Published: Mar 30, 2014, 06:19 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 30, 2014, 11:59 PM (IST)
By Nishad Pai Vaidya
Mirpur: Mar 30, 2014
It was a game dominated by Ahmed Shehzad as he soared past his personal best to record the first Twenty20 International ton for Pakistan. His innings of 111 not out powered Pakistan to 190 for five in their 20 overs. In reply, Bangladesh struggled and could only muster 140 for seven, handing Pakistan a 50-run victory. This victory puts Australia out of the competition, irrespective of the result of their two remaining games, and it makes the Pakistan-West Indies clash on Tuesday a virtual quarter-final.
Shehzad was at it from ball one and had decided to charge. He was balanced at the crease and tried to make opportunities to attack. At the other end, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal came and went inside the first ten overs. Shehzad reigned supreme! He was charging at the bowlers, lofted the ball easily. There were times when he was too creative, but it was his day and those mistakes weren’t going to cost him.
Shoaib Malik was the only one who supported Shehzad with a stable 28. Shahid Afridi came in at the end and bludgeoned 22 off nine balls. A feature of Shehzad’s innings was not just the way he smashed the boundaries, but also rotated the strike well, picking the singles and twos quite regularly. And, ultimately, he did get his ton in 58 balls. It was an innings to savour for a batsman who is considered the future of Pakistan cricket.
For Bangladesh, Mashrafe Mortaza’s figures were pear-shaped. He conceded 63 runs in his two overs. Abdur Razzak, the man who came in for Sohag Gazi, was their best bowler on the day with two for 20. Even Shakib Al Hasan did hit bit with one for 22.
Chasing 191 was never going to be easy although the dew sets in early in the evening. But, Bangladesh’s batting performance in the last few games has been dismal and that struggle just continued in this game. Once they lost four wickets with 47 on the board, it was always going to be a tough task. From being 30 for no loss in the fourth over, they lost the plot with some regular wickets.
In the end, Shakib was left with too much to do. He could only give the spirited crowd some big hits as a victory seemed impossible. His innings of 38 was the highest score for Bangladesh, which included two sixes.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 190 for 5 in 20 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 111*, Shoaib Malik 24, Shahid Afridi 22; Abdur Razzak 2 for 20) beat Bangladesh 140 for 7 in 20 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 38, Nasir Hossain 23; Umar Gul 3 for 30, Saeed Ajmal 2 for 20) by 50 runs.
Man of the Match: Ahmed Shehzad
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)
