Afridi spins Pakistan to mammoth victory

HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka (CMC):

Shahid Afridi spun his way through Kenya's brittle batting to bowl Pakistan to a confident 205-run victory in their opening match of the World Cup yesterday.

The Pakistan captain scalped five wickets for 16 runs from eight overs, as Kenya were dismissed for 112 in 33.1 overs in their Group A match at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium.

Fast bowler Umar Gul supported with two for 12 from 4.1 overs.

Collins Obuya led the way for the Kenyans with 47 from 58 balls, but no other batsman passed 20.

Kenya's feeble response followed a solid batting effort from Pakistan, which featured four batsmen passing 50 in a total of 317 for seven from their allocation of 50 overs.

Top score

Umar Akmal struck eight fours and one six in the top score of 71 from 52 balls that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

Misbah-ul-Haq propped him up with 65 from 69 balls that included one four and two sixes, Kamran Akmal, Umar's brother, made 55 from 67 balls and Younis Khan got 50 from 67 balls.

Thomas Odoyo was the most successful Kenyan bowler with three for 41 from seven overs.

Kenya then limped to 73 for two in the 23rd over, when Afridi bowled Steve Tikolo for 13, which precipitated a collapse.

Four wickets - three to Afridi - fell for 28 in the space of 28 balls to leave Kenya reeling on 87 for six.

Obuya ushered Kenya over the 100-run threshold, but the rot took root when he swung a flighted delivery from Afridi and was caught at long-on in the 31st over to hand the leg-spinner his fifth scalp, as the Africans lost their last four wickets for 11 in the space of 15 deliveries.

Earlier, Pakistan were reeling on 12 for two in the seventh over, after losing openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad cheaply. But the Pakistan middle-order responded diligently to the crisis, and put their side in a comfortable place with resolute batting.

The Pakistanis face Sri Lanka in their next match this coming Saturday at the Premadasa Stadium in the Sri Lanka capital, where Kenya also meet the World Cup co-hosts next Tuesday.

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN (maximum 50 overs)

Mohammad Hafeez c Waters b Otieno 9Ahmed Shehzad cKamande b Odoyo 1+Kamran Akmal st Ouma b Ngoche 55Younus Khan lbw b Tikolo 50Misbah-ul-Haq c Otieno b Kamande 65Umar Akmal c Obuya b Odoyo 71Shahid Afridi lbw b Odoyo 7Abdul Razzaq not out 8Abdur Rehman not out 5Extras (lb3, w37, nb6) 46TOTAL (7 wkts, 50 overs) 317

Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar did not bat

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-12, 3-110, 4-155, 5-273, 6-289, 7-289

Bowling: Odoyo 7-2-41-3 (w5); Otieno 9-1-49-1 (nb2); Odhiambo 7-0-65-0 (nb3, w3); Ngoche 10-0-46-1 (w1);Kamande 7-0-64-1 (w4); Tikolo 9-0-44-1 (nb1); Obuya 1-0-5-0

KENYA (target: 318 off 50 overs)

+M. Ouma c Kamran Akmal b Umar Gul16S. Waters run out 17C. Obuya c Ahmed Shehzad bShahid Afridi 47S. Tikolo bShahid Afridi 13T. Mishra lbw bShahid Afridi 6R. Patel c Umar Akmal b Mohammad Hafeez 0J. Kamande lbw bShahid Afridi 2T. Odoyo lbw bShahid Afridi 0N. Odhiambo run out 0S. Ngoche b Umar Gul 0E. Otieno not out 0Extras (b4, lb3, w3, nb1) 11TOTAL (all out, 33.1 overs) 112

Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-43, 3-73, 4-79, 5-85, 6-87, 7-101, 8-112, 9-112

Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 5-1-10-0 (w1); Abdul Razzaq 5-1-23-0; Umar Gul 4.1-0-12-2 (nb1, w1); Abdur Rehman 7-1-18-0;Shahid Afridi 8-3-16-5; Mohammad Hafeez 4-1-26-1 (w1)

Result: Pakistan won by 205 runs

Points: Pakistan 2, Kenya 0

Toss: Pakistan

Man of the Match: Umar Akmal (Pakistan)

Umpires: A. Hill, N. Llong

TV umpire: D. Harper

Match referee: C. Broad

Reserve umpire: S. Tarapore.