Giles and Plunkett lead England to unlikely win by AFP

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Ground:	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
Scorecard:	Pakistan Cricket Board Patron's XI v England XI
Event:	England in Pakistan 2005/06

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DateLine: 2nd November 2005

 

Ashley Giles and Liam Plunkett took four wickets apiece to scrape a victory by 52 runs for England in their tour opener against the Pakistan Cricket Board Patron's XI.

 

With England staring defeat in the face on their first outing since September's Ashes win, the pair defended a paltry 158-run target by dismissing their opponents for 105 in their second innings on the third and final day.

 

Left-arm spinner Giles, who was sidelined by a stomach upset on Tuesday, bowled a superb line and length to take 4-39 and pacer Plunkett returned figures of 4-16.

 

The fightback will lift the tourists' morale ahead of their three-match Test series against Pakistan, which starts in Multan on November 12.

 

England had resumed the final day on a precarious 39-6, only 84 runs ahead with four wickets intact.

 

Opener Marcus Trescothick, who hit a lifesaving 124 not out in England's first innings score of 256-9, again top-scored with 38 to help England to 112 all out in their second innings.

 

Giles, who did not bowl in Patron's XI's first innings score of 211, removed dangerous opener Yasir Hameed (30) and Bazid Khan (0) off successive deliveries to trigger a collapse which saw the home team slumping from 50-0 to 105 all out.

 

Plunkett, who is fighting for a Test place against rival pacer James Anderson, removed Ashar Zaidi (26), Asim Kamal (0), Faisal Iqbal (2) and Misbah-ul-Haq (14) in a spell of seven overs to open the doors for England.

 

From the other end, Giles kept up the pressure by sending Shehzad Malik and Khalid Latif (0) to the pavilion, while veteran off-spinner Shaun Udal wrapped up the innings by claiming Yasir Arafat (4) and Zulqarnain (4).

 

Earlier Patron's XI seamer Yasir Arafat chipped in with 5-31 -- 9-76 in the match -- to dismiss England half an hour before lunch.

 

Arafat had Ian Bell (1), Ashley Giles (0) and Matthew Hoggard (0) to nudge the memories of Pakistan's selectors, who have forgotten him since he played two one-day matches three years ago.

 

Trescothick added an invaluable 56 runs for the seventh wicket with Paul Collingwood who made 34.

 

England's top order flopped twice in the match with opener Andrew Strauss, captain Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen failing to get much needed practice.

 

They have another three-day side match, starting in Lahore from Sunday, to sharpen up their act before the Test series.

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)