Published: Jul 04, 2016, 02:55 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 30, 2016, 07:11 PM (IST)
Hello and Welcome to the Cricket Country’s live match coverage of the three-day practice match between Somerset and Pakistan. Somerset will play hosts to Pakistan at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton. Pakistan have already begun their Day 1 on a high-note with Younis Khan playing at 99 and Mohammad Aamer was left waiting in the wings as Pakistan ended their day at 324 for five on the opening day of three against Somerset on Sunday.The visitors will look to begin their preparations for the upcoming series against England on a positive note. They would want to adjust to conditions and adapt quickly.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Pakistan 140/4 in 45 overs: Azhar Ali 50* (122), Asad Shafiq 26 (47):Stumps at Day 2. After a successful day with the ball Pakistan end Day 2 on a high with an overall lead of 371 runs with a day of play remaining. Azar Ali has batted with caution and shown that he has the apt skills to survive english conditions. Skipper Misbah ul Haq was again dismissed cheaply for just 19 runs was caught by Somerset legend Marcus Trescothick off Jack Leach. Sarfraz Ahmed was out for a duck this time around. It was Asad Shafiq who supported Ali post the fall of Sarfraz and has go on to make a 47-ball 26.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Pakistan 98/3 in 28 overs: Azhar Ali 34* (71), Sarfraz Ahmed 0 (2):DOT! Leach keeps it down to no run. FOUR! Misbah does not leave him this time as he gets four runs. FOUR! Consecutive boundaries for the Pakistan captain. He is looking to up the ante for his side with some quick runs. OUT! Leach gets his man as Misbah mistimes this one for a simple catch to Trescothik. Sarfraz Ahmed comes to bat. DOT! No run of the first ball faced by Ahmed. DOT! Ahmed remains on zero after the end of the over.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Pakistan 69/2 in 15 overs: Azhar Ali 20* (51), Misbah-ul-Haq 4*(6): DOT! Groenewald starts off with no run. DOT! He has been good with his line and length so far as he bowls another dot. DOT! No run from the bat of Azhar. DOT! Azhar keeps the strike with another dot. ONE! Azhar finally gives the strike to his captain, Misbah. DOT! Misbah plays the last ball without troubling the scores.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Pakistan 53/1 in 15 overs: Azhar Ali 16* (35), Shan Masood 21*(50): Tim Groenewald comes into bowl. DOT! No run of the first ball. DOT! No run of the second ball as well. DOT! Groenewald has been good till now as he bowls the third consecutive dot. DOT! Masood is happy playing the over cautiously. DOT! No run yet of the willow of Masood. TWO! Masood takes a couple to end the over.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Pakistan 20/1 in 4 overs: Azhar Ali 5* (7), Shan Masood 2*(11): LEG-BYE! Azhar gets to the other end with a leg-bye of Meekeren. DOT! Shan Masood is in no hurry as he blocks Meekeren’s delivery. DOT! No run added to the scores. TWO! Masood gets off the mark with a couple. DOT! Masood respects the ball from Meekeren. DOT! Another good ball to finish the over by Meekeren.
Somerset have conceded a whopping lead of 231 runs to Pakistan and the visitors would be delighted with their bowlers and their performance. Every bowler chipped in with wickets with Aamer leading their attack and it was he who started the fall of wickets for Somerset. It will be difficult for Somerset to play well and draw the game as Pakistan’s bowlers are breathing fire at the moment.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Somerset 128/10 in 34.1 overs: James Hildreth 47*(68), PA Van Meekeren 0 (5): OUT! Yasir Shah gets the last wicket of the Somerset team. The ball hit his pad and the umpire did not hesitate to give that out. Hildreth remained not out at the other end and looked like the only batsman to have countered the Pakistani bowling. Yasir Shah got his second scalp.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Somerset 95/5 in 24 overs: James Hildreth 25*(41), Josh Davey 10(12):DOT! Rahat Ali comes in to bowl. No run of his first ball. LEG-BYE! Hildreth gets a single through a leg-bye of Ali’s ball. DOT! Davey blocks this one from Ali. DOT! Ali is bowling on the right areas at the moment. No run from Davey’s bat. FOUR! Davey gets a boundary to his name. DOT! Ali comes back strong from the four runs he conceded earlier and ends the ball without troubling the scores.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Somerset 62/4 in 17 overs: James Hildreth 15*(27), Alex Barrow 0 (3): DOT! Aamer bowls right on track as Trego gets no run. DOT! Another miss from Trego. OUT! Trego becomes the third victim of Aamer. Aamer is breathing fire at the moment for his side. DOT! Alex Barrow comes to the crease. Barrow blocks his first ball. DOT! Barrow is facing a quality bowling from Aamer. DOT! Scores remain the same with Aamer ending the over.
