Pak v Ban World T20: Bangladesh surrenders to supreme Pakistan

Pakistan had a very easy day in the office today as they beat their Asian rivals Bangladesh by a convincing 55 runs margin in the Group 2 fixture at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The Bangladeshi bowlers got clobbered with ease by Pakistani batsman who eventually heaped a massive 201/5 in 20 overs after batting first.

Shahid Afridi won the toss and decided to bat first considering the fact that the batting friendly strip on offer. The decision turned out to be perfect for the skipper as openers Ahmed Shehzad and Sharjeel Khan began milking the bowler right from the first over.

Sharjeel looked in a different vein today and batted fiercely in the first two over of the match. However, Mortaza quickly employed spin by introducing Arafat Sunny from one end and the left spinner managed to get rid of the left hander off just his third ball to nullify his threat.

Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez then batted with authority and gave the Bangladeshis no chance whatsoever. Boundaries and sixes came off their willows with ease and the run rate graph looked pretty excellent. The pair weaved a strong 95 runs and could be separated only in the 14^th over when Shehzad’s (52 from 39 balls) attempt to hit a helicopter shot did not fetch him the expected result and was caught by Sabbir Rahman at the boundary ropes.

Shahid Afridi promoted himself and came in at No.4 and began to tonk right from the word go. Hafeez, who was playing an anchor sort of role in the previous stand with Shehzad switching gears after getting his eyes set.

While Hafeez tried to accelerate with his orthodoxy, Afridi batted in his natural style and went berserk. ‘Lala’ has had a very torrid time as a batsman and also as a leader. However, he used his bat with brutal intention and clobbered a 19 ball 49 runs knock, falling just one run short of the becoming the fastest fifty by a Pakistani. Shoaib Malik made a explosive 9 balls 15 run cameo. Pakistan, eventually surpassed the 200 run marck and ended at 201/5 after 20 overs.

Bangladesh was off to an unimpressive start. Mohammad Amir opened the bowling for Pakistan and did not make his team wait for long to cheer as he managed to dismiss Soumya Sarkar off the 3rd ball. Sarkar left a big gap between the bat-pad and was beaten by the pace as the ball sneaked through the gap to disturb the timers.

The effect of the early jolt was neutralized to some extent by Tamim Iqbal (24 from 20 balls) and Sabbir Rahman (25 form 19 balls). Shahid Afridi brought himself into the attack and was welcomed with a six from Tamim. Sabbir then cracked a four. But, just when the over seemed to be going on smoothly until Afridi managed to hit back and dismiss Sabbir in the same over.

The chase went off track from this stage. Afridi came back in the following over and made Tamim depart whereas left arm spinner Imad Wasim got better of Mahmudullah a couple of overs later.

Shakib al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim then batted briefly could not make any significant impact after Mushfiqur departed in the 17th overs. The pressure of the rising run rate got better of the wicket keeper who nicked one back to the keeper off the bowling of Mohammad Amir.

There was not of fight shown afterwards as eventually they ran out of overs and lost the match. Shakib al Hasan fought a lone battle till the end and remained unbeaten at 50 which came from 40 balls.

The Bangladeshis were quite dominant over the Associates in the qualifiers stage. But, Pakistan made them realize the kind of competition they are set to face in the Group 2. They have to be more complacent in the field and must quickly learn from their mistakes as in the coming matches they are set to face India, Australia and New Zealand.

Breif Scores: 

Pakistan: 201/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 64; Taskin Ahmed 2/31)

Bangladesh: 146/6 in 20 overs (Shakib al Hasan 50; Shahid Afridi 2/27)

Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi