England v Pakistan - Tour Match

MCC v Pakistanis
The Oval, London
4 Day Game
Umpires: JS Buller & CS Elliot
Toss: MCC

MCC: DS Sheppard, JH Edrich, *ER Dexter, TW Graveney, BL D'Oliveira, TE Bailey, +JM Parks, DA Allen, JH Wardle, DJ Brown, FH Tyson.
PAK: Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Asif Iqbal, *Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, +Wasim Bari, Tauseef Ahmed, Waqar Younis.

Pakistan enjoyed a very profitable warm up ahead of the Test series with a convincing 10 wicket win over an MCC XI at The Oval. A five wicket haul from Waqar Younis helped dismiss the home side in their first innings for just 267 on what was a good batting strip, and had it not been for Trevor Bailey's five hour 72 the damage could have been that much greater. The Pakistanis were only able to take a 34 run lead at the halfway stage though, as consistent bowling from the MCC's seamers enabled Ted Dexter's team to make breakthroughs at vital times. Javed batted very well for his 69, but it was Saleem Malik's century that stood out, and the Pakistani selectors' decision to omit Zaheer Abbas in favour of Malik on this tour looks to be justified.

With the wicket now starting to break up, batting was not going to be as easy in the second innings, and the MCC side was blown away on a fourth morning that saw them collapse from 20-1 overnight to 57-7 at lunch as Wasim Akram ran riot. Tauseef's off spin cleaned up the tail in the afternoon, and a paltry total of just 85 allowed Mohsin and Mudassar to pilot the tourists to a comfortable victory shortly after tea on the final day. The Pakistanis had put in a thoroughly professional performance, and they will now head into the Tests confident that they can make a mark on a series where they are most certainly second favourites.

1st innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Scores

MCC 1st Inns 267 (Bailey 72, Sheppard 51, Dexter 47; Waqar Younis 5-53)
PAK 1st Inns 301 (Saleem Malik 102, Javed Miandad 69, Majid Khan 45; Tyson 4-59)
MCC 2nd Inns 85 (Tauseef Ahmed 4-20, Wasim Akram 4-26)
PAK 2nd Inns 52-0

PAKISTANIS WON BY 10 WICKETS