BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan’s hopes of gaining adequate practice before the start of the ICC Champions Trophy were dampened by rain which ruined the warm-up match against Australia here on Monday.
Australia, who defeated Sri Lanka in their first warm-up, had advanced to 57-1 in the 11th over when the match came to a premature conclusion at Edgbaston.
After winning the toss, Australia started brightly as Aaron Finch and David Warner raced to 30 before Mohammad Amir broke through. The left-armer, who was rested from the Bangladesh game on Saturday, had Warner caught behind by skipper Sarfraz Ahmed for 11.
Finch, however, looked in good touch by stroking seven boundaries in an enterprising innings of 36 from as many deliveries.
Steve Smith, the Australian captain, had barely settled in when the weather intervened. He made eight off 17 balls.
Australia, who won the title in 2006 and 2009, open their Group ‘A’ campaign against New Zealand on Friday at Edgbaston which also hosts the tournament’s biggest fixture when Pakistan take on old foes India on Sunday.
The tournament begins from Thursday when hosts England entertain Bangladesh at The Oval. South Africa and Sri Lanka, who are in Group ‘B’ alongside Pakistan and India, meet each other at the same venue on Saturday.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA:
D.A. Warner c Sarfraz b Amir 11
A.J. Finch not out 36
S.P.D. Smith not out 8
EXTRAS (LB-2) 2
TOTAL (for one wkt, 10.2 overs) 57
FALL OF WKT: 1-30.
DID NOT BAT: T.M. Head, C.A. Lynn, G.J. Maxwell, M.P. Stoinis, M.S. Wade, M.A. Starc, M.C. Henriques, A. Zampa, J.L. Pattinson, J.R. Hazlewood, P.J. Cummins, J.W. Hastings.
BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 4-0-9-1; Fahim Ashraf 3-0-30-0; Imad Wasim 2-0-12-0; Junaid Khan 1.2-0-4-0.
PAKISTAN: Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, Imad Wasim, Fahim Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Junaid Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz.
UMPIRES: R.K. Illingworth (England) and H.D.P.K. Dharmasena (Sri Lanka).
MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).
NOTE: 15 players per side (11 batting, 11 fielding).
Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2017
