Pakistan wins in a nail biting finish

Bangladesh Innings

Mr. Ahmed Mian Soomoro, the Governor of the province of Sindh, performed the opening ceremony of the match. On his arrival the two teams were introduced to the Governor. The Governor then formally inaugurated the tournament by playing a one-ball stroke on the pitch. It was followed by group photographs of the two teams with the Governor. The Governor was accompanied in the ceremony by Mr. Nasim ul Ghani the ICC Development officer for Asia and officials of the Karachi City Cricket Association.

Bangladesh opened the innings with Ashraful and Nafees Iqbal against Pakistan's pace attack of Najaf Shah and Nadeem Javed. Mohammad Ashraful was run out after scoring 13 runs, while Shafiul Alam was the next to go caught by Khalid Latif off Altaf Hussain for 22.

At the end of 20 overs Bangladesh was 82 for 2. It lost the 3rd wicket when Nasir Uddin Faruque was caught in the slips by Salman Butt off Munir Ansari for 9, Bangladesh was 90 for 3. Shariful Islam came in to bat. At this stage Bangladesh was confronted with all spin attack of Suleman Qadir and Zaheer Maqsood. Nafees Iqbal who was holding the crease with immense confidence drove Qadir beautifully to cover for a 4. He was 44 not out at the end of 29 overs.

At the end of 30 overs Bangladesh was 107 for 3. To offer Pakistan a fighting target, the Bangladesh batsmen need to increase the run rate.

Nafees Iqbal completed his 50 in 95 balls in the 33rd over. Pakistan met with 4th success when Nafees Iqbal lifted Suleman Qadir high in the air and was caught by Najaf Shah after playing the real Captain's innings of 63.

Bangladesh was now 138 for 4. At 40 overs Bangladesh was 159 for 4 with Shariful Islam (35) and Kuntal Chanda (5) at the crease.

In the 41st over Pakistan gained another success when Shariful Ul Islam was stumped by Adnan Akmal off Munir Ansari for a well played innings of 35. Bangladesh was now 158 for 5. Manjurul Islam came in but was back to the pavilion immediately, caught by Khalid Litif off Munir Ansari for a duck. Bangladesh lost the 6th wicket at 158 and the 7th wicket for 159 when Shobuj Islam was caught by Khalid Latif off Suleman Qadir for a duck.

The 8th wicket was lost when Anwar Hussain took the crease and was run out for a duck at the score of 160. Mohammad Sharif came in to bat and tried to lift Munir Ansari for a possible six but was caught by Khalid Latif at long on off Munir Ansari for a duck. Bangladesh lost the 9th wicket at the same score of 160. Talha Zubair was the last man to come and get bowled by Munir Ansari for a duck.

Bangladesh was all out for 168 in 44.3 overs. Munir Ansari was the bowler who wrecked the Bangladesh team by clipping 5 wickets for 26 runs. Pakistan has a target of 169 runs to win which does not appear to be a difficult one.

Pakistan Innings

Facing a moderate target of 162 runs, Pakistan opened the inning with Khalid Latif and Salman Butt against Bangladesh's attack of Talha Zubair and Muhammad Sharif; who bowled two wides in his first over. Pakistan lost the first wicket at 25 when Khalid lateef was run out for 9. After 10 overs Pakistan was 41 for 1. Skipper Salman Butt was holding the crease firmly with 24 runs while Faisal was keeping the other end with 5 runs.

The Bangladesh pace men bowling too many short pitched deliveries were repeatedly punished by the batsman with hits to the boundary. Since the pitch was not conducive to fast bowling, the Bangladesh medium pacers including spearhead Sharif-ul-Islam were not making an impact on the batsmen. Pakistan lost the 2nd wicket when skipper Salman Butt was also run out after playing an invaluable innings of 35. Faisal Khan was next to go being bowled by Sharif-ul-Islam for 26. Pakistan was now 73 for 3. Kashif Ijaz and Sulman Qadir got into the partnership, punishing all types of bowling, all round the ground.

Both the batsman raised Pakistan's total to 150, needing only 19 runs to win when rashness prevailed. Trying big hits both of them lost their wickets, rendering Pakistan to 150 for 5. Sulman Qadir was caught by Talha for 36 while Kashif Ijaz was stumped by Anwar for 35. Sharif ul Islam claimed both the wickets.

Altaf Hussain and Adnan Akmal were at the crease trying to take Pakistan to victory when Akmal was bowled by Shafiul Alam for 6 runs. Pakistan was now 157 for 6. Another wicket fell immediately when Altaf was also stumped by Anwar off Shafiul Alam for 2, rendering Pakistan to 158 for 8.

With only 9 runs required, the victory was now in the hands of the tail enders. Zaheer Maqsud came in but was run out for 1 run. Pakistan was 161 for 8. Nadeem Javed came in to bat and managed to add 6 runs to the total. Pakistan now required only 2 runs to win in the last over. Unfortunate for Pakistan Munir Ansari trying airy-fairy shots was bowled by Mohammad Sharif. Pakistan came down to 167 for 9.

With Pakistan's last pair needing 2 runs in 4 balls, it was anybody's game. Najaf Shah, the last man however thrashed Sharif for a 4 to hoist the Pakistan's victory. Shafiul Alam was declared Man of the match for clinching 4 wickets for 23 runs.