ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan 'A' beat Pakistan 'A' by 54 runs in the one-off limited overs match played at the Shalimar Ground in Islamabad on Saturday.

The friendly match, initially a Twenty20 but later reduced to 15-overs-a-side, saw Afghanistan 'A' notching up 154 runs before restricting the hosts to just 100 in the allotted overs. The result could be termed as an upset win for the visitors considering the Pakistan 'A' side included in its ranks Umar Gul, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Irfan and Sohaib Maqsood among other Test and ODI stars.

Gul, who is looking to make a comeback to the national side and has not played top-level cricket since the World T20 in April this year, was completely out of sort and conceded 30 runs off his three overs. Left-arm paceman Mohammad Irfan and spinner Raza Hasan were the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3-23-1 and 2-11-1 respectively.

Najibullah Zadran was the top scorer for Afghanistan 'A', smashing 60 off just 32 balls with four sixes and as many boundaries.

In response, Babar Azam top-scored with 30 runs in an otherwise sorry effort with the bat by Pakistan 'A'.

Cricket Diplomacy

The match was arranged by the governments of Pakistan and the Afghanistan with leaders of the two countries meeting their counterparts on the sidelines of the match.

Members from the federal cabinet including Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Minister for States and Frontier Regions retired Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch were also present at the match as well as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shehryar Khan and Najam Sethi.

Earlier, the two leaders pledged to begin a new era of economic cooperation, with Ghani saying three days of talks had ended 13 years of differences.

Ghani and Nawaz said collaboration on economic and energy issues would form the basis of better security in the troubled region as US-led Nato combat troops leave Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting the Taliban.

The two countries have long endured testy relations, with former Afghan president Hamid Karzai regularly accusing Pakistan of supporting Taliban insurgents trying to overthrow his regime.

Pakistan has accused Kabul of not doing enough to shut down bases on its soil for militants attacking Pakistani targets.

The fact that Ghani chose to make Islamabad the destination for his first bilateral visit since taking power in September is seen as an important sign of wanting to improve ties.

The former World Bank economist arrived in Islamabad on Friday but aides had begun negotiations with Pakistani officials a day earlier.