In the end a very good win for Pakistan, who have a lot to take away from this effort. The batting of Butt and Kamran was excellent, and I thought they did well in the end overs to not lose momentum, despite not being able to get the boundaries.
And under pressure, their main bowlers - Aamer, Sami and Ajmal - stood up and turned in great spells. But the biggest plus for Pakistan today has to be their fielding, which was close to flawless. Yes, Akmal dropped a tough one, but he also took a really good catch under pressure. Misbah's take to get Kayes, for me, was the highlight.
Bangladesh will rue the way they bowled today, though they came back reasonably in the end overs. The batsmen were always chasing atleast 20 runs more than they could manage against a strong attack. In the end, they fell short by 21. Overall, a great innings from Ashraful, but one will wonder why he keeps trying those nothing shots while he can play some really delicious text-book strokes. Shakib played well too, and his wicket was the turning point.
Stay with us for the presentation.
Shakib: "We did not start well with the ball, though we finished well. We are confident about the next game. Ashraful and I played really well, and one of us should have stayed till the end. We will give our 100% the next time as well."
Afridi: "It was a great performance, especially from our openers. The old ball is not easy to hit on this pitch, so I thought 170 was a very good total. Shakib and Ashraful worried us a bit, but we had confidence in our fast bowlers. Sami was specially very good."
Salman Butt in Man of the Match: "The pitch was slow. Having played two games here, we knew runs are hard to come and we needed to run hard. I thank the captain and coach for backing me. I relied a lot on cricketing strokes. I liked to keep it simple."
So that winds up our coverage for today. India and Pakistan have prevailed over the minnows, but both teams have tough games coming up tomorrow. South Africa v India and Australia v Pakistan, what a mouth-watering line-up! Join us again tomorrow, until then take care and be good - this is Nitin Sundar signing off on behalf of the Cricinfo team.
19.6
1
Ajmal to Shuvo, 1 run
fuller this time, finally gets bat on ball towards cover and he gets a single. Pakistan have won!
19.5
•
Ajmal to Shuvo, no run
refer to the commentary for the previous ball - this was an action replay
19.4
•
Ajmal to Shuvo, no run
shades of Saqlain, the tail-ender Shuvo has no clue what it is doing and misses the zipping offies, with his across-the-linbe hoicks
19.3
W
Ajmal to Mortaza, OUT
sells him the dummy this time! Mortaza is down the track, but well short of the pitch of the ball, which slips past him and into Akmal's gloves who gleefully whips off the bails
Mashrafe Mortaza st †Kamran Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 1 (3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 33.33
19.2
•
Ajmal to Mortaza, no run
shortens the length and gets turn and bounce from outside off. Mortaza swings and misses
19.1
1
Ajmal to Md Naeem, 1 run
full this time, and driven down to long on
19.1
1w
Ajmal to Md Naeem, 1 wide
slides down the leg, Akmal appeals for a catch down the leg, it may have made contact too, but Asoka de Silva calls wide
end of over 197 runs • 1 wicket
BDESH: 148/6CRR: 7.78• RRR: 25.00 • Need 25 runs from 6b
Naeem Islam9 (8)
Mashrafe Mortaza1 (1)
Mohammad Sami4-0-29-3
Mohammad Amir4-0-16-2
18.6
1
Sami to Md Naeem, 1 run
another near-perfect yorker, the batsman cannot connect well with the attempted scoop shot
18.5
1
Sami to Mortaza, 1 run
good yorker to Mortaza, who can only feebly dig it out to mid on for a single
18.4
1
Sami to Md Naeem, 1 run
drives hard wide of mid off to turn the strike over
18.3
W
Sami to Mushfiqur, OUT
and another one bites the dust! Cool, calm death bowling and Bangladesh's batsmen are doing the rest as the noose tightens. This was short of a length on middle and the batsman goes for the swipe over the leg side, gets a top edge which balloons up to midwicket
Mushfiqur Rahim c Saeed Ajmal b Mohammad Sami 4 (3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 133.33
18.2
1
Sami to Md Naeem, 1 run
driven without much power to cover, for a single. Bangladesh needs to find the ropes
18.1
3
Sami to Mushfiqur, 3 runs
Full on leg and middle, somehow squeezed down to fine leg, where Hafeez puts in a wonderful dive to save a run
In the end a very good win for Pakistan, who have a lot to take away from this effort. The batting of Butt and Kamran was excellent, and I thought they did well in the end overs to not lose momentum, despite not being able to get the boundaries.
And under pressure, their main bowlers - Aamer, Sami and Ajmal - stood up and turned in great spells. But the biggest plus for Pakistan today has to be their fielding, which was close to flawless. Yes, Akmal dropped a tough one, but he also took a really good catch under pressure. Misbah's take to get Kayes, for me, was the highlight.
Bangladesh will rue the way they bowled today, though they came back reasonably in the end overs. The batsmen were always chasing atleast 20 runs more than they could manage against a strong attack. In the end, they fell short by 21. Overall, a great innings from Ashraful, but one will wonder why he keeps trying those nothing shots while he can play some really delicious text-book strokes. Shakib played well too, and his wicket was the turning point.
Stay with us for the presentation.
Shakib: "We did not start well with the ball, though we finished well. We are confident about the next game. Ashraful and I played really well, and one of us should have stayed till the end. We will give our 100% the next time as well."
Afridi: "It was a great performance, especially from our openers. The old ball is not easy to hit on this pitch, so I thought 170 was a very good total. Shakib and Ashraful worried us a bit, but we had confidence in our fast bowlers. Sami was specially very good."
Salman Butt in Man of the Match: "The pitch was slow. Having played two games here, we knew runs are hard to come and we needed to run hard. I thank the captain and coach for backing me. I relied a lot on cricketing strokes. I liked to keep it simple."
So that winds up our coverage for today. India and Pakistan have prevailed over the minnows, but both teams have tough games coming up tomorrow. South Africa v India and Australia v Pakistan, what a mouth-watering line-up! Join us again tomorrow, until then take care and be good - this is Nitin Sundar signing off on behalf of the Cricinfo team.
fuller this time, finally gets bat on ball towards cover and he gets a single. Pakistan have won!
refer to the commentary for the previous ball - this was an action replay
shades of Saqlain, the tail-ender Shuvo has no clue what it is doing and misses the zipping offies, with his across-the-linbe hoicks
sells him the dummy this time! Mortaza is down the track, but well short of the pitch of the ball, which slips past him and into Akmal's gloves who gleefully whips off the bails
shortens the length and gets turn and bounce from outside off. Mortaza swings and misses
full this time, and driven down to long on
slides down the leg, Akmal appeals for a catch down the leg, it may have made contact too, but Asoka de Silva calls wide
another near-perfect yorker, the batsman cannot connect well with the attempted scoop shot
good yorker to Mortaza, who can only feebly dig it out to mid on for a single
drives hard wide of mid off to turn the strike over
and another one bites the dust! Cool, calm death bowling and Bangladesh's batsmen are doing the rest as the noose tightens. This was short of a length on middle and the batsman goes for the swipe over the leg side, gets a top edge which balloons up to midwicket
driven without much power to cover, for a single. Bangladesh needs to find the ropes
Full on leg and middle, somehow squeezed down to fine leg, where Hafeez puts in a wonderful dive to save a run