LONDON – Pakistan has bounced back against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.
Northamptonshire won the toss and elected to bat in familiar conditions.However, that did not end well for the hosts as Shadab Khan was content onmaking an impact in the 2nd tour-match.
The Pakistani magician finally turned up on the big stage as he took 6wickets on the first day of the tour-match.
Shadab took 6 wickets in his 19 overs after giving away only 77 runs asNorthamptonshire were cleaned up for 259. The 19-year-old also managed toget a run-out of LA Procter, who returned to the pavilion after scoringjust 1 run.
This is Shadab’s only 9th first-class and this was his career bestperformance after he took 5 for 82 for Pakistan A in 2016.——————————
English conditions are not always favorable to the spinners on the openingdays but Shadab proved in both warm-up matches that he is capable ofturning the ball sharply. His efforts helped Pakistan reduce the hosts for143 for 6 after lunch, who were 104 for 2 going in.
Here are the fall of wickets:
Going into the Ireland-England series, Shadab can prove to be crucial asmost foreign players do not face quality leg-breaker bowlers on a regularbasis. This is also the reason why Yasir Shah managed to achieve so muchsuccess in such short amount of time. Hopefully, Shadab can follow in hisfootsteps and have a long and lasting career.
In response, Pakistan looked to be in trouble as both the openers — AzharAli and Imam-ul-Haq — returned to the pavilion after scoring 9 and 11 runsrespectively. It was then up to Haris Sohail and Asad Shafiq to stabilizethe innings and they did not disappoint.
After a rocky start in English conditions, both batsmen settled in and puton a hefty partnership which saw Haris get 79 runs whereas Shafiq ended hisinnings on 186 not-out. Babar Azam also stepped in with a quick 57 off 83deliveries.
This performance by Asad Shafiq is important for many reasons especiallybecause Asad, along with Azhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed, is the most seniorplayer in the squad and they have to lead from the front.
Shafiq showed great composure and astute technique to not only safeguardhis interest at the crease but also score heavily as he found the boundaryquite often. He faced a total of 281 deliveries and 16 of those went for afour and 6 of them cleared the boundary.