On a flat pitch, Rauf’s thunderbolts made him a standout bowler for Pakistan, ending with figures of 4-17. Naseem Shah, despite a shoulder injury scare, picked 3-34, followed by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Iftikhar Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf taking a wicket each.
For Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim slammed knocks of 53 and 64 respectively, while adding 100 runs for the fifth wicket after being 47-4 at one point. But once Shakib fell, Bangladesh’s innings fell apart and crumbled to a below-200 score, with the last four wickets falling in nine balls.
Pushed into bowling first, Pakistan fetched early success when Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh’s last game’s centurion chipped straight to mid-wicket off Naseem, falling for a golden duck in the second over.
Litton Das smashed four boundaries in his 13-ball 16 before getting a faint edge behind on a Shaheen delivery which bounced extra and was caught by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. Rauf then took his 50th ODI wicket when he cramped Mohammad Naim for room and top-edge on the pull was caught safely by the pacer.
He signed off from power-play by castling Towhid Hridoy’s stumps with a 145kph delivery to leave Bangladesh in trouble at 47-4 in 9.1 overs.
Shakib and Mushfiqur, the two veteran players, combined to pull Bangladesh out of trouble.
With pace dropping of Pakistan fast bowlers in the harsh Lahore heat, it gave chance to Shakib and Mushfiqur to give the Bangladesh innings much-needed stability. Shakib also survived a scare on 32 as Naseem dropped a simple return catch in the 20th over.
Hitting boundaries at a decent pace coupled with strike rotation, Shakib brought up his 54th ODI fifty, as well as the partnership crossing 100-run mark. But Shakib shortly fell for a 57-ball 53, pulling straight to deep mid-wicket off a Faheem short ball at the stroke of drinks break.
Soon, Mushfiqur reached his 46th ODI fifty, but Shakib’s exit had opened the gate Pakistan needed to claw back. Shamim Hossain miscued a slog off Iftikhar to the deep, followed by Mushfiqur nicking behind off Rauf. The pacer would take out Taskin Ahmed for a golden duck, before Naseem took the remaining two wickets to keep Bangladesh seven runs below 200.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 193 in 38.4 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 64, Shakib Al Hasan 53; Haris Rauf 4-19, Naseem Shah 3-34) against Pakistan
–IANS
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