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Massive win for Pakistan

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Bangladesh comes a cropper

— Photo: AP

HOPPING AROUND: It was a bad day at the office for Bangladesh’s batsmen. Here Tamim Iqbal fends off an awkwardly rising delivery.

Karachi: Under low-slung clouds hinting at monsoon rain, Bangladesh suffered a batting nightmare and Pakistan cruised to a 10-wicket victory in the STAR Cricket Asia Cup semifinal league match at the National Stadium here on Friday evening.

After Bangladesh had mustered 115 in 38.2 overs, Pakistan scored 116 for no loss in 19.4 overs to finish with four points and the third spot.

Openers Salman Butt (56 n.o.) and Nasir Jamshed (52 n.o.) collected the winning runs with panache against a weak attack and the home stretch was high on fours as the left-handed duo seemed to be in a tearing hurry to enjoy their weekend.

Salman cracked Shahadat past covers and Nasir hoisted and slog-swept Mahmudullah. Salman then struck Farhad Reza for the winning four to offer solace to captain Shoaib Malik, who was back in the squad after dehydration had benched him in the game against India.

Young team

“It is a young team and let us give it some time. We have set the correct process in place and we need to be patient with the team and we fully back the captain Shoaib Malik and coach Geoff Lawson,” said PCB chairaman Nasim Ashraf during the break in a bid to quell speculation over the team’s think-tank.

Salman and Nasir had earlier pushed the score to 23 for no loss in five overs at the dinner break after the Bangladesh innings closed in just 179 minutes.

Disinterest prevails

In the evening, with Sri Lanka and India having already qualified for Sunday’s final, an air of disinterest prevailed in the air with few fans in the stands and ironically the only bright spot was the floodlights that were switched on early due to fading light.

Bangladesh’s pavilion-bound procession commenced with Nazimuddin chancing his arms against Man-of-the-Match Abdur Rauf in the second over after his skipper Ashraful had opted to bat on a track that has witnessed 600 runs per day scores over the last few days.

Tamim Iqbal and Ashraful then nudged in a 41-run partnership with its high point being the Bangladesh skipper’s six over mid-wicket off Rauf.

The seamer had his revenge immediately, angling in a bouncer and forcing Ashraful to fend it to Misbah at point.

Down for the count

The bouncer was again in vogue as Sohail Tanvir banged it in and Raqibul top-edged a hook. Tamim too fended one awkwardly and at 49 for four in 11.1 overs, Bangladesh was down for the count.

The rejuvenating mid-innings partnership never happened as the rest caved in with poor shots while being choked by Iftikhar Anjum who bowled six maidens in sets of two each with his 10 overs yielding just 20 runs.

Iftikhar also grabbed the crucial wicket of all-rounder Alok Kapali and later scalped Mortaza, to snuff out the visitor’s hopes of a lower-order charge.

Bangladesh: T. Younis b Rauf 26, Nazimuddin c Malik b Rauf 3, Md. Ashraful c Misbah b Rauf 14, Raqibul c Iftikhar b Tanvir 0, Mushfiqur (run out) 15, Kapali c Younis b Iftikhar 17, Mahmudullah c Misbah b Malik 11, Farhad Reza st. Sarfraz b Ajmal 3, Mortaza lbw Iftikhar 1, Razzak b Ajmal 9, Shahadat (not out) 0; Extras (lb-4, w-11, nb-1): 16; Total (in 38.2 overs): 115.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-47, 3-48, 4-49, 5-73, 6-92, 7-99, 8-100, 9-113.

Pakistan bowling: Tanvir 7-0-31-1, Rauf 8-1-24-3, Iftikhar 10-6-20-2, Ajmal 8.2-0-19-2, Malik 5-0-17-1.

Pakistan: Salman Butt (not out) 56, Nasir Jamshed (not out) 52; Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-3): 8; Total (for no loss in 19.4 overs): 116.

Bangladesh bowling: Mortaza 3-0-9-0, Shahadat 7-1-40-0, Razzak 7-0-42-0, Mahmudullah 2-0-15-0, Reza 0.4-0-5-0.

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