Pakistan-A put in hot pursuit by England
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Pakistan A closed on 31-1 chasing 245 to beat England in the final warm-up for the tourists before the first Test. England had their best batting day on tour but there were concerns for Michael Vaughan, who retired hurt for nought after twisting his knee.
Paul Collingwood, Andrew Strauss and Ashley Giles all scored useful runs as England were all out for 256. However Kevin Pietersen missed out. The South African-born batsman has compiled just 16 runs in four innings on tour.
The day began with Pakistan resuming their first innings on 127-8, and England needed just 23 balls to polish off the tail with just 11 runs added.
Importantly, Steve Harmison claimed his first wickets in Pakistan as he tempted Mohammad Asif to edge to Marcus Trescothick at slip and trapped last man Mohammad Khalil lbw.
England were effectively 10-3 in the early stages of their second innnings however, after Asif had removed Marcus Trescothick and added the wicket of Pietersen once Vaughan had limped off the field injured.
Trescothick fell for one before Kevin Pietersen went for a golden duck, both falling lbw.
But Strauss and Collingwood then put together a 113-run stand for the third wicket as England led by 244.
Both men had luck on their side early on — Strauss was dropped in the gully early on and Collingwood was caught by a fielder who stepped over the rope at long leg.
Finally, Strauss was caught behind for 56 when he edged a cut shot off Shahid Nazir for 56.
Then the more attack-minded Collingwood, apparently having done enough to cement a Test place, was out for 61 — both men falling with the score on 123.
Andrew Flintoff, in his second innings on tour and batting at number six, hit an aggressive 28 which included two sixes.
But he gave leg-break bowler Mansoor Amjad his second wicket of the session when caught at deep backward-square leg — a carbon copy of Collingwood’s demise.
There were more confidence-boosting runs from the lower order.
Ashley Giles was last man out for 49 and Geraint Jones added 30 as Amjad finished with 5-97.
Just four overs were possible in Pakistan A’s second innings before stumps and the hosts refused to be cowed as Matthew Hoggard’s two overs cost 22.
But one ball from him produced a wicket as Taufeeq Umar was caught behind.
Pakistan A: Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Shahid Yousuf, Hasan Raza (Captain), Faisal Athar, Mansoor Amjad, Amin ur-Rehman (Wicketkeeper) Arshad Khan, Mohammad Asif, Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Khalil.
England: A J Strauss, M E Trescothick, M P Vaughan (Captain), K P Pietersen, P D Collingwood, A Flintoff, G O Jones (Wicketkeeper) A F Giles, S D Udal, S J Harmison, M J Hoggard.