Match 1 of Tri-Series: Pakistan Win Easily!

The first match of the tri-series hosted by Bangladesh started today with Pakistan taking the host. The match was reduced to 40 overs a side because of the rain.

Bangladesh never showed any fight in chasing the target of 234. In fact I started asking myself whether Bangladesh knew that they are playing an ODI game and not a test match. If they knew, whether they knew that they are playing a 40 over match.

Ashraful, the skipper scored 56 not out, but he too never showed any aggressiveness. They finished their innings at 163, losing the match by 70 runs.

Wahab Riaz and Afridi picked 3 wickets each and Umar Gul took 2.

Earlier, put into bat, Pakistan posted 233 on the board in 39.3 overs losing all their wickets. It was a challenging total, not impossible. Salman Butt scored 70 and Mohammad Yousuf scored 59. The slow bowlers in the middle of the innings curtailed Pakistan to a moderate target.

Match Details:

Trophy: Kitply Cup - Tri-Series in Bangladesh
Match #: 1
Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Date: June 8, 2008
Teams: Pakistan and Bangladesh
Captains: Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Ashraful
Toss: Bangladesh won the toss and decided to field
Result: Pakistan won by 70 runs
Man of the Match: Salman Butt of Pakistan
Score:

Pakistan 233 all out in 39.3 overs (Salman Butt 70, Kamran Akmal 25, Younis Khan 0, Mohammad Yousuf 59, Shahid Afridi 20, Shoaib Malik 9, Misbah-ul-Haq 39, Fawad Alam 2, Sohail Tanvir 2, Umar Gul 0 not out, Wahab Riaz 0, Extras--7 (lb 1, w 6), Mashrafe Mortaza 7-0-36-2, Shahadat Hossain 6-0-46-0, Dolar Mahmud 4-0-27-1, Abdur Razzak 7.3-0-35-3, Mahmudullah 7-0-39-0, Alok Kapali 8-0-49-3) beat Bangladesh 163 for 8 in 40 overs (Tamim Iqbal 29, Shahriar Nafees 9, Mohammad Ashraful 56 not out, Raqibul Hasan 8. Alok Kapali 0, Mushfiqur Rahim 15, Mahmudullah 7, Mashrafe Mortaza 0, Dolar Mahmud 0, Abdur Razzak 26 not out, Extras--13 (w 12, nb 1), Umar Gul 7-1-28-2, Sohail Tanvir 8-0-41-0, Wahab Riaz 7-2-22-3, Shahid Afridi 8-1-19-3, Fawad Alam 6-0-34-0, Salman Butt 3-0-19-0, Younis Khan 1-1-0-0)