Pakistan crush Kenya in Sharjah

SHARJAH: Shoaib Malik hit 76 off 58 balls and Mohammed Sami took four for 25 yesterday as Pakistan crushed Kenya by 143 runs in the Sharjah Cup one-day cricket tournament.

Pakistan, unbeaten in the four-nation round-robin, are favoured to lift the title in tomorrow’s final against Zimbabwe. Pakistan rattled up a formidable 286 for eight — the highest total in the US$105,000 tournament —before dismissing Kenya for 143 in 31.4 overs. Paceman Mohammed Sami triggered the Kenyan batting collapse taking four for 25 in two excellent short spells. The Kenyans, recent World Cup semi-finalists, began their chase badly losing two for 18 by the fifth over, before slumping to 31 for four by the eighth over. Only the experienced Maurice Odumbe played the Pakistani bowlers with grace, scoring 54 off 65 deliveries, laced with six boundaries, four off one over by Umar Gul. Odumbe was one of the four catches taken by skipper and wicketkeeper Rashid Latif, who had earlier scored a brisk 38 for his team.

Kenya was 137 for five before Pakistan ran through the rest of the innings for the addition of only six runs. Earlier, already assured of a place in tomorrow’s final, Pakistan opted to bat first and began slowly. They did the most damage in the last 10 overs when they scored 106 runs, 64 in the last five, and posted the highest score in this tournament. All-rounder Malik led the way with a six and six fours. He added 72 runs for the sixth wicket with Misba-ul Haq, who stroked 42 from 66 balls to boost the run-rate. The innings looked in some trouble at 150 for five in the 35th. Latif contributed 38 from 31 balls as Pakistan put the Kenyan bowlers to the sword. Skipper Steve Tikolo was the most successful bowler taking three for 42 from eight overs.