Pakistan beat Canada by 35 runs

Pakistan in first match of four nation Twenty 20 championship here on Friday beats Canada by 35 runs, earlier Pakistan set target of 138 runs for Canada. Salman Butt won man of the match award.

Pakistan after beating Canada by 35 runs register their first win in the Four nation Twenty 20 championship held here, Canada despite opening well was not able to continue their chase with same pace, the hieghest scorer from Canada was Rizwan Cheema with 35 in 43 balls.

Pakistani bowlers made their mark by bowling well but apart from bowling Pakistan has to maintain good standards in upcoming matches especially in feilding and bating.

Pakistan won the toss earlier and elected to bat first thankfully with the efforts of Salman Butt as his 74 off 56 balls lifted them to 137 for 7.

Pakistan struggled for momentum on a tricky pitch, however Butt bided his time and gave the innings a late kick. But three wickets apiece for Umar Bhatti and Harvir Baidwan mean a major upset isn't out of the question.

Runs were hard to come by after a brisk start from Butt. Shoaib Khan, making his debut, fell in the fourth over to Bhatti and Younis Khan couldn't find the boundary in his 19-ball effort. Younis eventually pulled a catch to deep square-leg as Canada's tight bowling brought rewards.

With the innings stuttering, Butt took over and was the commanding presence in a fourth-wicket stand of 64 in seven overs with Misbah-ul-Haq. With overs running out Butt began to play his shots, passing fifty off 48 balls with a six off Balaji Rao and taking 17 off an over from Sunil Dhaniram.

Pakistan team prepared well for this event by playing the RBS 20-20 Cup at home. The team looks a balanced one with ace fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar being the star inclusion. The speedster will be returning to the side after almost a year and will be eager to give a solid performance which he quite often does on his comeback.

Shoaib might be a bit rusty but the 20-20 format will enable him to get himself back into the groove as he can go flat out from the word go and has to bowl short spell. Some other talented youngsters have also been given their first chance with the likes of Sohail Khan, Anwar Ali and Shoaib Khan and their performances will be scrutinised closely. For this game Pakistan shouldn't have much of a problem disposing of Canada but still will have to play according to a plan and not be complacent.