SYDNEY: Pakistan’s only warm-up match ahead of their three-Test series against Australia was cut short Saturday after a freak storm prevented further play.

The Prime Minister’s XI trailed the tourists by 24 runs at 367-4 on day three of the four-day fixture when an electrical storm lashed Canberra late Friday.

It blew the covers off the Manuka Oval pitch, exposing it to rain, with the umpires abandoning the clash as a draw without any further action on Saturday.

The decision denied Australia’s Matt Renshaw the chance to build on his unbeaten 136 in the race to replace opener David Warner when he quits Test cricket.

Pakistan’s top-order performed well batting first, with captain Shan Masood’s 201 not out encouraging hopes they can take the challenge up to Australia’s elite bowlers.

The tourists will now head to Perth, where the series against Australia gets underway on Thursday before moving to Melbourne and then Sydney, where 37-year-old Warner has indicated he plans to draw the curtain on his long Test career.

Pakistan’s first-choice pace attack of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Wasim are expected to be named for the first Test, although there is work to do to finalise their line-up after an injury to spinner Abrar Ahmed.

He is almost certainly ruled out of the contest, with 37-year-old Noman Ali the only other spinner in the squad.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2023