Pakistan’s pace attack wreaked havoc in the Bangladesh batting ranks, giving them a victory by 7 wickets in the first game of Super 4 at Lahore as Babar Azam‘s captaincy was top-notch. Babar Azam chose to field a 4-man pace attack looking at the conditions, and that well and truly paid off for their side, as the pace bowlers picked 9 of Bangladesh’s 10 wickets. Bangladesh was bowled out for 193 with more than 10 overs to spare, which was chased down by the Pakistan batsmen with the loss of minimal wickets.
The last game of the Asia Cup gave all the reasons for Pakistan to put forward a convincing performance on their home soil. Haris Rauf was the pick of the bunch, as his 6 overs of sheer pace and relentless accuracy made the Bangladesh batsman clueless. The modest target of 193 was chased down by Pakistan inside 40 overs, thanks to innings’ by Mohd Rizwan and Imam Ul Haq, giving them a morale-boosting win and moreover a healthy run rate.
Naseem Shah drew the first blood in his very first ball, last match’s star Mehidy Hasan Miraz chipped one straight to short Mid-wicket and Bangladesh lost a wicket before they had even scored a run. In the short period that followed, Litton Das and Mohammed Naim played some exquisite shots to keep the scoreboard ticking, before Shaheen Shah Afridi removed Das.
Haris Rauf was introduced in the 8th over and he scalped Mohammed Naim in the third ball he bowled with a ball that skidded on to take the top edge, and the speed gun clocked 140kmph. Towhid Hridoy followed suit, as he was cleaned by a 145 kmph delivery. Bangladesh found themselves at 47 for 4 and powerplay was not even done.
Veteran players Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim rebuilt the innings and steadily put runs on the board. Shakib was given a life when Naseem Shah dropped him off his own bowling when he was at 32. The pair stitched a 100-partnership with Shakib getting to his fifty. Not long after Shakib departed after giving a catch to Fakhar Zaman in deep square-leg.
A few good hits from Shamim Hossein and Afif Hossein seemed to put Bangladesh in a position for a strong finish, however, there ensued a Batting collapse at Bangladesh went from 174-5 to being bowled out for 193, with Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah picking two wickets each.
The Pakistani openers started slow but steady, taking no risks in the first five overs. Fakhar Zaman’s lean patch continued as he was caught leg before for 20 in the final over of the powerplay. Babar Azam chopped onto a ball that kept low by Taskin Ahmed which surprised Babar Azam. Mohammed Rizwan came on to bat with an aggressive intent meanwhile Imam survived another scare, as DRS overturned an on-field call for leg before as it was clearly missing leg stump.
Imam went on to score a fluent 78 before being clean-bowled trying to slog Mehidy Hasan, but it was only a matter of time before the target was chased down. Rizwan got to his fifty and got Pakistan home with more than 10 overs remaining, giving a huge boost to their Net run rate.
We planned on picking Faheem Ashraf because we saw the pitches here, there was grass on it and we liked that also – Babar Azam
Pakistan captain Babar Azam, talking in the post-match presentation felt that they read the conditions well, and the ploy of playing an extra seamer paid off. Babar Azam thanked the crowd for always cheering them and added that this win would boost their confidence going into their match against India.
“Always when we play here, the crowd supports us and I hope all of them enjoyed this match. (On playing India) This win will give us confidence, we are always ready for a big match. We will give our 100% in the next match,” said Babar Azam.
“Too much heat, but full credit to the fast bowlers. First Shaheen and then Haris Rauf. We planned on picking Faheem because we saw the pitches here, there was grass on it and we like that also,” he added.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2023: Pakistan And Bangladesh To Kick Start The Super 4 Stage