KARACHI: Unheralded all-rounder Fahim Ashraf pulled Pakistan out of the jaws of what would have been an embarrassing defeat with a stunning knock against Bangladesh at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Saturday.
Chasing a hefty target of 342 in their first warm-up game of the ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan looked uneasy during the best part of their innings. They slumped to 168-5 and were then gasping for air at 249-8 in the 43rd over. It seemed game over for the Pakistanis but the young duo of Fahim Ashraf and Hassan Ali took them past the finish line with an unbeaten partnership of 93 from just 41 balls to give Pakistan a thrilling two-wicket win. Fahim, who is yet to make his international debut, made an unbeaten 64 off 30 balls with four sixes and an equal number of fours. Hassan chipped in with 27 off 15 balls. Senior batsman Shoaib Malik top-scored with 72 while Imad Wasim (45) and Ahmed Shehzad (44) were the other main contributors for Pakistan.
Earlier, powered by a scintillating century from opener Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh posted a heavy duty total of 341/9 in 50 overs.
Opting to bat, Bangladesh took off well with Tamim and Soumya Sarkar. Though Sarkar was the more aggressive of the two, he perished for 19.
Tamim struck a fantastic 142-run partnership with Imrul Kayes (61) to give Bangladesh the platform to put up a big total. Both Kayes and Tamim scored at runa-a-ball with Kayes striking eight boundaries in his 62-ball knock.
Tamim had decided that he will play the anchor’s role and kept rotating the strike. But once Kayes got out, the left-hander upped the ante to hammer the Pakistani bowlers all over the ground.
Tamim ended up hitting nine boundaries and four massive sixes for his 93-ball 102 before getting out in the 34th over.
The Bangladeshi middle-order, however, did not lose the momentum with wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim (46), all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (23), Mahmudullah (29) and Mossadek Hossain (26) chipping in with valuable contributions which took the Bangladeshi total close to the 350-run mark.
Pakistani bowlers struggled throughout the innings. Though they picked up wickets at regular intervals towards the end, the damage had already been done.
Left-arm pacer Junaid Khan picked up wickets but also gave away 73 runs from his nine overs. Fast bowler Hasan Ali and leg-spinner Shadab Khan also scalped two wickets each.
Pakistan also gave away 21 extras which included as many as 16 wides.
Score Board
Bangladesh won toss
Pakistan won by 2 wickets
Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal c Junaid b Shadab 102
Soumya Sarkar c Babar b Junaid 19
Imrul Kayes lbw b Shadab 61
†Mushfiqur Rahim c Shoaib b Junaid 46
Shakib Al Hasan c Shadab b Hasan 23
Mahmudullah c Shoaib b Hasan 29
Mosaddek Hossain c Azhar b Junaid 26
Mehedi Hasan Miraz run out 13
*Mashrafe Mortaza c Fahim b Junaid 1
Sunzamul Islam not out 0
Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 16, nb 2) 21
Total (9 wickets; 50 overs) 341
Did not bat: Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Taskin Ahmed
Fall: 1-27, 2-169, 3-219, 4-247, 5-296, 6-302, 7-331, 8-338, 9-341
Bowling: Junaid 9-0-73-4 (1w); Hasan 10-0-58-2; Fahim 6-0-35-0 (1w); Wahab 9-0-68-0 (2nb, 4w); Hafeez 3-0-11-0; Shadab 9-0-55-2 (5w); Imad 4-0-38-0 (1w)
Pakistan
Azhar Ali c Mushfiqur b Taskin 8
Ahmed Shehzad b Shakib 44
Babar Azam c Mushfiqur b Mashrafe 1
M Hafeez c Imrul b Shafiul 49
Shoaib Malik c Imrul b Mehedi 72
*†Sarfraz Ahmed c Sunzamul b Mosaddek 5
Imad Wasim c Mosaddek b Mehedi 45
Shadab Khan run out 7
Fahim Ashraf not out 64
Hasan Ali not out 27
Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 13, nb 1) 20
Total (8 wickets; 49.3 overs) 342
Did not bat: Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Junaid Khan, M Amir
Fall: 1-14, 2-19, 3-78, 4-157, 5-168, 6-227, 7-242, 8-249
Bowling: Mashrafe 9.3-0-68-1 (2w); Taskin 9-0-80-1 (3w); Shafiul 7-0-46-1 (1w); Soumya 5-0-25-0; Shakib 6-0-41-1 (1w); Sunzamul 3-0-17-0; Mosaddek 6-0-29-1 (2w); Mehedi 4-0-30-2 (1nb)
Players per side: 15
Umpires: R A Kettleborough and P R Reiffel (Australia). Match referee: B C Broad
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