NEWS
MATCH REPORTS
GROUNDS
STATISTICS
GUEST COLUMNS
FORUM
SCHEDULE
ARCHIVES
SURFBOARD

Pakistan pace battery too hot for Scotland

No one expected Scotland to shock Pakistan. And the underdogs obliged. Pakistan crushed Scotland by 94 runs to reiterate their claim as the favourites to win the cup alongside South Africa. The way the first two hours of play went it looked as if we were in for a shocker but Pakistan decided otherwise.

At 92 for 5 Pakistan's fragile middle order gave way and it was only a responsible innings from Yousuf Youhana (81*) and some late order slogging by skipper Wasim Akram (39*) and the unorthodox Moin Khan (47) which helped them get to 261 of their allotted 50 overs. Scotland broke the world record for most extras in limited over internationals by bowling 59 of them.

Scotland were reduced to 19 for 5 even before the spectators managed to get back to their seats. The express pace of Shoaib Akhtar was too much to handle for the minnows who seemed all set to erase the record for the lowest total ever set by Canada (45) against England in 1979. But GM Hamilton salvaged some pride with a stubborn 76 though his innings never seemed to alter the course of the match.
Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Abdur Razzaq snapped up three wickets each to wrap up the Scotland innings with more than 11 overs to spare.

Pakistan's sole worry after this match will be the inconsistent form of the middle order and will force Wasim Akram to rethink his strategy again. Pakistan plays Australia this Sunday at Headingley.

Scoreboard