Bangladesh cruised to their first T20I win over Pakistan in what has been a disastrous tour so far for the men in green. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
The induction of new blood, return of Shahid Afridi as captain and the change in format; nothing helped the team’s cause as a hapless Pakistan side was comprehensively beaten by Bangladesh by seven wickets in the one-off T20I in Dhaka.
This was Bangladesh’s maiden T20I win against Pakistan, wrapping up the match at 143-3 in 16.2 overs while chasing a target of 142.
Opener Tamim Iqbal set the tone by smashing 14 runs in the first over of Bangladesh’s innings, while Shakib alHasan and Sabbir Rahman finished with unbeaten half-centuries after the Tigers lost three early wickets. Shakib scored a 41-ball 57, hitting nine boundaries with the last one finishing off the match, while Sabbir’s 52 runs comprised a six and seven boundaries in a 32-ball outing.
Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz picked up a wicket each.
“Bangladesh are right now playing really good cricket and they have good momentum on their side,” said Afridi after the match. “They first beat New Zealand and now they have won against Pakistan in ODIs and T20 as well.”
Earlier, Pakistan made 141-5 in their 20 overs.
Debutant Mukhtar Ahmed top-scored with 37 off 30 with a six and five strikes to the fence while Haris Sohail remained unbeaten on a 24-ball 30 as he struck a solitary six.
Muhammad Hafeez looked solid for his 26 off 18 deliveries, hitting four boundaries in the process.
Mustafizur Rahman bagged two wickets on his debut, while Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny claimed a scalp each.
Surprisingly, vice-captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and Muhammad Rizwan — two of the dashers — were not even sent out to bat, and Sohail Tanvir, who scored eight, was preferred over them.
If playing out dot balls was Pakistan’s problem in the World Cup, it only multiplied on Friday as opener Ahmed Shehzad failed to get going as Pakistan could only accumulate 31 runs in the power play.
Shehzad clearly felt the effects of being axed from the ODI and Test squads as he laboured to 17 off 31 with two boundaries, which turned out to be the overall second-slowest T20I knock. His struggles were ended by Taskin Ahmed, and Afridi came out to bat at number three but was given out wrongly on a personal score of 12.
“I don’t know what’s happening in the Pakistani team, they couldn’t even read the pitch,” lamented former cricketer Basit Ali. “They should have fielded first because it wasn’t easy to bat in the first innings [because of the pitch conditions]. It’s a sorry sight to see Pakistan’s plight right now, I’m short of words.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2015.
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