On their return from the T20 World Cup, Salman Butt and Umar Akmal participated in a practise game taking place at the 24 player camp in Lahore. Umar joined his brother Adnan Akmal and the NCA Panthers whilst Butt opened for the NCA Tigers.

It was a 35 over game and the Panthers batted first on what was another (not so) glorious super flat concrete pavement. They put up a massive score of 285/4.

Imran Farhat and Shahzaib Hasan opened against Pakistan A’s Tabish Khan and Pakistan u19′s Fayyaz Butt. Shahzaib didn’t even last 10 balls before he had to retire hurt due to excessive vomiting but dont worry he’s fine now.

Umar Akmal came in at 3 to join Farhat who was run out on 47 by Azeem Ghumman. Umar was in a carefree mood as he lashed the bowlers to all parts racking up a super fast 94 runs in just 44 balls with 13 fours and 4 sixes. He was denied his century by Mohammad Rameez who bowled him on 94. Fahad Iqbal and Shehryar Ghani put on a partnership that took the Panthers to 15 runs shy of 300 but would it be enough?

Salman Butt and Azeem Ghumman opened for the Tigers against the bowling of Mohammad Irfan and Uzair Ul Haq. Both opening batsman were very positive and got the Tigers off to a brisk start before falling to Uzair Ul Haq. Azhar Ali came in at number 3 with a near impossible run rate ahead of him and a class bowling attack up against him. But Azhar rotated the strike well and kept building partnerships along the way with Umar Amin (34) and Abid Ali (40). Azhar kept his head and was eventually run out for 113 runs off just 84 balls but by then he’d put the Tigers in the driving seat and the lower order batsmen managed to steer them home.

This was another great day for the batsmen and back breaking work for the poor bowlers. Once again I’m left wondering what the point of this camp is, are dead tracks good preparation for bouncy English pitches?

[u][b]NCA Panthers Batting - 285/4 (35 overs)[/b][/u]

[b]Runs Balls 4s 6s Player[/b]

47 60 6 1 [b]Imran Farhat[/b] (run out - Ghumman)
14 10 3 0 [b]Shahzaib Hasan[/b] (retired hurt)
94 44 13 4 [b]Umar Akmal[/b] (b M Rameez)
50* 49 5 1 [b]Fahad Iqbal[/b]
6 13 0 0 [b]Asad Shafiq[/b] (stumped Qadir)
33 31 3 0 [b]Shehryar Ghani[/b] (run out - Amin)
7* 6 1 0 [b]Sarmad Bhatti[/b]
[i]Did not bat[/i] [b]Sharjeel Khan[/b]
[i]Did not bat[/i] [b]Adnan Akmal[/b]
[i]Did not bat[/i] [b]Uzair ul Haq[/b]
[i]Did not bat[/i] [b]Mohammad Irfan[/b]

[u][b]NCA Tigers Bowling[/b][/u]

[b]Ovrs Runs Wkts Player[/b]

7 75 0 [b]Tabish Khan[/b]
7 57 0 [b]Fayyaz Butt[/b]
7 54 0 [b]Wahab Riaz[/b]
6 29 1 [b]Mohammad Rameez[/b]
6 43 1 [b]Usman Qadir[/b]
2 16 0 [b]Lal Kumar[/b]

[u][b]NCA Tigers Batting - 287/8 (34.4 overs)[/b][/u]

[b]Runs Balls 4s 6s Player[/b]

21 12 3 1 [b]Salman Butt[/b] (Uzair)
14   9 3 0 [b]Azeem Ghumman[/b] (cb Uzair)
113 84 11 1 [b]Azhar Ali[/b] (run out)
34 27 6 0 [b]Umar Amin[/b] (uzair)
  1   4 0 0 [b]Rameez Alam[/b] (run out)
40 35 3 0 [b]Abid Ali[/b] (lbw Uzair)
18 25 1 0 [b]Babar Azam[/b] (lbw Talha)
15 14 1 0 [b]Shan Masood[/b] (cb Irfan)
  3*   2 0 0 [b]Lal Kumar[/b]
  4*   2 1 0 [b]Usman Qadir[/b]
[i]Did not bat[/i] [b]Wahab Riaz[/b]

[u][b]NCA Panthers Bowling[/b][/u]

[b]Ovrs Runs Wkts Player[/b]

6.4 73 1 [b]Mohammad Irfan[/b]
7 58 4 [b]Uzair Ul Haq[/b]
7 58 1 [b]Mohammad Talha[/b]
6 49 0 [b]Sarmad Bhatti[/b]
7 39 0 [b]Raza Hasan[/b]
1 6 0 [b]Asad Shafiq[/b]