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Arms spread and reaching out to the sky, Shaheen Shah Afridi’s celebration is regal. He has had an iffy World Cup but in a game Pakistan needed to win to survive — their time in India still hangs by a thread, mind you — Afridi hit the right length and rocked Bangladesh with a double whammy they couldn’t recover from.
A game that started with Waqar Younis ringing the ceremonial bell at Eden had, at the halfway stage, fast bowlers taking eight wickets and fittingly a hint of reverse swing as Pakistan cleaned up Bangladesh for 204 in 45.1 overs. Swinging his arms with abandon, Fakhar Zaman did the rest.
On a wicket where batting became easier, unlike the strip used in Saturday’s game, Zaman unfurled a smorgasbord of shots, the pick of which was an upper cut off Mustafizur Rahman. Or, you could choose the roundhouse whack off Taskin Ahmed. More orthodox in shot selection, Zaman’s opening partner Abdullah Shafique was the perfect foil as Pakistan won by seven wickets in 32.3 overs.
The openers stitched together Pakistan’s second century-plus stand in this World Cup. By the time Mehidy Hasan Miraz trapped Shafique (68 off 69 balls; 9×4, 2×6) on the sweep, Pakistan had made 128 and were eyeing at improving their net run rate which, along with favourable results in other games, could be their lifeline in this tournament.
In a country known for former players leading the line in asking questions of the senior men’s team, there could be some on why Zaman hadn’t played after the opening game against Netherlands given how effortlessly he was clearing the ground. By the time he failed to do that and was caught in the deep, Zaman had made 81 (74b; 3×4, 7×6) and Pakistan were 36 away from their third win in seven games. That it gave Miraz his 100th ODI scalp, the off-spinner taking all the wickets to fall, would be small consolation for Bangladesh.
Afridi got to the landmark in the afternoon, becoming the quickest Pakistan bowler to reach 100 wickets and the third fastest ever. The 23-year-old left-arm pace ace got there in his 51st ODI, two less than Saqlain Mushtaq. Afridi struck in the fifth ball of the first over, this one angling in after the first four were full and outside the off-stump. Staying inside the crease, Tanzid Hasan tried to play across the line and was trapped in front of the wicket.
Najmul Hossain Shanto showed he hadn’t learned much from Hasan’s dismissal, trying to play the same way and with a smart catch diving to his right, Usama Mir made everything said about Pakistan’s fielding seem like it was from another tournament. Cue, the Afridi celebration again.
6/2 after 2.4 overs and Bangladesh’s decision to bat after winning the toss looked like a wrong one. It became 23/3 when Haris Rauf, after giving three easy boundaries, checked his length and induced an edge from Mushfiqur Rahim.
Having rocked the top order during a five-over spell which included a maiden, Afridi returned to dismiss Mahmudullah with the ball of the match. Mahmudullah and Litton Das had stemmed the rot with Pakistan giving a number of easy balls — there were 10 boundaries in a score of 65/3 after 13.3 overs — the 79-run stand was broken when Das gifted his wicket. But Mahmudullah was in the mood for another century. Bowling around the wicket, Afridi got one to veer away just enough to beat the bat and crash into the top of the off-stump.
Shakib Al Hasan grafted and then got into the groove but just when it looked like he would finally play a captain’s knock, the Bangladesh captain fell to his bugbear — the short-pitched delivery. Shakib had hit three fours off Iftikhar Ahmed in the 37th over. Soon after, Babbar Azam brought the quicks back. And Bangladesh fell in a heap, Mohammad Wasim’s reverse swing fetching three wickets, all of them bowled.
Their struggles in the power play summed up Bangladesh’s woeful campaign, one which disappointed nearly 28,000 people on Tuesday. Four times in six games have Bangladesh not lasted the full 50 overs. It is the same as England and an important pointer to why the teams are where they are. Bangladesh still have Sri Lanka and Australia to play but maybe, the time has come to review their 50-over game. Effervescent and ineffective in equal measure, Pakistan meanwhile, live on and need to win their remaining games. Watch out, New Zealand and England.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 204 in 45.1 overs (Mahmudullah 56, L Das 45; S Afridi 3/23, M Wasim 3/31). Pakistan 205/3 in 32.3 overs (F Zaman 81, A Shafique 68; M Miraz 3/60). Pakistan won by 7 wickets
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