Hafeez, Shehzad hammer fifties as Green-shirts begin
World T20 campaign with 55-run triumph
KOLKATA: When Pakistan landed in India for the ICC World Twenty20 championship last week after their catastrophic showing in the preceding Asia Cup, many rejected them as one of the weaker teams in the ten-nation contest.
The underdog tag was well-deserved as the 2009 World T20 champions seemed to have lost their Midas touch in recent years and were even struggling against minnows like UAE in the shortest format of the game.
But it took just 20 overs of authoritative batting in front of a sizeable Eden Gardens on Wednesday afternoon for Pakistan to shed that tag and underline their status as one of the serious contenders for a semi-final place from Group 2, which many see as the pool of death.
In the process, Pakistan steamrolled Bangladesh by 55 runs after posting 201-5 on what was a good batting track.
For a change Pakistan’s heroes came from the top of the order but the man who made the real difference was the one whom many consider as the most divisive figures in Pakistan cricket.
Shahid Afridi is loved and hated in equal measure by Pakistan fans. Pakistan’s embattled captain took the field in his team’s World Twenty20 opener on the back of what has been quite a losing streak. In addition, his personal form had been disastrous, to say the least. Afridi’s “love more in India” comments had also ignited a storm in Pakistan.
But almost always when the chips are really, really down Afridi somehow stands up and deliver.
He all but finished off Bangladesh with a 19-ball 49 and then took two key wickets to shepherd Pakistan to a much-needed victory, just two days before their all-important game of the tournament — a mouth-watering clash against old foes India — at Eden Gardens on Saturday.
“I was keen to perform well for my country in this event. It’s a big event as captain, as a senior player, I had to lead by example,” he said after the match.
“I love to give chance to my batsmen but sometimes you need some extra efforts (from captain) in these types of events.”
Pakistan’s batting line-up, which had misfired frequently in recent matches, finally came together on Wednesday. Fifties from Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez, helped propel Pakistan to 201 for 5, a total which proved too steep for a side that had beaten them in their last two T20I encounters. This was only the second time Pakistan scored more than 200 in a T20 international, and the previous instance — in April 2008 — was also against Bangladesh.
Pakistan lost opener Sharjeel Khan (18) cheaply but Mohammad Hafeez (64) and Ahmed Shehzad (52) added 95 runs in 11.2 overs to lay the foundation for the team’s only second 200-plus total in this format.
Shahzad — included in the squad in place of Khurram Manzoor after a disappointing Asia Cup — was a treat to watch, with his crisp drives and handsome lofts. At the other end, Hafeez did justice to his nickname, ‘the Professor’, reading the bowlers well and stepping out expertly to negate the spinners. The two were also excellent between the wickets. The boundaries continued to flow from both willows, and when receiving good deliveries, they put away the singles.
The 100-mark was crossed in just 11.2 overs. Shahzad brought up his half-century in just 35 balls. With wickets in hand and plenty of runs already on board, the batsmen had licence to attack. Shahzad fell attempting to do so, a helicopter shot off Sabbir Rahman going straight to deep midwicket.
Afridi had been worried about Pakistan’s batting inconsistency and mentioned it at the toss but the all-rounder had no reasons to complain on Wednesday as the top order fired in unison.
After Shehzad’s dismissal, Afridi promoted himself in the batting order and clobbered four sixes in a typically entertaining knock.
Hafeez fell to a stunning catch by Soumya Sarkar in the deep, the overbalancing fielder throwing the ball up before crossing the rope and hopping back in time to complete the catch.
Bangladesh’s left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny, who was reported for a suspect bowling action earlier in the tournament, claimed 2-34 but it was otherwise a forgettable outing for their bowling attack.
Bangladesh needed a strong start to chase down such a big target but Mohammad Amir (2-27) sent Sarkar’s off-stump cartwheeling in the first over before Afridi’s double strikes reduced the qualifiers to 58-3 in eight overs.
Down the order, Shakib Al Hasan remained not out on 50 but the target proved too much for Bangladesh’s limited batting resources.
Score Board
Pakistan won toss
Pakistan
Sharjeel Khan b Arafat 18
Ahmed Shehzad c Mahmudullah b Sabbir 52
M Hafeez c Soumya b Arafat 64
*Shahid Afridi c Mahmudullah b Taskin 49
Umar Akmal c Shakib b Taskin 0
Shoaib Malik not out 15
Imad Wasim not out 0
Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 1) 3
Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 201
Did not bat: †Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, M Amir, M Irfan
Fall: 1-26, 2-121, 3-163, 4-175, 5-198
Bowling: Taskin 4-0-32-2; Al-Amin 3-0-43-0; Arafat 4-0-34-2; Shakib 4-0-39-0 (1w); Mashrafe 3-0-41-0 (1nb); Sabbir 2-0-11-1
Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal c Imad b Shahid 24
Soumya Sarkar b Amir 0
Sabbir Rahman b Shahid 25
Shakib Al Hasan not out 50
Mahmudullah c Sharjeel b Imad 4
†Mushfiqur Rahim c Sarfraz b Amir 18
M Mithun c Amir b Irfan 2
*Mashrafe Mortaza not out 15
Extras (lb 4, w 4) 8
Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 146
Did not bat: Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taskin Ahmed
Fall: 1-1, 2-44, 3-58, 4-71, 5-110, 6-117
Bowling: Amir 4-0-27-2 (2w); Irfan 4-0-30-1 (1w); Wahab 4-0-31-0; Shahid 4-0-27-2; Shoaib 2-0-14-0 (1w); Imad 2-0-13-1
Result: Pakistan won by 55 runs
Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
Umpires: I J Gould (England) and R A Kettleborough (England). TV umpire: J S Wilson (West Indies). Match referee: B C Broad (England)