Leeds, England - Pakistan's beleaguered tour of England showed signs of life on Sunday when the touring side scored an impressive 294-8 in the second one-day international at Headingley, setting England a challenging target.
England required 295 from its allotted 50 overs at a rate of 5.9 runs per over to win and add to its 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Kamran Akmal set up Pakistan's imposing total with his innings of 74 from 72 deliveries.
Pakistan sought to focus attention on cricket after the distraction of spot-fixing allegations that have blighted its tour over the past two weeks. The three suspended players facing anti-corruption charges returned home Friday.
Openers Akmal and Mohammed Hafeez gave Pakistan a solid foundation with a stand of 122, exploiting a flat pitch in hot and sunny conditions not normally seen during a 9.15am September start.
England's bowling and fielding was strangely ill-disciplined. Tim Bresnan's first three overs cost 25 runs as Akmal scored five boundaries in seven deliveries.
Paul Collingwood struck with his second ball, trapping Akmal lbw as he attempted a sweep to a ball that struck him in line of off stump. It was the first ball he received from the medium-pacer, and exited after scoring 12 boundaries.
Hafeez followed four overs later, defeated by a quicker delivery from offspinner Graeme Swann, trying to dab to third man but was bowled off his pads for 43.
Mohammed Yousuf and Asad Shafiq then rebuilt the innings with a stand of 74. Yousuf was the more cautious but still hit the first six of the innings, lifting left-arm spinner Michael Yardy over long-on.
Yousuf's 46 from 48 balls ended when he edged Stuart Broad to the wicketkeeper Steven Davies.
Two balls earlier, England's carelessness in the field was in evidence again as Broad misfielded off his own bowling and Ravi Bopara, running in to support his teammate, also misfielded, gifting Pakistan two runs.
Yousuf's wicket was Broad's first as he ended with an expensive 4-81. Shafiq, with 50 from 58 balls, and Umar Akmal, 28 from 23, further boosted the total. Captain Shahid Afridi made 9 after scoring his first runs with a flat-batted six off Broad but he was unable to stretch his team's score to 300.
England followed a 3-1 test series win and a 2-0 Twenty20 series victory with a 24-run win at Durham in the first one-day international on Friday. - SAPA-AP