Rehman and Hasan spin out England Lions

Pakistan A 179 (Hafeez 51, Wainwright 3-26) beat England Lions 96 (Bell 46*, Rehman 4-26, Hasan 3-16)
Scorecard

England Lions found Pakistan A's spinners too much to handle as they fell to an 83-run defeat in the opening one-dayer in Dubai after collapsing for a paltry 96. The Lions attack had impressed to restrict Pakistan A to 179, but Abdur Rehman and Raza Hasan ran through the top order with six wickets between them.

Hasan, a 17-year-old left-arm spinner, made the important breakthrough when he bowled captain Andrew Gale after the Lions had progressed to 40 for 1 against the seamers. Rehman then struck twice in two balls when he removed Michael Carberry and James Taylor to leave the chase floundering on 41 for 4.

For 10 overs Ian Bell and Steven Davies steadied the innings with a stand of 30, but the spinners remained a threat. Rehman ended the resistance when he nabbed Davies and Hasan then removed Adil Rashid for a duck to leave the Lions with a huge task in front of them.

The lower order also succumbed to spin as Rehman collected his fourth by removing Chris Woakes and Mohammad Hafeez chipped in with a brace. Ian Bell was the only batsman to provide prolonged resistance and was left stranded on 46 when Hasan took his third to wrap up the match.

Spin also played a key role when Pakistan A batted with David Wainwright, the Yorkshire left-arm spinner who was given his chance now that James Tredwell has left for Bangladesh with the senior squad, claiming 3 for 26. The Lions picked up wickets at regular intervals with Wainwright taking his first when he removed top-scorer Hafeez for 51.

He also accounted for Hammad Azam, who was the star for Pakistan at the recent Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, and Aamer Sajjad for a useful 39 before the quicks returned to close out the innings. However, the total proved more than enough as Pakistan A set about trying to overturn their Twenty20 series defeat in successful style.