BANvPAK 3rd ODI Spirited Bangladesh whitewash Pakistan

BANvPAK 3rd ODI Spirited Bangladesh whitewash Pakistan: Confidence shattered, senior players under-performing, series already out of hand; Azhar Ali and his men entered the 3^rd ODI with less odds among them, some face-saving to do and a white-wash to avoid. Batting first after winning the toss looked the best decision after the debutant Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali added 91 for the first wicket. Azhar with his Maiden ODI Century along with Haris Sohail with his 6^th ODI Fifty then continued to dominate the Bangladeshi bowlers untilAzhar was clean bowled byShakib Al Hasan. Pakistan lost the plot ever since and there last seven could add only 43 more runs and were eventually bowled out for 250.

Bangladesh responded well to the chase with openers Tamim and Sarkar putting up a record opening partnership. 145/0 against a team whose confidence is at the lowest and its bowlers haven’t been successful either. Junaid Khan sprung some in the shattered Pakistani hearts when dismissed Tamim and then Mahmudullah in consecutive overs but Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim added an unbeaten 97 for the third wicket to ensure Pakistan taste some of the Bangla-Wash!

Here are some of the stats highlights from the 3^rd ODI:

Debut – Sami Aslam has become the 202^nd player to represent Pakistan in the 50-over format of cricket.

The Wait – Pakistanis had to wait 1766 days (roughly 5 years) for their ODI Captain to score a century. Shahid Afridi’s 124 vs Bangladesh in Asia Cup 2010 was the last time a Pakistani Captain scored an ODI century.

The Captain’s Club – Azhar Ali is only the 8^th Pakistani Captain to score an ODI Hundred. 5 of the previous 7 have done it only once; only Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi have scored two.

The Drought – Only 10 times has Pakistani Captains scored a century in ODIs; the least among the Top 8 cricketing nations. Australian and Indian Captains lead with 39 centuries each.

Leading from the front – 209 runs by Azhar Ali in this series are the most by a Pakistani Captain in a 3-match bilateral series; Also the most for a Pakistani Captain in its first three ODIs.

The Lack of Batting Depth – Pakistan all out at 250 is exactly the 250^th time that Pakistan has been all out in ODIs; 2^nd most for any team. India has been all out the most, 259 times.

The Partnership – Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar added 145 for the 1^st wicket in Bangladesh’s innings; highest by a Bangladeshi pair in a run-chase. Previous: Athar Ali Khan/Mohammad Rafique 137 vs Kenya, 1998

The Victorious Platform – Four times have Bangladeshi openers put up a partnership of 100 or more in a run-chase, everytime Bangladesh successfully chased the target.

The TAMIMI Wall – Tamim Iqbal 312 this series; most by a Bangladeshi batsman in a 3-match bilateral ODI series and the 3^rd most overall behind Quinton de Kock’s 342 vs India (2013) and Martin Guptill’s 330 vs England (2013).

A First – This is Bangladesh’s first ODI series win against Pakistan. Previously they hadn’t won a single ODI against the same team for 16 years.

A Name in the History – Bangladesh now becomes the 5^th team to white-wash Pakistan in an ODI series. Australia (thrice), England/West Indies (twice) and Sri Lanka are the others to hand Pakistan such a shame.

The Difference – Wahab Riaz’s run tally in this series (64 runs) exceeds the total runs scored by Pakistan’s three most senior batsmen Hafeez (8 runs), Fawad (18 runs) and Sarfraz (31 runs) combined.