Pakistan 194 for 3 (Imam 78, Rizwan 63*, Shoriful 1-24) beat Bangladesh 193 (Mushfiqur 64, Rauf 4-19, Naseem 3-34) by seven wickets
Haris Rauf bowled six impactful overs full of scary pace, skiddy lengths and relentless accuracy which restricted Bangladesh to 193, following which Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan finished the chase within 40 overs as Pakistan started their Super Fours with a win. With that, Pakistan got two points, and more crucially, a healthy net run rate.
Bangladesh’s innings had started with Shaheen Shah Afridi beating Mohammad Naim back-to-back off the first two balls – first on the outside edge, then on the inside – and Naseem Shah having Mehidy Hasan Miraz chipping to square leg to start the second over. It ended with Naseem getting the last two wickets within four balls of the 39th over. In between, it was all about Rauf making the Bangladesh batters almost look clueless.
In a frightening moment for Pakistan in the seventh over of Bangladesh’s innings, Naseem walked off the field after hurting his right shoulder. That was a result of him diving to his left running from fine leg to try and pull the ball back from near the rope.
So replacing Naseem to start the eighth over, all it took Rauf was three balls to strike. He bowled one at a hard length while angling it into Naim from around the wicket, as Naim’s attempted pull only resulted in a return catch off the top edge for Rauf.
Full report to follow…
Source: ESPN Crickinfo