GROS ISLET, May 2, 2010 (Crickettomorrow.com) - Boom boom Afridi had his thinking cap on in the very first match of Group A of ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2010 against Bangladesh. He gambled with temperamental Sami instead of reliable and accurate Mohammed Asif. Sami choked Bangladesh avalanche to overhaul a not too steep target of 174 removing flamboyant Shakib at the business session and added two more in the final burst. Bangladesh was well on course with two of their world class performers Ashraful and Shakib playing fluently in the middle overs. At the end, efforts of Sami and Aaamer put paid to Tigers efforts and Champion Pakistan pulled off a 21 runs victory.
Non-resident Bangladeshis from all over the globe Australia and New Zealand at very early morning, USA and Canada in the evening, Middle East at early night were witnessing the game live. All were so excited that frequent mails were exchanged. We all were ambitious and were hoping against hope. We were not disappointed. Bangladesh batted exceptionally well against high quality Pakistan attack. Tigers went down fighting. If the bowling could be a bit tighter in the beginning the match could be more competitive.
Pakistani openers Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal set the tone with fascinating stroke play creating dents in tiger approach. Batting on the sluggish pitch was not easy. Yet both the openers took several classy strokes. Butt played a classic innings of 73 while Akmal’s innings of 73 had some agricultural whacks. The pair put on 142 in 16 overs and was looking set to post 200+. Bangladesh captain Shakib put brakes at the right stage. He removed well set Akmal. Teenager Shafiul also knock out Butt at this stage. Three quick wickets checked the flood gate. Pakistan could add only 30 runs in the last 4 overs despite of having launching pad and men like Razzak and Misbah at the wicket. 172/3 in the circumstance was a difficult to chase target but not beyond tigers limit. Salman scored 73 and Akmal with stroke rate of 158 made the same score of 73. Among Bangladeshi bowlers only Shakib and Shafiul looked impressive. Experienced Mashrafee and Abdur Razzak were taken to all parts of the ground.
Bangladesh opened with apparently half fit Tamim and Kayes. They had to start with a bang. But teenager Aamer is not a bowler to mess around. He struck in his very first over removing in-form Kayes with a good catch of Misbah. Bangladeshi little master Ashraful choose the right occasion to rain in the draught. He was horribly out of touch for almost a year both in international and domestic engagements in all forms of the game. But on the day he rediscovered his sweet soothing touch that makes the difference between ordinary and exceptional players. Tamim sparkle was short lived. But Ashraful joined by his skipper Shakib raised the tiger hopes with brilliant display of power hitting. In 10 overs two young tigers scratched Pakistan back with sharp claws. 91 runs were added in 59 deliveries. A great upset was on the crab when Afridi brought back Sami for his final burst. When Shakib got out Tigers lost rhyme. Pakistan kept nerves. Bangladesh lost their way when Ashraful was also removed by Aaamer. Bangladesh lost the match by 21 runs. Sami and Aamer shared 5 of the 7 wickets proving again Bangladesh weakness to genuine fast bowling which Aussies may also love to exploit in the next match.
However, Tigers had lot of positives in the match. All expect that it was not a one off for talented Ashraful. If Ashraful remains like what he really is Bangladesh can not be ruled out in any shorter version of the game. Shakib had excellent all round performance. At Barbados Tigers must add Rubel in place of Razzak. Abdur Razzak in fast track of Barbados will be clubbed by Warner and Watson.
Champion Pakistan looked a little jittery. But with so many T20 specialists they look well on course. They fielded well for a change. Opening bowlers and batsmen dazzled. Most of the fire power remained in arsenal for other matches. Afridi proved what Pakistan needs. He did not deliver with his batting or bowling. But he was right in preferring Sami over Asif for the match. He came at number three and brought Razzak at four. An intelligent captaincy from Shahid Afridi. This is what Pakistan lacked in recent times.
Match today will be an exciting encounter. Pakistan and Australia are two of the most potent sides of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2010.
World Twenty20 results, standings and fixtures on Saturday:
Group A
Pakistan 172-3, 20 overs (K Akmal 73, S Butt 73) v Bangladesh 151-7, 20 overs (M Ashraful 65; M Sami 3-29)
Pakistan won by 21 runs
Group C
Afghanistan 115-8, 20 overs (Noor Ali 50; A Nehra 3-19) v India 116-3, 14.5 overs
India won by seven wickets
Standings (played, won, lost, tied, no result, points, net run rate)
Group A
Pakistan 1 1 0 0 0 2 +1.050
Bangladesh 1 0 1 0 0 0 -1.050
Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------
Group B
New Zealand 1 1 0 0 0 2 +0.258
Sri Lanka 1 0 1 0 0 0 -0.258
Zimbabwe 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------
Group C
India 1 1 0 0 0 2 +2.070
Afghanistan 1 0 1 0 0 0 -2.070
South Africa 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------
Group D
West Indies 1 1 0 0 0 2 +3.500
Ireland 1 0 1 0 0 0 -3.500
England 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------
PREVIOUS RESULTS
Friday, April 30
Group B
Sri Lanka 135-6, 20 overs (M Jayawardene 81) v New Zealand 139-8, 19.5 overs
New Zealand won by two wickets
Group D
West Indies 138-9, 20 overs (G Dockrell 3-16) v Ireland 68, 16.4 overs (D Sammy 3-8, R Rampaul 3-17)
May 2, 2010, 6:51 am
