Pakistan All Star XI beat International World XI by six wickets in the second and last match of World XI AO Trophy, aiming to restore international cricket in Pakistan.
Batting first, World XI set a 143-run target in full 20 overs at the loss of nine wickets in the match played at National Stadium Karachi.
The visitors suffered an early blow in the form of Sanath Jayasuriya departing in the first over without getting off the mark.
World XI would have been restricted below 100 runs, thanks to last wicket 57-run stand between Adam Sanford and Nantie Hayward, who was the top-scorer for his team making 42 runs off 14.
Pakistan XI’s openers Imran Nazir and Shahzaib Hasan put a riveting performance, making more runs together than the first nine players of the opponents could make.
Pakistan lost three wickets within 16 runs after Shahzaib departed at 87, making 39 runs off 19.
Imran Nazir strengthened the perception that he played brilliantly when the match was not the international one. He made 53 runs off 33, scoring five sixes and four fours.
Though Pakistan XI achieved the target in the match, time will tell if the series would blaze a trail in restoring international cricket in the country.
Earlier, Pakistan All Stars XI restricted International World XI to 142-9 in the allotted 20 overs.
Sent into bat by Pakistan All Stars XI captain Shoaib Malik, International World XI batsmen made a disastrous start as they lost their captain opener Sanath jayasuriya in the very first over and since then the team could not recover until the last pair provided a great resistance adding 57 for an unbeaten tenth wicket5 partnership.
Number eleven batsman Nantie Hayward top scored with an unbeaten 42 while his partner number ten batsman Adam Sanford remained not out on 14. Only two other batsmen – opener Andre Seymore (25) and Mohammad Shahzad (11) could get into the double-figures.
For the hosts, slow left-arm bowler Faraz Ahmed captured three wickets for 20 runs and seamer Tabish Khan claimed two for 19.
Pakistan All Stars XI, led by Afridi, won the first match of the series by a big margin of 84 runs. The match was played on Saturday at the same venue.
