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Pakistan endured a troubled start after being asked to bat first by Canada in their World Cup warm-up match here on Tuesday, by making 133-4 in their first 30 overs.

Younis Khan was caught by wicket-keeper Ashish Bagai off the bowling of Anderson Cummins for 11 after he was surprisingly asked to open the batting.

Henry Osinde then dismissed Imran Nazir for 26 and Mohammad Yousuf followed him back to the pavilion for 21, after becoming an Umar Bhatti victim.

All-rounder Shoaib Malik couldn’t live up to expectations and was soon back in the dressing room after being clean bowled by Osinde on 1.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, who wasn’t in good form himself, then steadied the ship for Pakistan and was not out on 41 along with Mohammad Hafeez, who was dropped down the batting order, on 27 till the filing of this report.

There was drama earlier in the day when a sightscreen fell down and held up play for more than an hour.

The temporary sightscreen was blown over at southern end of the stadium. The incident halted play when Pakistan were 82 for four in the 20th over. Pakistan were able to pick from just 13 players for the match.

Meanwhile New Zealand, who are considered among the favourites to lift the World Cup crown, were struggling against an upbeat Bangladesh side at Three Ws Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Young pacer Mashrafe Mortaza was the pick of the bowlers as he ripped through the Kiwi top order taking 3-22 off seven overs. New Zealand were struggling at 50 for the loss of four wickets after 16 overs of play with Scott Styris (21) and Jacob Oram (6), who was making his return to starting line-up after getting injured, not out batsmen on the crease.

India, on the other hand, were in a strong position after getting a decent opening partnership against the Netherlands at Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica. They were 246-5 in 42.3 overs.

Ganguly was the first man to go after making 19. Robin Uthappa made 20 while Virender Sehwag made a good contribution with 28 runs.

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were no match for poor Dutch bowling line-up as they made 61 and 74, respectively. Yuvraj was on the crease with his captain on 12. Ryan ten Doeschate took 2 for 31 off six overs.

Meanwhile Australia, after winning the toss and electing to bat first, finished their innings on 290 for the loss of seven wickets in their match against Zimbabwe at Arnos Vale in St Vincent. Michael Clarke (82) and Shane Watson (81) were the main contributors for the batting side.
Source:The News

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