Shaheens beat MCC side by five wickets

LAHORE: Pakistan Shaheens defeated the visiting Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team by five wickets here at the Aitchison College Ground on Sunday.

In their second match of the tour, MCC were restricted to 204 by Shaheens with the latter capitalising on two match-winning stands. An unbeaten 91-run stand between Imran Rafiq and Hasan Mohsin and Ehsan Adil’s six-wicket haul made the difference and helped Pakistan Shaheens record the win.

Imran and Hasan posted unbeaten scores of 66 and 49, respectively, as Shaheens chased down the target with 30 balls to spare.

The pair had come together in the 27th over with the scoreboard reading 114-5. Shaheens lost opener Zeeshan Malik (0) in the first over. But a 43-run partnership for the second-wicket between Omair Bin Yousaf (25 off 23 balls) and Rohail Nazir (20 off 17 balls) provided stability to Shaheens’ innings.

MCC’s Oliver Hanoon-Dalby took 2-33 in nine overs. Earlier, Ehsan Adil took 6-34 as MCC managed 204-9 in their 50 overs.

The right-arm pacer struck in the third over and picked up the prized scalp of Kumar Sangakkara, the MCC captain, in the seventh over to leave MCC reeling at 23-2. A 68-run stand for the fourth-wicket between Will Rhodes (27 off 71 balls) and Ross Whiteley (51 off 39 balls) gave MCC some momentum, but the partnership was curtailed by Ehsan, who after dismissing Rhodes added three more wickets to his tally. Roelof van der Merwe made an unbeaten 47 off 79 balls. He hit two fours in his innings.

The MCC side will face Northern, the domestic T20 champions, in a 20-over contest at the Aitchison College Ground on Monday (today).