Over under 60 overs

In a fair indication of the huge gap that exists between Bangladesh and its sub-continental neighbour, Pakistan won by 10 wickets, writes K. C. Vijaya Kumar.

“Who played today’s match?,” asked the taxi driver outside the National Stadium. A Karachiwallah not being aware of Pakistan’s engagement with Bangladesh was a pointer to the inconsequential nature of the STAR Cricket Asia Cup’s last semifinal league match.

And in a fair indication of the huge gap that exists between Bangladesh and its sub-continental neighbour, Pakistan won by 10 wickets. Pakistan finished with four points and a third spot as dreams of winning the Asia Cup, like the way it did in 2000, fizzled out. Bangladesh, meanwhile, lost all its matches except against minnow UAE in the group phase in Lahore.

Set a meagre target of 116, the host had a stroll in the park as openers Salman Butt (56 not out) and Nasir Jamshed (52 not out) raced past the winning post in 19.4 overs. “Our young openers played really well and set it up for us,” said captain Shoaib Malik. The southpaws kept finding the fence and Pakistan signed off from the tournament on a winning note while India and Sri Lanka geared up for the final.

A sense of relief was also evident in Shoaib Malik during the post-match press conference. Besides the easy victory, a piece of good news trickled in for him when the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf assured full support to the captain in a chat with the media.

Earlier, the day of good tidings for Shoaib Malik commenced with him being ruled fit for the match and under a cloud cover, he watched Bangladesh self-destruct from close quarters. Opener Nazimuddin tried to puncture the clouds and lost his wicket.

Tamim Iqbal and skipper Ashraful hung in for a while. Ashraful provoked Abdur Rauf with a six and fended the angry next-ball riposte straight to Misbah at point. Sohail Tanvir then aimed at Raqibul’s cranium and watched the miscued gift drift into waiting palms at fine-leg.

The rest just caved in while Iftikhar slipped in six maidens and scalped two wickets in his 10-over spell. Bangladesh was bowled out for 115 in 38.2 overs.

Later in the night an exasperated Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said, “I think the players were already on the plane back home while they were playing here ! That’s poor attitude. I am supposed to have one-on-one sessions with the players and I don’t know what purpose it serves if they are going to play like this!”

The Scores

Asia Cup Super Four, Pakistan v Bangladesh, National Stadium, Karachi, July 4, 2008.

Result: Pakistan won by 10 wickets.

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal c Younis b Abdur Rauf 26, Nazimuddin c Malik b Rauf 3, Md. Ashraful c Misbah b Rauf 14, Raqibul Hasan c Iftikhar b Tanvir 0, Mushfiqur (run out) 15, Kapali c Younis b Iftikhar 17, Mahmudullah c Misbah b Malik 11, Farhad Reza st. Sarfraz b Ajmal 3, Mortaza lbw b Iftikhar 1, Razzak b Ajmal 9, Shahadat (not out) 0. Extras (lb-4, w-11, nb-1): 16. Total (in 38.2 overs): 115.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-47, 3-48, 4-49, 5-73, 6-92, 7-99, 8-100, 9-113.

Pakistan bowling: Tanvir 7-0-31-1, Rauf 8-1-24-3, Iftikhar 10-6-20-2, Saeed Ajmal 8.2-0-19-2, Malik 5-0-17-1.

Pakistan: Salman Butt (not out) 56, Nasir Jamshed (not out) 52. Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-3): 8. Total (for no wkt. in 19.4 overs): 116.

Bangladesh bowling: Mortaza 3-0-9-0, Shahadat 7-1-40-0, Abdur Razzak 7-0-42-0, Mahmudullah 2-0-15-0, Farhad Reza 0.4-0-5-0.