Ton-up Butt, Asif return to domestic cricket

HYDERABAD — Former Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt smashed a century as he and Mohammad Asif returned to domestic action in the national one-day tournament Sunday, four months after completing five-year bans for spot-fixing. The duo, along with Mohammad Amir, were banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for bowling deliberate no-balls in return for money during the Lord’s Test against England on Pakistan’s tour in 2010. The three players and their agent Mazhar Majeed were later jailed in Britain. The ICC lifted the sanctions on the pair in September, making them eligible for national and international matches. Amir, whose ban was relaxed in April 2015, boarded a plane Sunday to New Zealand after he was included in Pakistan’s one-day and Twenty20 squads. Butt and Asif traveled to Hyderabad to play for Water and Power Development Authority against the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Butt, 31, seen as a competent one-day batsman before his ban, showed signs of his past talents with a brilliant 143-ball 135 including 14 boundaries to lead his team to 278-7 in 50 overs. Tall Asif, 33, whose wily, accurate swing together with bounce made him one of the world’s best bowlers before his suspension, finished with 2-22 from six testing overs, helping to shoot out the opposition for 136 and ensure a romping 142-run victory. One-match ban on Umar Akmal Pakistan’s departure for its New Zealand tour was hit by a one-match ban on dashing batsman Umar Akmal, punished for violating the dress code in a domestic match earlier this week. Team manager Intikhab Alam said Umar would not be available for the first of three Twenty20 matches in Auckland on Jan. 15. “Pakistan Cricket Board has informed us that Umar has been banned on violating dress code during the final of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy and will not be playing Friday’s Twenty20 in Auckland,” Alam said. The 23-year-old, playing for the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, was found to have committed a level one offense by sporting two logos instead of the allowed one on his kit. — Agencies