Lahore Qalandars give 136-run target to MCC

Lahore Qalandars struggled on a slow and sluggish wicket of Gaddafi Stadium Friday against Marylebone Cricket Club as they could manage only 135 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs.

Openers Salman Butt and Fakhar Zaman provided a solid start but Qalandars batsmen could not cash in on it and struggled to score runs freely.

Butt was first to go after scoring 28 runs off 23 balls when a throw from Roelof van der Merwe caught him short of crease. Next batsman Faizan Riaz continued to struggle and scored only two runs before he was bowled out by Roelof. He scored two runs off 20 deliveries.

Michael Leask took the prized wicket of veteran batsman M Hafeez who obliged Kumar Sangakkara with simple catch without disturbing the scorers. Roelof struck once again as he removed Jaahid Ali cheaply. Fakhar played some steady innings however and scored 45 runs off 36 balls before holing out toSamit Patel off a delivery of Fred Klaassen. Captain Suhail Akhtar played sensibly and added 19 runs in last over with Farzan Raja on other side to give Qalandars a respectable score of 135. He remained unbeaten on 40 off 28 balls while Farzan scored 10 runs off 16 deliveries.

Earlier, it was a victorious start for Marylebone Cricket Club President and captain of the visiting MCC side Kumar Sangakkara as he won the toss for match against Lahore Qalandars and decided to bowl first.

Sangakkara-led MCC cricket team is on a goodwill tour to Pakistan to help the country restore international cricket fully. MCC team has services of some big names other than their captain including England internationals Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel. Lahore Qalandars, the eye candy and darling of Pakistan Super League not for their cricket but the recreation they bring in the events, have the services of Salman Butt, Fakhar Zaman, M Hafeez and Usman Shinwari.

Teams:

MCC: Kumar Sangakkara (c), Ravi Bopara, Michael Burgess, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Fred Klaassen, Michael Leask, Will Rhodes, Safyaan Sharif, Roelof van der Merwe, Ross Whiteley, Samit Patel

LAHORE QALANDARS: Salman Butt, Fakhar Zaman, M Faizan, M Hafeez, Jaahid Ali (WK), Sohail Akhtar (c), Farzan Raja, Maaz Khan, Dilber Hussain, Usman Shinwari, Ali Majid