Opener Tanzid Hasan stood up and led from the front as his superlative maiden ODI ton powered Bangladesh forward after Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first. Tanzid Hasan was the star of the show and he got able assistance from others batting with him with Towhid Hridoy providing the finishing kick. Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with 3 wickets while Shaheen Afridi the captain chipped in with one. Bangladesh with 290 runs has got the runs on the board.
Bangladesh openers give their side a solid start in first powerplay
Put into bat first, Saif Hassan and Tanzid Hasan came out to open for Bangladesh while Shaheen Afridi Pakistan’s captain had ball in hand for Pakistan. Shaheen bowled a decent first over. Haris Rauf came into the attack from the other end. Tanzid helped the ball on the pads to deep fine leg for the first boundary of the innings. Tanzid then picked the ball angling in and flicked it away to dispatch it over deep fine leg for the maximum. Afridi continued as Saif got into the act with a drive on the up through extra cover for a boundary.
Rauf continued as Tanzid whipped the ball past deep midwicket for a boundary. Afridi continued as Saif got a triple away past mid-off. Rauf continued as Tanzid slashed the ball away over deep backward point for the maximum. Abrar Ahmed came into the attack next. He bowled a decent first over. Faheem Ashraf came into the attack next. Saif survived a LBW scare as the on-field umpire gave it NOT OUT and Pakistan wasted a review as well.
Abrar continued as Saif crunched the ball through cover point for a boundary. Faheem came to bowl the final over of powerplay as the 50 came up for Bangladesh and of the partnership in 9 overs thanks to a wide. At the end of the powerplay, Bangladesh were 50/0 with Tanzid Hasan unbeaten on 30 off 33 balls while Saif Hassan was unbeaten on 17 off 27 balls.
Saif Hassan falls, but Tanzid Hasan takes Bangladesh forward till the halfway stage of the game
Abrar Ahmed continued post the powerplay as Tanzid broke the shackles with a thump down the ground over long-off for the maximum. Then he cleared his front leg and thumped it straight back over the bowler’s head for a boundary. Faheem continued as Saif smashed it past covers hard for a boundary. Tanzid went for the pull shot and got a top edge over deep fine leg for the maximum. Abrar continued and bowled a tight over.
Saad Masood on debut came into the attack next. He bowled a decent first over. Abrar followed it up with a tight over. Masood continued as Tanzid reached his fifty in 47 balls, his 6th ODI fifty. Maaz Sadaqat came into the attack next. Tanzid took him on and swung it over deep midwicket just over Faheem for the maximum. Drinks was taken with Bangladesh at 96/0 in 17 overs, the first Drinks Break of the match.
Masood continued after the break as Tanzid smashed it over mid-off for a boundary as the 100 came up for Bangladesh and of the partnership in 17.4 overs. Shaheen Afridi returned to the bowling crease and provided the breakthrough for Pakistan as he dismissed Saif for 36 off 55 balls with 3 fours to his name by knocking him over. Najmul Hossain Shanto came out to bat next. He got off the mark with a boundary past third man.
Masood continued as Tanzid swung it away over deep midwicket for the maximum. Salman Ali Agha came into the attack next. Shanto pulled it away to deep backward square leg for a boundary. Afridi continued as Shanto chipped it away down the ground for a boundary. Agha continued and bowled another decent over. Afridi continued and bowled a tight over.
Agha too bowled a decent over as at the halfway stage of the innings, Bangladesh were 138/1 in 25 overs with Tanzid unbeaten on 75 off 72 balls and Shanto unbeaten on 21 off 23 balls.
Tanzid Hasan falls after a ton as Pakistan strikes twice to peg Bangladesh back a bit till 40 overs
Haris Rauf came back into the attack and bowled a decent over. Salman Ali Agha continued as Tanzid got down on one knee and pulled it behind square for a boundary. Rauf continued as Tanzid creamed the ball past mid-off for a boundary. Salman Agha bowled another tight over. Drinks was taken with Bangladesh at 158/1 in 29 overs, the second of the innings. Rauf continued and provided the breakthrough for Pakistan as he removed Shanto for 27 off 34 balls with 3 fours to his name LBW. Shanto reviewed in hope and burnt the DRS. Litton Das came out to bat next.
