Published: Mar 30, 2014, 04:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 31, 2014, 12:01 AM (IST)
By Nishad Pai Vaidya
Mirpur: Mar 30, 2014
Ahmed Shehzad’s fantastic century has helped Pakistan post a strong total of 190 for five in their ICC World T20 2014 contest against Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. While Bangladesh are out of contention for a berth in their semi-final, their fans came out in numbers to support their side. However, they were witness to this sparkling show by Shehzad as their side is on the brink of another defeat. He was in control of things, charging on a few occasions, trying a few innovations, as he raced to his ton.
With this being an afternoon game, skipper Mohammad Hafeez won the toss and chose to bat first. Pakistan brought in Sohail Tanvir in place of Bilawal Bhatti from their victory against Australia, whereas Bangladesh brought in Abdur Razzak in place of Sohag Gazi.
Shehzad was at it from early in the innings. He signaled his intentions by smashing two boundaries in the second over. But, it was Mashrafe Mortaza who bore the brunt of Shehzad’s aggression early on. In the third over, Shehzad smashed him over mid-wicket for four, and then flicked him behind square for another. But then, he put his dancing shoes on, as Danny Morrison would say, and smashed one through the covers. The last ball was sent over long-off for a massive six.
There was also a touch of class to Shehzad’s knock as he smacked a six off Al-Ami Hossain, which went over extra-cover. He maintained his balance well even when he was walking down the wicket. He did get himself in awkward positions a few times when he went across his stumps much before the bowler came into the bowling crease. Such was the Shehzad show that others were eclipsed. Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal came to the crease and left unnoticed. It was Shoaib Malik who gave Shehzad good support with an innings of 28.
Shehzad also rotated the strike quite well. Ziaur Rahman also was carted mercilessly as he was smashed for 22 runs in 13th over. Shehzad reached his ton off 58 balls and with two overs to go, Shahid Afridi also got into the act with a quick-fire 22. The Bangladesh fans were quite for a major part of the innings as Shehzad lit the stadium up. He beat his previous best of 98 and recorded the first T20 International ton for Pakistan.
Mortaza had a terrible day as his four overs were picked for 63 runs. Abdur Razzak was Pakistan’s best bowler with figures of two for 20.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 190 for 5 in 20 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 111*, Shoaib Malik 24, Shahid Afridi 22; Abdur Razzak 2 for 20) vs Bangladesh.
ICC World T20 2014 schedule: Match time table with venue details
ICC World T20 2014 Points Table and Team Standings
(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_44)
