Hussain puts England A in charge

Cricket

Karachi Combined XI 204 England 279-9

Nasser Hussain continued his impressive start to the England A tour of Pakistan as his side took a 75-run first innings lead on the second day of their four-day match against a Combined XI in Karachi yesterday.

Hussain hit his third successive half-century as England A closed on 279 for 9 in reply to the home side's 204.

The Essex batsman made 89 and was the one player to dominate a tidy Combined XI attack. Coming in after an opening stand of 67 between Nick Knight and Anthony McGrath, Hussain played with great maturity.

England, who were faltering at 191 for 6 at one point, were also boosted by the efforts of spinners Ian Salisbury (27) and Shuan Udal (26 not out) who added late runs.

Shahid Khan was the most successful bowler for the Combined XI with 4 for 71, but the spinner Nadeem Khan was the most persistent, sending down 41 overs and conceding just 95 runs.

(Second day of four: Combined XI won toss)

COMBINED XI - First Innings 204 (Salisbury 4-72).

ENGLAND A - First Innings

(Overnight: 47 for 0)

N V Knight c Mahmood b Shahid Khan 36

A McGrath c Wasim b Nadeem Khan 30

*N Hussain lbw b Shahid Khan 89

D P Ostler b Shahid Khan 0

J C Pooley b Ather Laeeq 19

R C Irani lbw b Shahid Khan 22

K J Piper c Sohail b Shoaib Mohammad 6

I D K Salisbury b Taufiq Bader 27

S D Udal not out 26

A M Smith c & b Taufiq Bader 0

E S H Giddins not out 0

Extras (b10, lb7, nb7) 24

Total (for 9, 116 overs) 279

Fall: 1-67, 2-103, 3-103, 4-141, 5-188, 6-191, 7-227, 8-272, 9-276.

Bowling: Ather Laeeq 26-9-47-1; Taufiq Bader 12-3-30-2; Shahid Khan 29-8-71-4; Nadeem Khan 41-12-95-1; Shoaib Mohammad 8-0-19-1.

COMBINED XI: Mohammad Ramzam, Shahid Anwar, *Shoaib Mohammad, Azam Khan, Sohail Jaffer, Mahmood Hamid, Wasim Yousufi, Nadeem Khan, Shahid Khan, Athar Laeeq, Taufiq Bader.

Umpires: Salim Badar and Islam Khan.