He got off the mark soon as Bangladesh were 160/2 in 30 overs. Salman bowled another miserly over. Rauf continued as Litton was dropped by debutant Masood at backward point. Salman continued as Tanzid reached his maiden ODI ton in style with a maximum straight down the ground over long-off. Masood returned to the attack and bowled a decent over.
Abrar Ahmed returned for another spell and he bowled a decent over. Masood continued as Litton took him on by rocking back and pulling it over deep midwicket for the maximum. Abrar then got the big wicket as he removed centurion Tanzid for 107 off 107 balls with 6 fours and 7 sixes to his name as the batter jabbed the ball to short extra cover. Towhid Hridoy came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Shaheen Afridi returned as Hridoy got an outside edge that went past Rizwan for a boundary. The 200 came up for Bangladesh in 37.1 overs. Abrar continued and bowled a decent over. Afridi continued to bowl the 40th over as Bangladesh were now 213/3 in 40 overs with Hridoy unbeaten on 13 off 15 balls and Litton Das unbeaten as well on 21 off 29 balls.
Late Flourish amidst fall of wickets powers Bangladesh to 290/5 in 50 oversÂ
Abrar Ahmed continued for the start of final powerplay and bowled a decent over. Saad Masood came back into the attack. Hridoy whacked the ball past covers for a boundary. Abrar continued and bowled another tight over. Masood continued as 3 byes was conceded by the keeper Rizwan. Masood gave 5 wides as a bonus to the batting side. Haris Rauf came back into the attack as Litton whipped him away past short fine leg for a boundary as 250 came up for Bangladesh in 45 overs.
Afridi came back into the attack as 3 leg byes were conceded by the fielding team. Rauf then broke through as he dismissed Litton Das who was deceived by the slower ball as he mistimed the ball to deep backward square leg to be dismissed for 41 off 51 balls with one four and one six to his name. Rishad Hossain came out to bat next and was dismissed first ball as he chopped it back onto the stumps for a golden duck.
Afif Hossain came and faced the hat-trick ball and it was wide ball from the bowler. Afridi continued as Hridoy helped the ball on its way past short fine leg for a boundary. Hridoy got another boundary as he smashed the ball between cover and mid-off for a boundary. Rauf came to bowl the 49th over and bowled a decent over to end his spell.
Faheem Ashraf had the ball in hand for the final over of the innings and he too bowled a decent over as Bangladesh ended with a competitive 290/5 in 50 overs. Hridoy was unbeaten on 48 off 44 balls with 4 fours to his name while Afif was unbeaten on 5 off 8 balls. As many as 26 extras was given away by Pakistan today.
Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 3/52 in 10 overs. He was ably supported by Shaheen Afridi who finished with 1/55 in 10 overs. Abrar Ahmed finished with 1/49 in 10 overs. Faheem Ashraf bowled 4 overs for 24 runs. Saad Masood on debut gave 55 runs in 8 overs. Maaz Sadaqat bowled an over for 9 runs while Salman Ali Agha bowled 7 overs for 35 runs. This means that Pakistan needs 291 runs to win the match and series 2-1.
Who’s Winning, Pakistan or Bangladesh?Â
Bangladesh have got proper runs on the board. 290 is a good score on this pitch. But this pitch looks good to bat on. All eyes will be on how Pakistan starts with bat in hand. If they start solidly and keep wickets in hand, they may win this. Bangladesh will search for early wickets to put pressure on the visitors. The game is in the balance with maybe a bit of an edge to Bangladesh as they have runs on the board.
Let’s see how things pan out in the chase under lights.
Also Read: BAN vs PAK: 3 Reasons For Bangladesh’s Crushing Loss In 2nd ODI