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Khushdil Shah, Musa Khan, Sohail Khan and Usman Khan Shinwari