Afridi breaks Tigers' hearts

A section of the crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur are seen with expressions of disbelief and disappointment after witnessing Bangladesh lose yet another close match, this time a Shahid Afridi-inspired thriller in their Asia Cup match against Pakistan yesterday. Photo: Star

 

A little less than two years ago, there was not a dry eye left at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium as Bangladesh lost a pulsating Asia Cup final by two cruel runs. Two years later, the same tournament and the same venue was witness to similar heartache, the only difference being that yesterday it was an astounding innings from Shahid Afridi that turned a near certain win for Bangladesh into Pakistan's highest ever chase in the space of 5.2 overs. In the process he confirmed Pakistan's place in the final against Sri Lanka.
When Afridi walked in at the fall of the fifth wicket, Pakistan needed 102 from 52 balls to overhaul Bangladesh's mammoth 326 for three, their highest score in ODIs. He hit two sixes off his first two balls from Mahmudullah Riyad and then in the next over, smoked three maximums off Shakib Al Hasan. As panic began to grip the home team, Afridi soared higher, hitting Shafiul Islam for two fours and a six in the 45th over.
Afridi did ride his luck – he was nearly bowled by Shakib in the next over but the ball seemed to brush the stumps without dislodging a bail. In the next over skipper Mushfiqur Rahim dropped a skier, and Afridi rubbed salt on the Tigers' wounds by hitting his next ball for a sublime six over fine leg. Shakib, returning to the national team after serving out a three-match ban, threw down the stumps from cover to run Afridi out for an amazing 25-ball 59 with two fours and seven sixes. Pakistan needed 33 off 19 then.
Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak however then made things easy for Pakistan as Fawad Alam carted two sixes to kill any hope Afridi's departure may have offered. Opener Ahmed Shehzad however gave the platform by making his fifth hundred (103) in his first game against the Tigers.
Earlier, putting aside all their on- and off-field controversies Bangladesh bounced back to post their highest score and it was near perfect batting from the Tigers' top order batsmen, led by Anamul Haque who anchored the innings with a steady hundred. Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan shredded Pakistan's attack with rapid half-centuries.
Early in the piece Pakistan suffered a unique blow as left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, who came on to bowl in the 11th over, was barred from bowling without delivering a legitimate ball. He bowled three consecutive full tosses above waist height -- the first two were to Imrul Kayes and the third to Anamul -- for dubious figures of 0-0-8-0 at which point umpire Johan Cloete had enough and took him off for the rest of the innings.
Bangladesh ended up with 326 for three, beating their previous best of 320 for eight against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2009. It was a rousing batting performance from the home side against the tournaments' best bowling attack.
Anamul's 132-ball innings ended on 100 but by then the score was 204 for two in the 40th over and the solid platform was brilliantly utilised by his senior teammates. Opening partner Imrul Kayes also deserves credit after the way he capitalised on his early life to build a 150-run opening stand, Bangladesh's second-highest for the wicket.
It was refreshing to see how the Bangladesh batsmen paced their innings. The early part of the innings was characterised by maturity with the batsmen checking their impulse to attack Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal. Anamul only hit the bad balls, and when he did he hit them powerfully, and Mominul and Mushfiqur's drives were a treat to watch. Interestingly, only Shakib Al Hasan made some slogs during his breathtaking 16-ball 44. In the end however, their batting mastery went in vain.