MCC began their four-match tour of Pakistan with a four-wicket victory of Lahore Qalandars in a T20 encounter at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Captained by President, Kumar Sangakkara, MCC elected to bowl first and were rewarded with a good start when Salman Butt was run-out by Roelof van de Merwe for 28.

Following his run-out, van de Merwe proved his class with the ball shortly after, dismissing Mohammad Faizan (2), before Mohammad Hafeez (0) was caught behind off the bowling of Michael Learsk.

MCC continued their dominance with the ball with van der Merwe picking up his second wicket of the match, removing Jaahid Ali (2) as Qalandars found themselves struggling at a score of 61-4 in the 11^th over.

Fakhar Zaman and Sohail Akhtar provided some solid resistance for the hosts, but when Samit Patel caught Zaman off the bowling of Fred Klaassen, MCC firmly found themselves in the driving seat.

Akhtar continued to try his best to take his side to a competitive total, with a lively score of 40 off 28 balls including two sixes, as Lahore Qalandars finished their 20 overs with a total of 135/5.

In response, MCC opened with a slow start to their innings. Both Will Rhodes (3) and Michael Leask (10) lost their wicket to Maaz Khan and Usman Shinwari, respectively with their dismissals bringing Sangakkara to the crease.

The Sri Lanka legend provided some stability to MCC but after hitting back-to-back fours, he was caught by Akhtar off the bowling of Dilbar Hussain for a useful 25 off 27 balls.

However, Sangakkara’s removal did not prove to be too costly for the touring side, as Ravi Bopara (41) and Samit Patel (31) managed to steer MCC closer to victory before unbeaten knocks from Ross Whiteley (10*) and van der Merwe (2*) secured the win with four balls spare.

MCC will next play Pakistan Shaheens on Sunday in a 50-over contest at Aitchison College.

Scorecard

You can re-watch the match by clicking on the stream below.