After restricting Pakistan to a below par score, Bangladesh had high hopes of lifting the cup, but Pakistan held their nerves to clinch a thriller. Shakib’s efforts went in vein as Bangladesh fell short by just 2 runs.
Match Report: Final, Bangladesh vs Pakistan, Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, 22 March 2012 D/N
Pakistan brought back their regular keeper Sarfraz Ahmed at the expense of Wahab Riaz. Bangladesh, on the other hand, had an unchanged team. With loud cheers of the crowd behind him, Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and gleefully asked Pakistan to bat first. First job, winning the toss and fielding first, was done and second, restricting Pakistan to a convenient total, was on their hands now.
Pakistan lost in-form Nasir Jamshed cheaply. He looked in good touch after hitting two crispy fours. The other opener Mohammad Hafeez was surprisingly quite subdued despite having cracked an attractive hundred against India the other day. Younis Khan was unlucky to be given out LBW, but the wicket meant Bangladesh were on top early in the match.
Misbah came next and in company with Hafeez opted for the safety first approach. Misbah ran himself out at the score of 55 in the 14th over, putting extra pressure on the young middle order. The pressure grew enormous when Hafeez too departed after a laborious innings of 40 off 87 balls. He got out while trying to release the pressure, put by his own approach as well as tight Bangladeshi bowling, but hit straight to Nazmul Hossain. At 70 for 4, Pakistan had two young guns in Umar Akmal and Hammad Azam at the crease.
Both played well and put on 59 runs in just under 12 overs to bring Pakistan back into contention. They rotated the strike efficiently and hit boundaries here and there as well. Hammad played well on the back foot, hitting a pulled-six off Shahadat Hossain to get off the mark. Umar decided to play the anchor role and took his time while Hammad played his shots. But Umar did not let a loose ball from Shakib go by easily, as he promptly thumped a long hop from Shakib over the ropes.
It was Shakib, quite predictably, who broke the crucial partnership. Hammad tried to slog sweep a fuller delivery but the ball went high in the air for the bowler to take it comfortably. He made 30 in 37 balls. Pakistan had lost half the team at 127 with 17 overs to play. Afridi came in and looked in good touch straight away but lost Akmal (30 off 45) who given out down the leg side off the bowling of Mahmudullah, an atrocious decision which left the batsman fuming.
Afridi hit a six and fours but Sarfraz, who played a maiden over in the BPP, was stuck in his crease initially which partly led to Afridi’s dismissal. After leading Pakistan’s surge in the powerplay, in which 36 runs were collected, he holed out to Nasir at long off who took a stunner running forward. Afridi’s innings of 33 in 22 balls with 4 fours and a six infused much-needed impetus into Pakistan innings which was carried forward by Sarfraz.
In company with tail-ender, Sarfraz batted sensibly, hitting an odd boundary, to carry Pakistan beyond 230. Last over from Shahadat, surprisingly chosen ahead of Nazmul, cost the hosts 19 runs which meant they faced a reasonably competitive target of 237. Last wicket pair of Sarfraz and Aizaz Cheema added crucial 30 runs in 4 overs to lift an otherwise disappointing batting show by Pakistan. Sarfraz remained the top scorer with 46 runs (off 52 balls with 4 fours). For the hosts, Abdur Razzak was the best bowler with 2 for 26, while Shakib took 2 for 39.
Bangladesh started well in pursuit of the target. After a cautious start, Tamim Iqbal came hard on Umar Gul, hitting him for 2 fours in his two successive overs. Pakistan spinners, Saeed Ajmal and M Hafeez, put the breaks on scoring as Bangladesh crawled to 100 in 30 overs. In the process they lost well-set Tamim, for 60 off 68 balls with 8 crunchy fours, and Nazimuddin, who was the man responsible for the sluggishness with his 52-ball 16. Nazimuddin survived twice, first reprieved by umpire when a plum LBW against Ajmal was turned down, and then was dropped by Hammad off Aizaz, a tough chance though.
Afridi and Ajmal struck in succession to peg back Bangladesh, both catches taken superbly by Younis. Nazimuddin and Jahurul Islam were the men to depart. Younis Khan took another brilliant catch, this time to dismiss Tamim which brought Shakib Al Hasan on to bat. Umar Gul was the taker of that crucial scalp. The pair that had carried Bangladesh to victories in the tournament so far, Shakib and Nasir Hossain, was on the crease, with Bangladesh 83 for 3.
Both played themselves in before unleashing their strokes, but not before the asking rate had crept up quietly over 7 an over, thanks to good bowling and fielding by Pakistan. Afridi bowled miserly, giving away just 28 runs in his 10 overs. Shakib took some leverage against Hammad but largely he waited for the opportune moment before he could launch the assault. The moment should have come in the batting powerplay (BPP) but Pakistan just conceded 21 runs in that period.
