SUSSEX – Pakistan Shaheens are all set to take on Professional County Club Select XI in the first three-day game at the 1st Central County Ground, Hove on Tuesday, 29 July.
The second three-day fixture of the tour is against the South Asian Cricket Academy & MCC Young Cricketers. It will be played at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury, from 3 August.
Before the three-day games, Shaheens featured in a three one-day match series against Professional County Club Select XI, which they won 2-1. Saud Shakeel-led Shaheens outclassed the hosts by five wickets (DLS method) in the first one-day on 22 July, while they were beaten by seven wickets in the second match on 25 July.
Shaheens made a strong comeback in the third one-day, chasing down a target of 261 to register a five-wicket win on 27 July.
On the tour, left-handed opening batter Azan Awais topped the batting charts with 164 runs from three matches at an average of 54.67. The southpaw struck two half-centuries and hit 16 boundaries and two sixes.
Right-hander Haider Ali, who has represented Pakistan in two ODIs and 35 T20Is, scored 141 runs in three matches at a strike rate of 128.18. He recorded two half-centuries, both contributing to the team’s wins in the first and third one-dayers.
In the bowling department, 19-year-old right-arm fast bowler Ubaid Shah led the charts after the one-day series. He claimed six wickets, including four for 41 in the team’s win in the third one-day.
Azan Awais said: “The conditions here are challenging because the new ball tends to seam and swing. In England, as an opener, the conditions can be tough early on, so the priority is to survive and build from there. The coach gave me a clear plan to stay in and anchor the innings, and I followed that, and we got an excellent result.”
Ubaid Shah said, “I bowled with an attacking approach early on. Bowling alongside Mir Hamza, who is an experienced bowler and has played matches for Pakistan, was helpful. We discussed strategies together, including what lengths to bowl and how much effort to put in on this surface.”
