Younis Khan hits quickfire century

Pakistanis 7 for 235 (Younis Khan 132*, Petrie 4-26) lead Western Australia 158 (Ronchi 66, Mohammad Sami 3-19, Mohammad Khalil 3-42) by 77 runs
Scorecard

Younis Khan hit a quickfire century in the last session at the James Oval in Perth to put the Pakistanis in command against Western Australia's 2nd XI on the opening day of the first match of their two-month tour of Australia. The Pakistanis finished on 235, having skittled WA for 158 ealier in the day.

During his innings, Younis hit 23 fours and one huge six that went into a campus of the University of Western Australia next to the ground. The other tourists looked less assured: three had fallen before tea, including Yousuf Youhana, who was standing in as captain for the resting Inzamam-ul-Haq. Matthew Petrie was the pick of the WA bowlers, finishing with 4 for 26.

In the morning, Shoaib Akhtar bowled just five overs as he struggled with his run-up and later complained of blisters, but still produced some express deliveries. It was left to Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Khalil to lead the attack and they responded with three wickets apiece as WA struggled with their pace. Wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi and Scott Meuleman (32) put on 70 for the fifth wicket to give the total some respectability, and Ronchi's 66 pushed it above 150.

Shoaib Akhtar spoke to reporters after the game. "We want to put up a good fight out there and give them a tough time," he said. "We won't let them have the win easily. If we can't win it, let them win it in a hard way."

Pakistan will hope to add to their 77-run lead tomorrow.