England beats Pakistan in low-scoring warm-up tie

Danny Briggs tops Saeed Ajmal as spinners rule proceedings in last practice game ahead of ICC World Twenty20 2012

19 September 2012 - 12:56pm IST

It was a tale of two spinners – one experienced, rated as one of the best in the world, and the other just one One-Day International and one Twenty20 International old. Saeed Ajmal and Danny Briggs.

Ajmal first bowled a spell of 4 for 14 to skittle England out for 111, before Briggs bowled his four overs for 3 for 15 to help stop Pakistan at 96 for 9 and seal a 15-run win in the last of the warm-up matches ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 2012, played at the P Sara Oval in Colombo on Wednesday (September 19).

Batting first after winning the toss, England gave a hit to all its batsmen except Michael Lumb, but no one apart from Luke Wright looked the part on the day. Wright scored a 36-ball 38 as none of the other England batsmen could stand up to the left-arm orthodox spin of Raza Hasan (2/16) or pacers Yasir Arafat (2/21) and Mohammad Sami (1/18), leave alone Ajmal.

But even that modest total was too much for Pakistan as Briggs struck thrice to reduce Pakistan to 67 for 5 by the 13th over. Five Pakistan batsmen reached double figures, but none of them stuck around to get the job done as Pakistan chose to keep Kamran Akmal, the man in form, away till the very end.

Jade Dernbach (3 for 14) was also impressive as he sent back Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq and Kamran towards the latter half of Pakistan’s innings.

England plays their first game of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 against Afghanistan on Friday (September 21), while Pakistan plays New Zealand in its opening fixture on Sunday (September 23).

WisdenPowered by