Thu, 01 Dec 2011 - Bangladesh vs Pakistan, Pakistan Tour of Bangladesh 2011-12, 1st ODI

Afridi stars in crushing Pakistan win

Bangladesh once again found batting difficult against an army of in-form Pakistan spinners to be bowled out for 91 in 30.3 overs. Shahid Afridi was the destroyer-in-chief; his seventh five wicket haul should have been enough for a victory.

But, the batsman made heavy weather of the small chase. The visitors lost five wickets in a jiffy before Afridi swung the game into Pakistan’s favour with four cracking boundaries, eventually they crossed the line with five wickets and 24.2 overs to spare.

After electing to bat, Bangladesh batsman struggled from the word go as Pakistan expectedly opened with fastish off-spinners of Mohammad Hafeez. Tamim Iqbal, returning from an injury was pinned in front of the stumps only on the fourth delivery of the innings. Umar Gul took the other new ball and kept things tight with a disciplined line and length.

After 32 deliveries, Bangladesh had scored only two runs, Naeem Islam tried to do something about it by dispatching a low full toss for a four but edged the next ball fro Gul straight into Misbah’s hands. With Bangladesh hitting a wall, Pakistan bowlers were allowed to dictate terms. There were edges that didn’t carry to the fielders.

Shahriar Nafees hit a boundary in the tenth over to raise false hopes of rebuilding that lasted till the next over when spin was employed from both the ends. Mushfiqur survived a vociferous LBW appeal by Shahid Afridi but against Shoaib Malik an attempted cut was safely pouched by the keeper to send back the Bangladesh skipper. After 13th over, the hosts were in dire straits at 31 for five as Shahid Afridi’s extra bounce accounted for Shahriar and Mahmudullah.

Shakib-al-Hasan and Nasir Hossain tried to steady the sinking ship with a 34-run partnership that more than doubled the team score. Having seen his teammates scythe through the Bangladesh top order, Aizaz Cheema was handed over the ball in the 22nd over. It didn’t take him long to join the wicket takers, Nasir went for a pull on a short delivery, instead the ball ballooned in the air for Sarfraz to take an easy catch.

Afridi returned to prise out Bangladesh’s last recognized batsman Shakib for fifteen and world’s number one ODI bowler picked up his first scalp by removing Abdur Razzaq. Afridi made short work of the tail to pick a fifer and skittle Bangladesh for 91 in just 30.3 overs.

With Bangladesh shot out well before the scheduled innings break, Pakistan had more than an hour of batting before the interval. And, the way Pakistan openers started, the match was heading for a finish even before the half-time. Hafeez started off with a cut in the first over, Farhat joined in with a flicked boundary. Few poor deliveries from Bangladesh meant the visitors were coasting at 36 for no loss after nine overs.

Imran Farhat after being dropped in the slips, perished while trying to cut a Nasir Hossain delivery. In the next over, Hafeez steered Rubel Hossain straight to Shahriar at first slip. After the two openers left in a hurry, Younis Khan fell to a poor umpiring decision and when Sarfraz Ahmed walked back to the pavilion, Pakistan had lost four wickets for eight runs in 3.1 overs.

Misbah-ul-Haq, joined by Umar Akmal out of nowhere deposited one over long-on and his younger partner punched a length delivery through point as Pakistan went into the break at 58 for four.

Once play resumed, Shakib sent back Umar to breathe some life into the contest. However, Pakistan still had the man of the moment, Shahid Afridi. He faced fifteen deliveries for six runs before he decided to take matters in his own hands, three consecutive boundaries of Shakib took Pakistan within striking distance and winning boundary duly followed in the 26th over. His 24-runs were enough to give his team a 1-0 lead in the three match series.