Bangladesh needed 84 runs in the last 10 overs with the pair well set, and 7 wickets remaining. Shakib then opened his arms, hitting Gul for crunchy 4 and a stunning 6 to Cheema. Gul ended the stubborn stand of 89 between the two, when his miscued pull was taken by Misbah. He made 28 but took 63 balls hitting only a solitary four. His failure to rotate the strike put extra burden on Shakib who held the key for Bangladesh. Asking rate was still near 9 when Pakistan got rid of the danger man, Shakib.
Shakib missed the attempted paddle scoop and got cleaned up, giving Cheema a moment to celebrate. His magnificent innings of 68 off just 72 balls with 7 fours and a six had brought his team close, but Pakistan were still favourites. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who played a blinder to win for his team against India, and Mashrafe Mortaza, had a tough but not impossible task to take their team home. They needed 56 runs from the last 6 overs.
Mushfiq failed to repeat his heroics this time, as he was caught in the deep by Nasir. Cheema was the bowler again. With 39 needed from 4 overs, Bangladesh looked second favourites. But Mortaza had other ideas. He hit Gul for two successive fours, after bowler had conceded a boundary to Mahmudullah in the same over. Gul’s over cost 14 runs and the asking rate was brought down to 8.33.
Ajmal removed Mortaza in the next over to ease things for Pakistan a little bit. Gul bowled a no ball in the penultimate over, with 19 needed off the last two, but it did not prove costly although he went for 10 runs. Bangladesh were 9 runs away from glory when Cheema ran in to bowl the last over. With every ball, pressure mounted on the hosts as it came down to last ball when Cheema bowled Abdur Razzak with a cunning slower ball on the penultimate ball. Shahadat could not write his name in history books when he failed to connect cleanly, giving Pakistan their second Asia Cup title.
It was a fitting end to an amazing tournament in which several upsets occurred at the hands of Bangladesh, the hosts. After giving Pakistan a close run in the first match, they beat India and Sri Lanka to storm into the final where they came close to lifting their first ever major trophy.
It was painful to see Bangladesh players and spectators in tears, but the win proved that Bangladesh have finally arrived at the world stage. Pakistan, after losing to arch rivals India, got the consolation of becoming the Asian champions.
Summarised Scores:
Pakistan 236/9 (Sarfraz 46*, Hafeez 40; Abdur Razzak 2/26) beat Bangladesh (Shakib Al Hasan 68, Tamim Iqbal 60; Saeed Ajmal 2/40, Aizaz Cheema 3/46) by 2 runs to lift the Asia Cup
Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi
Man of the Series: Shakib Al Hasan
Credit: AFP (Image)
Match Report: Final, Bangladesh vs Pakistan, Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, 22 March 2012 D/N
Pakistan brought back their regular keeper Sarfraz Ahmed at the expense of Wahab Riaz. Bangladesh, on the other hand, had an unchanged team. With loud cheers of the crowd behind him, Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and gleefully asked Pakistan to bat first. First job, winning the toss and fielding first, was done and second, restricting Pakistan to a convenient total, was on their hands now.
Pakistan lost in-form Nasir Jamshed cheaply. He looked in good touch after hitting two crispy fours. The other opener Mohammad Hafeez was surprisingly quite subdued despite having cracked an attractive hundred against India the other day. Younis Khan was unlucky to be given out LBW, but the wicket meant Bangladesh were on top early in the match.
Misbah came next and in company with Hafeez opted for the safety first approach. Misbah ran himself out at the score of 55 in the 14th over, putting extra pressure on the young middle order. The pressure grew enormous when Hafeez too departed after a laborious innings of 40 off 87 balls. He got out while trying to release the pressure, put by his own approach as well as tight Bangladeshi bowling, but hit straight to Nazmul Hossain. At 70 for 4, Pakistan had two young guns in Umar Akmal and Hammad Azam at the crease.
Both played well and put on 59 runs in just under 12 overs to bring Pakistan back into contention. They rotated the strike efficiently and hit boundaries here and there as well. Hammad played well on the back foot, hitting a pulled-six off Shahadat Hossain to get off the mark. Umar decided to play the anchor role and took his time while Hammad played his shots. But Umar did not let a loose ball from Shakib go by easily, as he promptly thumped a long hop from Shakib over the ropes.
It was Shakib, quite predictably, who broke the crucial partnership. Hammad tried to slog sweep a fuller delivery but the ball went high in the air for the bowler to take it comfortably. He made 30 in 37 balls. Pakistan had lost half the team at 127 with 17 overs to play. Afridi came in and looked in good touch straight away but lost Akmal (30 off 45) who given out down the leg side off the bowling of Mahmudullah, an atrocious decision which left the batsman fuming.
Afridi hit a six and fours but Sarfraz, who played a maiden over in the BPP, was stuck in his crease initially which partly led to Afridi’s dismissal. After leading Pakistan’s surge in the powerplay, in which 36 runs were collected, he holed out to Nasir at long off who took a stunner running forward. Afridi’s innings of 33 in 22 balls with 4 fours and a six infused much-needed impetus into Pakistan innings which was carried forward by Sarfraz.
