KOLKATA: After his fifth delivery against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday, Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi spread his arms high and wide. They were like wings that put his team on its flight of fancy. He had sent Bangladesh opener Tanzid Hasan back with the slate still clean.
This flight eventually took Pakistan to a comfortable seven-wicket win. Chasing 205, Pakistan achieved the target in the 33rd over, with opener Fakhar Zaman, playing only his second match of the tournament, scoring 81. He shared a 128-run first-wicket partnership with Abdullah Shafique (68), the second time that Pakistan have posted a 100-plus opening stand in this tournament. Zaman hammered seven sixes in his 74-ball innings, playing with fluency. Shafiq too batted with remarkable ease, smashing nine boundaries and two sixes.
However, how much this win will actually help them is yet to be seen. As for now, it helped Pakistan live for another day and boost their net run rate. Bangladesh, on the other hand, became the first team to be officially knocked out. No surprises there, though, as Bangladesh's chances before this game were just mathematical, bordering on the impossible.
Pakistan desperately needed a win, a big one, and an early breakthrough after Bangladesh decided to bat first was just the tonic they were looking for. Afridi had delivered for his team just what the doctor ordered. They eventually bowled out Bangladesh for a below-par 204 runs in 45.1 overs.
The quality of bowling that Bangladesh needed to defend the low score was miserably lacking as the Pakistan openers toyed with the bowlers to bring up their first win after four defeats. Incidentally, Bangladesh off-break bowler Mehidy Hasan Miraz grabbed all three wickets.
Afridi's opening strike set up the stage for Pakistan to build on. Two more wickets in quick succession and Bangladesh, at 23 for 3, were looking down the barrel. The wickets included another one by Afridi, with Usama Mir taking a low catch off Najmul Hossain Shanto, and one by Haris Rauf, who had the last laugh by dismissing Mushfiqur Rahim after being struck for two boundaries by Litton Das in his very first over.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah and Das got together to stem the rot. A 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket helped Bangladesh recover from a difficult situation. When Das finally departed for 45, to a rather mediocre shot, they had just crossed the 100-run mark. Mahmudullah (56) did not last long, reading the line of an Afridi delivery wrong to be clean bowled.
Shakib (43) was uncharacteristically sedate to start with, but did pick up the pace somewhat. Three boundaries off Iftikhar Ahmed in the 37th over helped improve the strike rate, but it was another case of a good start being wasted. A mistimed skier saw the end of Shakib and there wasn't enough fuel left in Bangladesh's tank to recover from there.
Mohammad Wasim, another Pakistani young and rising pacer, wiped off the Bangladesh tail with three clean bowled dismissals. However, it was Afridi who stole the show with figures of 3 for 23 in nine overs.
