Day to rejoice for man in green but on the other side of the border, its BENGAlI’s turn now to dance with so much music (dhol ki thap) at Sher e Bangla stadium in Mirpur. The day came after 16 years of waiting after they beat formidable Pakistani side in WC 1999. Although they came close to winning against us few times but didn’t cross the line but this time they did. Beating Pakistan by good margin of 79 runs after after putting up solid batting show & making their captain’s decision who opted to bat after winning the toss.
Pakistan bowling looks formidable with induction of experienced mystery spinner Saeed Ajmal & Junaid Khan but both the man coming after long layoff & Saeed Ajmal has so much to prove after his remodeling in his action. He doesn’t look a threat in his first stint yesterday but still hoping that after few matches he can get his golden touch back. Toss: Bangladesh Bangladesh 329 for 6 (Tamim 132, Mushfiqur 106, Wahab 4-59) Pakistan 250 (Azhar 72, Rizwan 67, Haris 51, Taskin 3-42, Sunny 3-47) by 79 runs
Result: Bangladesh Won by 79 Runs MOM: Mushfiqur Bangladesh started their innings cautiously but Tamn Iqbal was solid at one end & when Mushfiqur joined him after fall of 2nd wicket they took attack to Pakistan bowling & hitting four’s & Sixes at will. They shared 178 runs partnership & helped Bangladesh to get their highest total 329. They took Pakistan fifth bowler (Haris, Saad & Azhar) apart as Pakistan played one bowler short to lengthen heir batting.
Pakistan needs someone to explode in the top order but that didn’t happen. Azhar & Haris look good & scored solid 50’s but depart when they needed to attack in later part of their innings. Debutant Rizwan looks good & scored 50 on debut (9th Pakistani to score 50 on ODI debut) but he didn’t get much support as Pakistan lost Fawad Alam & Saad Nasim (another debutant) in one over which dent their progress a great deal.
Although Pakistan lost this match but all not lost as Azhar played with strike rate of 98 which is a good sign, Rizwan palyed with good heart whereas Wahab took 4 scalps. The main concern is the making of 5th bowler which appeared as a weak link. To win matches upcoming two matches Pakistan must need to find their fifth bowler & improve fielding standards.
By Ehsan Muhammad Khan. He tweets as @ehsanmkhan.