Abu Dhabi: England Lions defeated Pakistan Shaheens by 4 wickets in the unofficial first T20I of the 3-match series at the Saeed Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Asa Tribe’s unbeaten 64 off 48 balls including 6 fours and a six saw England chase down the target of 153 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.
Ben McKinney scored 24 off 13 balls with a four and 3 sixes, while Don Mousley scored 16 off 14 balls with a four.
For the Shaheens, Akif Javed returned with figures of 2/22 in three overs, while Ahmed Daniel, Saad Masood and Sufyan Mukeem claimed a wicket each.
Batting first, Pakistan got off to a promising start as openers Mas Sadaq and Shamil Hussain put on a steady 55-run partnership, with Shamil scoring the most runs and applying early pressure on England’s bowling attack.
The partnership was broken when James Coles took the wicket of Centaur in the first ball of the eighth over. Satakat scored 17 runs off 18 balls including 2 fours.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Saad Baig joined Shamil and the two continued to solidify the innings. Shamil led from the front as he hit his fourth T20I fifty in List A cricket.
Nathan Chowder’s innings ended with Pakistan 90-2 in 11.2 overs to dismiss him with a 39-ball 55 with four fours and several sixes.
Abdul Samad later added valuable runs to take Pakistan past 100, but wickets continued to fall at regular intervals.
Saqib Mahmood dismissed Saad Baig with Pakistan 108-3 in 14.1 overs for 21 off 20 balls.
In the next over, James Coles picked up his second wicket, bringing the tie to 21 off 12 balls, which included two towering sixes.
The middle and lower order players were stifled as the wickets fell. Hasan Nawaz scored 13 off 13 balls before Scott Currie picked up his first wicket.
Sunny Baker accounted for Saad Masood, while Saqib Mahmood dismissed Ahmed Daniel for two runs.
Pakistan’s innings ended with Arafat Minhas not out on 13 and Subian Muqeem with one as the English Lions set a target of 153 for victory.