Umar century sets up huge Pakistan A win

Pakistan A 339 (Umar Akmal 104, Sheharyar Ghani 93, Fahad Iqbal 52, Geeves 3-46) beat Australia A 193 (White 42, Wahab Riaz 4-37) by 146 runs
Scorecard

A breathtaking century from Umar Akmal set up an enormous victory for Pakistan A in the first unofficial ODI against Australia A in Brisbane. Umar's 104 from 70 deliveries helped Pakistan set up an imposing total of 339 and their bowlers, led by Wahab Riaz, completed the 146-run win.

Their hefty score was all the more impressive because they had been sent in and were reduced to 3 for 28 in the fifth over after Doug Bollinger and Shaun Tait made early breakthroughs. But Umar and Sheharyar Ghani (93) revived the innings with help from Fahad Iqbal, who made 52.

Umar's hundred was his first in List A matches and it featured five sixes and ten fours. Bollinger (3 for 53) and Brett Geeves (3 for 46) were the only Australian bowlers to concede less than seven an over and the visitors took a particular liking to the spin of Jason Krejza and Jon Holland, whose combined 12 overs cost 98.

Australia's top order couldn't muster the special effort required to set up a successful chase and Wahab Riaz, who also performed strongly in the four-day games, finished with 4 for 37. Cameron White top scored with 42 and Tim Paine and Krejza each chipped in with 40.

"It was obviously a disappointing day for us, both in the field and with the bat," Australia A's coach Mark Sorell said. "We'll just put this one behind us and look ahead to Sunday and I'm sure the players are thinking the same.

"All credit to Pakistan today, they played extremely well. Sheharyar and Akmal were terrific with the bat and really set up that big score for them and that was always going to be a challenge for us to chase."

Australia won the two-match series of unofficial Tests 1-0 but they now face an uphill battle to take out the three-game limited-overs series. The second match at Allan Border Field is on Sunday, followed by the final 50-over game on Thursday.