PAKISTAN SURVIVE BANGLADESH SCARE; WINBY21RUNS
Pakistan survived a scare before pulling off a nervy 21-run victory over a spirited Bangladesh in the thrilling opening cricket match of Asia Cup tournament, yesterday.
Chasing 263 to win, Bangladesh were reeling at 135 for five at one stage but Shakib Al Hasan (64) and Nasir Hossain (47) raised the hopes of a stunning win with their 89-run stand for the sixth wicket.
However, the hosts lacked the batting firepower in the end to be all out for 241 in 48.1 overs at the Sher-e-bangla stadium.
Nevertheless, the hosts gave a good account of themselves and served a warning to other teams that they cannot be taken lightly in the tournament.
Shakib and Nasir were going great guns as the team needed 68 off the last 10 overs but Paki- stan paceman Umar Gul (3/58) broke the partnership by bowling Nasir in the 44th over after conceding two consecutive boundaries.
Shakib was still fighting from one end but ran short of partners. Shakib was the last man out, bowled by Gul in the first ball of the 49th over.
Pakistan scored 262 for eight after Mohammed Hafeez topscored with a patient 89 and shared a 135-run stand with fellow opener Nasir Jamshed (54).
Apart from Hafeez and Jamshed's brilliant batting it was Gul's strokeful unbeaten 39 towards the end that lifted Pakistan to a respectable total.
Shahdat Hossain (3/53) and Shakib Al Hasan (2/41) shared five wickets between them to help Bangladesh restrict Pakistani players, who were scoring briskly till the 30 overs.
Pakistan rode on spin trio of Hafeez (2/40), Saeed Ajmal (2/45) and Shahid Afridi's (2/49) brilliant bowling to open their campaign with a win.
Bangladesh's chase was guided by opener Tamim Iqbal's crafty 64 but the hosts could not make the best use of his innings. Iqbal along with opener Nazimuddin (30) and Jahurul Islam (23) shared two 45-run stands each for the first and second wickets. Hafeez struck twice in two balls in the 29th over as he bowled Iqbal in the third ball and trapped Mahmudullah in the next to reduce Bangaldesh to 135 for five.
Shakib then joined hands with Nasir to take the fight to Pakistan. They made good use of third power play to set the tone for a close finish.