Stumps on Day 2 of the tour game between Somerset and Pakistan. After declaring the innings for 359 for 8, Pakistan have bowled well to restrict Somerset at 56 for 3 in 15 overs. Marcus Trescothik and Adam Hose have been dismissed by Mohammad Aamer and he is looking good for the visitors at the moment. A good spell by him will work great for his confidence. He has, till now, been supported well by Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali from the other end.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Somerset 56/3 in 15 overs: James Hildreth 9*(21), Peter Trego 23* (25): Sohail Khan comes back into the attack. DOT! He starts off with the right length. No run for Somerset. DOT! Trego does not bother the scores. DOT! Trego has been patient enough with his approach and does not bother the score again. DOT! No run again for Somerset and Trego. ONE! A single from Trego to get to the other end. ONE! Hildreth gets to the other end and keeps the strike for the next over as well.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Somerset 44/3 in 12 overs: James Hildreth 4*(12), Peter Trego 17* (16): DOT! Rahat Ali begins with a dot. FOUR! Trego adds another four to his name. DOT! Rahat Ali gets back to basics and concedes nothing. DOT! Another good bowl from Ali. ONE! A single from Trego to get to the other end. FOUR! Smashed by Hildreth for a timely boundary and finally he gets off the mark.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Somerset 23/2 in 7 overs: Tim Rouse 1 (2), James Hildreth 0 (0): DOT! Aamer bowls right on the money and concedes nothing. DOT! Hose respects the ball from Aamer. FOUR! Extra runs conceded from Aamer through byes. DOT! Aamer gets back into rhythm with this one. FOUR! Hose bounces on this delivery and scores a boundary. Aamer is looking a bit rusty till now. He needs to settle down soon. OUT! Aamer gets his second as Hose makes his way back to the pavilion.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Pakistan 359/8 in 100 overs: Sarfraz Ahmed 17* (29), Yasir Khan 11*(8): ONE! Yasi takes a single of the first ball of Meekeren. DOT! Sarfraz blocks the second ball of the over. DOT! Another dot ball from Meekeren. THREE! Sarfraz times the ball and grabs three runs for his side. FOUR! Yasir strikes the ball for a four. SIX! Yasir’s timely hit gets the team six valuable runs.
The news has come from the center. Misbah-ul-Haq and co. have decided to declare their innings at 359 for 8 with Sarfraz Ahmed and Yasir Shah still at the crease. Let’s see how well will the Pakistan bowlers fare in the conditions when Somerset come out to bat.
Live Cricket Scorecard, Somerset vs Pakistan, Pakistan 335/5 in 97 overs: Sarfraz Ahmed 10* (20), Sohail Khan 5 (4): OUT! Younis Khan gets out of JH Dovey’s first ball. He misses on reaching 16,000 runs in first class cricket. NO-BALL! Aamer welcomes to England with a ‘no-ball’. OUT! Aamer goes for a duck. DOT! Khan blocks the first ball. DOT! Dovey has swung the momentum for the team in their favour. FOUR! Sohail off the mark with a boundary. ONE! Single to keep the strike for the next over.
This was Pakistan’s first first-class match on English soil since their controversial “spot-fixing” tour of 2010. However, Amir returned to international cricket earlier this year and could make his Test comeback at Lord’s, where Pakistan face England in the first of a four-Test series on July 14. Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez hooked Somerset and Scotland paceman Josh Davey over fine leg and pulled him over mid-wicket for two sixes in as many balls. He was then reprieved by Davey on 17 when the bowler dropped a return catch. But Dutch bowler Paul van Meekeren, who only joined Somerset last week, made the breakthrough when he bowled Hafeez for 20. Pakistan were 79 for one at lunch but lost three wickets in the second session against Somerset’s multi-national attack. Azhar Ali (20) was well caught by diving wicket-keeper Alex Barrow off van Meekeren.
There was more bad luck for Davey when Younis’s inside edge on 75 evaded the diving Barrow. Shafiq’s 120-ball innings ended when he was well caught by Bess at point off Leach. It seemed Younis would get to his 53rd first-class century before stumps, with some elegant late cuts taking him well into the 90s. But instead he was left one run shy of a hundred, with Sarfraz Ahmed (six not out) unable to get off strike.
Squads:
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Rahat Ali, Sami Aslam, Sarfraz Ahmed(w), Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Younis Khan, Zulfiqar Babar
Somerset: Marcus Trescothick, Chris Rogers(c), Johann Myburgh, James Hildreth, Jim Allenby, Peter Trego, Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Ryan Davies(w), Michael Leask, Tom Abell, Alex Barrow, Tim Groenewald, Jack Leach, James Regan, Roelof van der Merwe, Max Waller, Adam Hose, Josh Davey, Yasir Arafat, Abdur Rehman
