Cricket: Pakistan rescued by determined Moin

Pakistan 185 India 26-1

A BATTLING 70 by Moin Khan rescued Pakistan from a pitiful first- innings total yesterday after Javagal Srinath, the Indian seamer, ripped through their top order on the first day of the opening match in the inaugural three-nation Asian Test championship.

Pakistan were 26 for 6 after an hour of play, but recovered to make 185 all out. India, in reply, were 26 for 1 at the close.

After Wasim Akram, the Pakistan captain, had won the toss and elected to bat, Srinath, in tandem with Venkatesh Prasad, removed the top six batsmen in 41 balls. Srinath, who finished with 5 for 46, his best performance against Pakistan, started the collapse when he had Shahid Afridi caught behind in the third over.

Prasad dismissed Saeed Anwar for a duck and Wajahatullah Wasti, while Srinath took the wickets of Ijaz Ahmed, Yousuf Youhanna, and Azhar Mahmood in quick succession.

Moin and Salim Malik then staged the recovery, adding 84 runs for the seventh wicket. Malik was out for 32 immediately after tea, before Moin fell to Sachin Tendulkar's spin. Wasim then hit an aggressive 38 to give Pakistan a reasonable total.

Scoreboard, Digest, page 27