Pakistan earn Alam praise

Nineteen-year-old Umar Akmal goes aerial en route to a face-saving 41 from 51 balls, including six fours, for Pakistan

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Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam hailed the performance of his side after they came through “difficult” conditions to overcome West Indies in their opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Wanderers.

The Asian side survived an early-innings scare created by Gavin Tonge (4-25) in pursuit of a paltry 134, before stand-in captain Shahid Afridi (17 not out) and Umar Akmal (41 not out) led them home with close to 20 overs to spare.

Earlier it was Mohammad Aamer (3-24) and Umar Gul (3-28) that ripped through the opposing top order on their way to bowling them out in just 34.3 overs.

But Alam felt that his side, who were at 76 for five at one stage, did well in tricky circumstances.

“It was a difficult wicket, the bounce was uneven and it just wasn’t easy to get the ball away,” he said. “We found the pitch difficult to bat on.

“But the batsmen also created problems for themselves. The West Indies bowlers played really well. They bowled a good line and offered some pace too.”

And the Pakistan coach believes that his side will learn a lot from the tough nature of the victory.

He added: “So you had to really wait for the ball here and it was not easy at all. But it was a good lesson for us, especially early on in the tournament.”

Young batsman Akmal, who shared an unbroken 58-run stand with Afridi, was also pleased with the way the game turned out, saying he was now turning his attention towards their second game against arch-rivals India.

Gavin Tonge has Shoaib Malik caught behind for the third of his first four ODI wickets, which cost 25 runs in 10 overs

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He said: “I am very happy with the way I batted and it pleases me to have won a match for my team.

“Now, I look forward to the match against India. I used to watch them play on the television when I was a boy and now me playing against them is a reality. I can't wait for the match.”

West Indies fast bowler Tonge took heart from the way the islanders had performed, despite the second string make-up of the team – their household names were all excluded due to a contractual dispute with their board which has since been resolved.

He said: “It was a very good track for fast bowling. Having a look at the bowlers using it first up, you could see there was a little bit of nip in it. There was a fair bit of carry, so it was a very good pitch for fast bowling.”

Tonge, whose four wickets were his first for his country in his third international, felt that his side could have even won the game had they batted slightly better.

He added: “I reckon that 50 more runs would have been a good total for us to go and defend. I must say well done to the guys.

“I think they put on a very good effort in the field and the energy levels were high. Hopefully next time we will play a little bit better.”