Salisbury takes six as Pakistan totter

Pakistan A 137 England A 15-0

Ian Salisbury took 6 for 39 in Multan yesterday as England A celebrated a superb opening day in the first "Test" against Pakistan A in Multan.

However, the Sussex leg-spinner was the first to pay tribute to the contributions of the pace pair, Ed Giddins and Dean Headley, as Nasser Hussain's side reached 15 without loss in reply to Pakistan A's 137 all out.

The portents did not look good when Hussain lost the toss and the Pakistanis claimed the first use of a near-lifeless pitch. "We wanted to bat ourselves but Ed and Dean really set standards in that first hour," Salisbury said. "Ed picked up a couple of wickets too - that was a great effort."

Giddins struck with successive balls in his sixth over, while Salisbury trapped his first victim in the last over before lunch thanks to a slice of luck: a short attempted googly was pulled by the Pakistan A captain, Asif Mujtaba, to midwicket, where Anthony McGrath pulled off a brilliant one-handed catch.

However, Salisbury's skill was more responsible for the afternoon tumble of wickets and, at tea, Pakistan A were in disarray at 125 for 8.

(First day of five, Pakistan A won toss)

PAKISTAN A - First Innings

Mohammad Ramzan lbw b Giddins 4

Shahid Anwar c White b Salisbury 50

Shadab Kabir c McGrath b Giddins 0

*Asif Mujtaba c McGrath b Salisbury 29

Saeed Azad c McGrath b Salisbury 16

Naveed Rana run out 11

Akram Raza b Headley 5

Wasim Yousif c Irani b Salisbury 7

Nadeem Khan c and b Salisbury 0

Kabir Khan c Knight b Salisbury 5

Mohammad Zahid not out 1

Extras (b4, lb2, nb3) 9

Total (64.3 overs) 137

Fall: 1-16, 2-16, 3-63, 4-84, 5-104, 6-117, 7-120, 8-120, 9-126.

Bowling: Headley 22-9-29-1; Giddins 16-4-43-2; White 4-3-14-0; Irani 3-2-2-0; Salisbury 17.3-6-39-6; Stemp 2-0-4-0.

ENGLAND A - First Innings

N V Knight not out 10

J E R Gallian not out 5

Extras 0

Total (for 0, 2 overs) 15

To bat: *N Hussain, A McGrath, R C Irani, C White, K J Piper, I D K Salisbury, D W Headley, R D Stemp, E S H Giddins.

Bowling (to date): Kabir Khan 1-0-10-0; Mohammad Zahid 1-0-5-0.

Umpires: Shakeel Khan and Mian Mohammad Asman.