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Pakistan pacers bowl out Bangladesh for 204
Shaheen Afridi (3/23), Mohammad Wasim Jr (3/31) and Haris Rauf (2/36) produced a riveting bowling display to bowl Bangladesh out for a low score of 2004 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Tuesday (October 31).
Opting to bat, Bangladesh only had four batters getting into double digits and none of them converted their starts into a substantial score. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals barring one partnership and Pakistan’s pacers extracted reverse swing at the back end to mop up the innings with 29 deliveries remaining.
Shakib Al Hasan’s decision at the toss probably had to do with how his team fared against Netherlands at the same venue a few days ago, where they couldn’t chase a below-par total. Given the slow nature of the surface, Bangladesh fancied doing what they generally do back home in white-ball cricket: put runs on the board and then use their bowling to defend on slow pitches. However, they got off to a shocking start as Afridi struck twice very early in the innings and went past 100 ODI wickets. He first got one to come back in to rap Tanzim Hasan LBW and then got Najmul Hossain Shanto to chip a dolly to short mid-wicket to give Pakistan the early advantage.
Rauf dealt the big blow as crisis-man Mushfiqur Rahim nicked one behind after having just struck the pacer for a glorious boundary on the off-side. At 23/3, Bangladesh were tottering. In a surprising yet logical move, Mahmudullah was promoted to no.5 and he combined for a 79-run stand with Litton Das as both batters weathered the initial storm. Despite the sluggish nature of the track, neither had any trouble in accumulating runs and they also managed to give some impetus to the Bangladesh innings. Just when they were set for a significant partnership, the part-time spin of Iftikhar Ahmed got Litton, this being another soft dismissal.
Once that partnership was broken, the run flow reduced significantly and although Shakib got some runs, the Bangladesh skipper’s stay at the crease was a scratchy one. He took a lot of time to settle in and wasn’t able to force the issue, except for a single over against Iftikhar. Pakistan’s bowlers used the pitch smartly, operating around the good length spot and allowing the variable bounce to do its bit. Mahmudullah looked set for a big score before he was opened up by Afridi in the pacer’s second spell. The innings nosedived after that with Afridi and Wasim Jr making full use of the reverse swing that was available.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz threw his bat around a bit and that’s primarily what got the total beyond 200, but that was little solace for Bangladesh who have produced another underwhelming performance. There was a baffling lack of clarity on pacing the innings and the two-paced nature of the pitch didn’t help their cause. Pakistan were relentless as they produced a complete bowling performance.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 204 in 45.1 overs (Mahmudullah 56, Litton Das 45; Shaheen Afridi 3-23, Mohammad Wasim Jr 3-31) vs Pakistan
(Cricbuzz)