Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium was alive with the roar of Pakistani fans witnessing a rare exhibition with the revival of international cricket in the country on Tuesday after the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team all but ended cricket on home turf save for a T20 series played by Zimbabwe in 2015.

The green shirts set a target of 198 runs for the star-studded World XI side, which fell 20 runs short of the challenge.

It was the first time many of the younger players on the team played an international game on home turf to a crowd of cheering Pakistanis.

World XI skipper Faf du Plessis said he was happy "play a small part in bringing cricket back to Pakistan."

After his side's defeat, du Plessis accepted graciously that "Pakistan played exceptionally well".