Butt and Farhat find form in win

Pakistanis 250 for 9 dec and 160 for 3 (Butt 84, Farhat 64) beat Northamptonshire 269 for 3 and 140 by seven wickets
Scorecard

Salman Butt and Imran Farhat spent useful time in the middle, ahead of the second Test at Old Trafford, as the Pakistanis suffered few problems reaching their target against Northamptonshire. The opening pair - under pressure after a poor showing at Lord's - added 118 to take their team most of the way.

Northants never threatened to take early wickets as Butt and Farhat were quickly into their stride. Farhat twice cleared the ropes during his 96-ball 64, an innings that will do his chances of retaining his place in the Test side no harm. With Younis Khan fit and set to return, at No. 3, one of Butt and Farhat will probably miss out at Old Trafford following Faisal Iqbal's promising second innings at Lord's.

However, Butt also laid down a marker for next week with an attractive 84 off 120 balls. He was far from his best at Lord's, with scores of 10 and 0, but England are well aware of his talents following impressive showings during the winter. He fell with just three runs required, one of two late wickets for Bilal Shafayat, and now Pakistan's attentions can switch to preparing for the second Test.

Their bowling attack is still being stretched through injury with Shoaib Akhtar, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Asif absent. Shahid Nazir's three second-innings wickets, yesterday, will have put pressure on Mohammad Sami and Umar Gul, while the uncapped Samiullah Khan showed potential.