In company with tail-ender, Sarfraz batted sensibly, hitting an odd boundary, to carry Pakistan beyond 230. Last over from Shahadat, surprisingly chosen ahead of Nazmul, cost the hosts 19 runs which meant they faced a reasonably competitive target of 237. Last wicket pair of Sarfraz and Aizaz Cheema added crucial 30 runs in 4 overs to lift an otherwise disappointing batting show by Pakistan. Sarfraz remained the top scorer with 46 runs (off 52 balls with 4 fours). For the hosts, Abdur Razzak was the best bowler with 2 for 26, while Shakib took 2 for 39.
Bangladesh started well in pursuit of the target. After a cautious start, Tamim Iqbal came hard on Umar Gul, hitting him for 2 fours in his two successive overs. Pakistan spinners, Saeed Ajmal and M Hafeez, put the breaks on scoring as Bangladesh crawled to 100 in 30 overs. In the process they lost well-set Tamim, for 60 off 68 balls with 8 crunchy fours, and Nazimuddin, who was the man responsible for the sluggishness with his 52-ball 16. Nazimuddin survived twice, first reprieved by umpire when a plum LBW against Ajmal was turned down, and then was dropped by Hammad off Aizaz, a tough chance though.
Afridi and Ajmal struck in succession to peg back Bangladesh, both catches taken superbly by Younis. Nazimuddin and Jahurul Islam were the men to depart. Younis Khan took another brilliant catch, this time to dismiss Tamim which brought Shakib Al Hasan on to bat. Umar Gul was the taker of that crucial scalp. The pair that had carried Bangladesh to victories in the tournament so far, Shakib and Nasir Hossain, was on the crease, with Bangladesh 83 for 3.
Both played themselves in before unleashing their strokes, but not before the asking rate had crept up quietly over 7 an over, thanks to good bowling and fielding by Pakistan. Afridi bowled miserly, giving away just 28 runs in his 10 overs. Shakib took some leverage against Hammad but largely he waited for the opportune moment before he could launch the assault. The moment should have come in the batting powerplay (BPP) but Pakistan just conceded 21 runs in that period.
Bangladesh needed 84 runs in the last 10 overs with the pair well set, and 7 wickets remaining. Shakib then opened his arms, hitting Gul for crunchy 4 and a stunning 6 to Cheema. Gul ended the stubborn stand of 89 between the two, when his miscued pull was taken by Misbah. He made 28 but took 63 balls hitting only a solitary four. His failure to rotate the strike put extra burden on Shakib who held the key for Bangladesh. Asking rate was still near 9 when Pakistan got rid of the danger man, Shakib.
Shakib missed the attempted paddle scoop and got cleaned up, giving Cheema a moment to celebrate. His magnificent innings of 68 off just 72 balls with 7 fours and a six had brought his team close, but Pakistan were still favourites. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who played a blinder to win for his team against India, and Mashrafe Mortaza, had a tough but not impossible task to take their team home. They needed 56 runs from the last 6 overs.
Mushfiq failed to repeat his heroics this time, as he was caught in the deep by Nasir. Cheema was the bowler again. With 39 needed from 4 overs, Bangladesh looked second favourites. But Mortaza had other ideas. He hit Gul for two successive fours, after bowler had conceded a boundary to Mahmudullah in the same over. Gul’s over cost 14 runs and the asking rate was brought down to 8.33.
Ajmal removed Mortaza in the next over to ease things for Pakistan a little bit. Gul bowled a no ball in the penultimate over, with 19 needed off the last two, but it did not prove costly although he went for 10 runs. Bangladesh were 9 runs away from glory when Cheema ran in to bowl the last over. With every ball, pressure mounted on the hosts as it came down to last ball when Cheema bowled Abdur Razzak with a cunning slower ball on the penultimate ball. Shahadat could not write his name in history books when he failed to connect cleanly, giving Pakistan their second Asia Cup title.
It was a fitting end to an amazing tournament in which several upsets occurred at the hands of Bangladesh, the hosts. After giving Pakistan a close run in the first match, they beat India and Sri Lanka to storm into the final where they came close to lifting their first ever major trophy.
It was painful to see Bangladesh players and spectators in tears, but the win proved that Bangladesh have finally arrived at the world stage. Pakistan, after losing to arch rivals India, got the consolation of becoming the Asian champions.
Summarised Scores:
Pakistan 236/9 (Sarfraz 46*, Hafeez 40; Abdur Razzak 2/26) beat Bangladesh (Shakib Al Hasan 68, Tamim Iqbal 60; Saeed Ajmal 2/40, Aizaz Cheema 3/46) by 2 runs to lift the Asia Cup
Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi
Man of the Series: Shakib Al Hasan
Credit: AFP (Image)
Published in SP on 3/3/12
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