Tigers seal ODI series
Tamim Iqbal continued his masterful batting to score a century in successive match, leading Bangladesh to a crushing seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the second one-day international in Dhaka on Sunday. The left-hander slammed an unbeaten 116 in as many balls as the home side reached 240-3 after their bowlers had restricted Pakistan to 239-6 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
The win gave Bangladesh an unassailable 2-0 lead in three-match series after they won Friday’s first match at the same venue by a whopping 79 runs.
Pakistan needed a massive improvement from their performance in the first game to stay alive in the series, but a top-order collapse did not help their cause.
Saad Nasim and Wahab Riaz smashed unbeaten half-centuries to lift the side to somewhat competitive score after they were reduced to 77-5 by the 22nd over.
Tamim, who scored 132 runs in the previous match, made a mockery of the target, racing to his fifty off 31 balls, his fastest in his career, improving his record against England in 2010 when he took one more ball.
Junaid Khan removed Tamim’s fellow opener Soumya Sarker cheaply for 17 runs but Tamim refused to calm down and hit Saeed Ajmal and Wahab Riaz three successive fours in back-to-back overs.
By the time Ajmal bowled Mahmdullah for 17 to give Pakistan their second breakthrough, Bangladesh were well in control blazing their way to 100 runs in just 14 overs.
Mushfiqur Rahim, who also scored a century in the second game, added 118 runs with Tamim for the third wicket to make life easier for his Test vice-captain.
Mushfiq was rewarded with 65 off 70 balls as Bangladesh completed their first series win over Pakistan with 71 balls to spare.
Sakib al Hasan hit the winning runs after Tamim reached his century off 108 balls gliding Junaid for a fine leg boundary. Tamim followed the feat with a stunning six over Junaid’s head that only reminded all of his early days.
‘I think the boys should feel proud,’ said Bangladesh captain Mashrafee bin Muratza. ‘Maybe they shouldn’t show off but they should feel proud because the way they won was something to be proud about it.’
Tamim’s innings overshadowed the batting heroics of Nasim and Wahab, who struck 77 and 51 respectively as Pakistan somehow managed to cross 200-run mark.
‘It’s a big blow for us,’ Pakistan captain Azhar Ali said after the match. [We are in a] rebuilding process, but we didn’t expect to lose here…we were outplayed in every form of the game.
Opting to bat first, Azhar and Sarfraz Ahmed scored 36 runs in the opening stand but Bangladesh soon took the control once Rubel Hossain earned the Tigers their first breakthrough.
Rubel had Sarfraz brilliantly caught by Soumya Sarkar at slip for seven off his first ball and Arafat Sunny handed Mohammad Hafeez a duck in the next over.
Azhar batted doggedly but Sakib al Hasan made him a catch of Mushfiq for 36 off 60 balls. Nasir Hossain pegged back the stumps of Fawad Alam in next over to dismiss him for a duck.
Pakistan were in deep trouble when Sakib trapped Mohammad Rizwan plumb in front for 13.
Bangladesh welcomed back skipper Mashrafee, who, playing his 150th ODI being only third Bangladeshi, broke the resistance of Haris Sohail.
Haris was caught off guard off a slower and gave the Bangladesh skipper a simple return catch for 44 after he stemmed the collapse with a 77-run stand with Nasim.
Nasim and Wahab added 85 runs in their unbroken seventh wicket stand to help Pakistan get a decent total but Tamim made the target look very easy for the Tigers with his terrific innings.
-With New Age input