Pakistan step up preparations for England Tests with first-class fixture

 In a bid to step up their preparations for the three World Test Championship fixtures against the hosts, England, the Pakistan men’s national cricket team will play a four-day first-class intra-squad match at Incora County Ground, Derby.

The match, which begins today, will be played between PCB Green, captained by Test captain Azhar Ali, and Sarfaraz Ahmed’s PCB White.

14-player lineups:

PCB Green: Azhar Ali ©, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah

PCB White: Sarfaraz Ahmed ©, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Khushdil Shah, Musa Khan, Sohail Khan and Usman Khan Shinwari

This fixture is Pakistan’s last match practice before the much-anticipated Test series kicks off on 5 August at Old Trafford Manchester.

The first of the two four-dayers, which concluded on Monday, turned out to be an absorbing contest with both batsmen and bowlers fighting tooth and nail to stake their claims in the final XI of the first Test.

After getting rolled out for a paltry 181 in the reply of Team White’s first innings 249 all-out, Team Green staged a jaw-dropping comeback – at the back of Azhar’s 120 retired out, Fakhar Zaman’s 99 and Asad Shafiq’s 67 retired out – to chase 354 for the loss of four wickets in the final session.

As many as six half-centuries and two centuries were scored, while 17-year-old Naseem Shah and Sohail Khan returned five-wicket hauls for their teams. Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Yasir Shah were the other bowlers to put up notable performances.

In such a backdrop, the upcoming fixture promises to keep the fans checking the scorecard on the PCB website and scrolling through the PCB social media handles for the regular updates.

The match will commence at 11am (British Summer Time).