Guangzou: Pakistan captain Khalid Latif hit the first century in the Asian Games Twenty20 cricket tournament to guide the gold-medal favorites to a massive 128-run victory over China in Monday's quarterfinals.
Latif scored an unbeaten 103 off 69 balls in Pakistan's total of 183-1 after he won the toss and elected to bat first.
Left-arm spinner Raza Hasan (3-8) and fast bowler Aizaz Cheema (3-15) bewildered the inexperienced Chinese batsmen, containing the hosts to 55 for nine in reply.
"I think more tough matches are ahead of us but today we got a fair idea of the wicket," Latif told the Associated Press. "Our real test in the competition starts now."
Pakistan was one of the four teams seeded directly into the quarterfinals. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are the other three. Pakistan is likely to take on Afghanistan in the semifinals on Thursday.
Latif and Sharjeel Khan (46) provided Pakistan a solid start of 95 runs in 11 overs as China's bowlers struggled to find the breakthrough with their gentle medium pace bowling.
"The Chinese bowlers are as good as our players bowl in schools back home," Latif said, adding that China was just starting to play cricket "and they can only improve if they regularly play this sport."
Khan got a lucky escape on 27 when Wang Jing dropped a simple chance at long on while Latif also got a reprieve on 89 when Sun Duo could not hold onto a chance at the same position.
"The ball was not coming onto the bat early in the innings and perhaps that was the reason we could not cross the 200-run mark," Latif said.
Latif completed his century in the last over when he drove to mid-wicket for two runs. His maiden century in T20 cricket included eight fours and five sixes — one of which landed outside Guanggong Cricket Stadium.
Azeem Ghumman, who led Pakistan to the under-19 World Cup title, remained unbeaten on 23.
Cheema nailed China's top-order batsmen with his fiery yorkers as China slid to 11 for four. Raza left the Chinese batsmen guessing and removed Zhang Qirui (3) and Zhao Gaosheng off successive deliveries.
Li Jian (14) was the only batsman to reach double figures.
"What we really need is time to get better in this game," China captain Wang Lei said. "Pakistan is a champion team and we got a chance to learn how to bowl, bat and field from them."
Cricket — which made its debut at the Guangzhou Games — is one of the rare sports in which China could not win a medal in Guangzhou.
Last week, Pakistan's women's team won the first ever cricket gold medal awarded in the Asian Games, defeating Bangladesh in the final. Japan took bronze with a win over China.
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