LAHORE: Pakistan Shaheens are all set to take on Professional County Club Select XI in the first three-day game at the 1st Central County Ground, Hove from Tuesday (today).
The second three-day fixture of the tour is against South Asian Cricket Academy & MCC Young Cricketers and will be played at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, and Canterbury from 3rd August.
Before the three-day games, Shaheens featured in a three one-day match series against Professional County Club Select XI, which they won 2-1. Saud Shakeel-led Shaheens outclassed the hosts by five wickets (DLS method) in the first one-day on 22nd July, while they were beaten by seven wickets in the second match on 25th July.
Shaheens made a strong comeback in the third one-day, chasing down a target of 261 to register a five-wicket win on 27th July.
On the tour, left-handed opening batter Azan Awais topped the batting charts with 164 runs from three matches at an average of 54.67. The southpaw struck two half-centuries and hit 16 boundaries and two sixes.
Right-hander Haider Ali, who has represented Pakistan in two ODIs and 35 T20Is, scored 141 runs in three matches at a strike rate of 128.18. He recorded two half-centuries – both contributing to the team’s wins in the first and third one-dayers.
In the bowling department, 19-year-old right-arm fast bowler Ubaid Shah led the charts at the conclusion of the one-day series. He claimed six wickets, including four for 41 in the team’s win in the third one-day.
Opening batter Azan Awais said, “The conditions here are challenging because the new ball tends to seam and swing. In England, as an opener, the conditions can be tough early on, so the priority is to survive. The coach gave me a clear plan, to stay in and anchor the innings and I followed that and we got a very good result.”
He added, “When the series began, I adapted quickly to the preparations we had done. In the last match, we lost early wickets, so I tried to take the innings as deep as possible. My aim was to bat through and I was able to carry that momentum and perform well. I have been playing with Shamyl Hussain since our U19 days and this was the second time we opened together. We gave the team a strong start with a 100-run partnership, which gave us a solid platform and benefited the team greatly.”
He said, “This was my first experience of playing in English conditions. They are undoubtedly tough for an opener, so survival early on is a key. I will now look to carry this form into the three-day format and keep my focus on that. I will try to perform to the best of my ability for the team in that format as well.”
Pacer Ubaid Shah said, “I bowled with an attacking approach early on. Bowling alongside Mir Hamza, who is an experienced bowler and has played matches for Pakistan was really helpful. We discussed strategies together, including what lengths to bowl and how much effort to put in on this surface.”
He said, “The pitches in England suit fast bowlers quite well and I tried to utilise that to the best of my ability. It’s a different kind of cricket compared to what we see in Pakistan, where the pitches are quite different. Here, you have to adjust quickly and that experience has been invaluable.”
He added, “We have got three-day matches coming up and I am really looking forward to playing red-ball cricket in these conditions. It’s been great to be part of this tour to England and I am thoroughly enjoying it. For the three-day games, I will stick to the same simple plan given by the coaches and I hope to execute it well.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.