Pakistan ‘A’ clean sweeps Afghanistan

Pakistani ‘A’ team players take a break after the dismissal of Afghan batsman Asghar Stanikzai © AFP

 

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By Shahid Hashmi

 

Faisalabad: May 30, 2011

 

Pakistan ‘A’ outlasted a much improved Afghanistan team to win the third and final one-day cricket match by four wickets here on Sunday, for a 3-0 whitewash of the tourists.

 

Noor Ali (51) guided Afghanistan to an imposing 274-9 in their 50 overs before Sarfraz Ahmed and Saad Nasim hit half-centuries to help the hosts reach 278-6 in 48.1 overs.

 

Sunday’s victory completed a rout that saw Pakistan win the first match in Islamabad by five wickets and the second at Rawalpindi by 150 runs.

 

Afghanistan were the first international team to tour Pakistan since terrorist attacks on a Sri Lankan team bus in March 2009, killing eight people and injuring seven touring players and their assistant coach in Lahore.

 

Ahmed put two match-winning partnerships of 63 for the sixth wicket with Sohail Tanvir (31) to lift Pakistan ‘A’ from a precarious 120-5 before seeing them off through an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 95 with Nasim.

 

Ahmed hit three boundaries during his 73-ball 53 not out and was ably supported by Nasim who hit seven boundaries during his 43-ball 50 not out.

 

For Afghanistan, Ali was the pick of the batsmen, holding one end intact during his sedate 72-ball innings which had six boundaries. Karim Sadiq had a fiery 26-ball 42 not out studded with seven boundaries.

 

For Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah took 3-29.

 

The Pakistan Cricket Board hope their successful hosting of Afghanistan will send positive signals to top teams who have refused to tour.

 

Last week Sri Lanka refused to visit Pakistan for a October-November series, citing security fears.

 

Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal described the tour as “useful.”

 

“It was disappointing to lose from a position of strength in the last match,” he said. “Overall it was a tour which has taught us many lessons and with more and more exposure against the top teams we will improve.”

 

Pakistan captain Tanvir hoped the series had served to identify talent.

 

“It was a good series for both the teams, and I hope Pakistan have got four to five future players from this second string,” said Tanvir, who has been out of the national team because of fitness problems.

 

Brief Scores: Afghanistan 274 for 9 in 50 overs (Noor Ali 51, Karim Sadiq 42*, Shabir Nori 31; Yasir Shah 3-29) lost to Pakistan ‘A’ 278 for 6 in 48.1 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 61*, Saad Nasim 50*, Sharjeel Khan 44; Mohammad Nabi 2 for 44, Samiullah Shenwari 2 for 59) by 4 wickets. 

 

© AFP