ICC T20 World Cup 2016: Shahid Afridi stars in Pakistan's 55 run victory over Bangladesh
The second match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2016 was played between two of the sub-continent teams Pakistan and Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Pakistan won the match comprehensively by 55 runs as they were the better side in all the departments.
Afridi led from the front as Pakistan crossed the 200 run mark for the second time in T20Is
Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and opted to bat first in a flat Eden Gardens track, which perfectly suits stock players. Pakistan opened their innings with Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad and got off to a flying start.
Khan didn’t last long which brought Mohammad Hafeez on the crease. Shehzad and Hafeez then forged a good third-wicket partnership and built a good platform for the power hitters to exercise their hitting skills. Afridi led from the front with a brutal knock of 49 off just 19 balls with four fours and four massive maximums.
Shoaib Malik also played a good cameo of 15 as Pakistan crossed the 200 run mark for the second time in T20Is and finish with 201/5 in their allotted quota of 20 overs.
For Bangladesh, who fought hard for their place in the qualifiers after reaching the finals of the Asia Cup T20, this was a disappointing bowling performance. All the bowlers went for plenty apart from Sabbir Rahman, who surprisingly just bowled two overs despite picking up a wicket for just 11 runs. Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny picked up two wickets each.
In reply, Bangladesh endured an early set-back in the form of out-of-form batsman Soumya Sarkar. Sabbir Rahman continued his good work with the bat too but didn’t last for long. Opener Tamim Iqbal too failed to convert a steady start into a big score.
Bangladesh batsmen never looked in control chasing a required rate of more than 10 runs an over against a disciplined Pakistani bowling. Apart from Shakib Al Hasan other Bangladeshi batsmen lacked the tenacity. He played a valiant unbeaten knock scoring 50 off 40 balls.
Afridi shines again with the ball along with Mohammad Amir
It was a very good bowling performance by Pakistan led by their premium pacer Mohammad Amir and talismanic leader Shahid Afridi. Amir has been outstanding since his comeback to international cricket and once again he proves his worth by picking up an early wicket in the second ball of the innings.
Afridi shone again with the ball as he picked up two important wickets. Imad Wasim also chipped in with one wicket along with pacer Mohammad Irfan.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 201/5 (Hafeez 64, Shehzad 52: Taskin 2/32, Sunny 2/34); Bangladesh 146/6 (Shakib 50*, Rahman 25; Amir 2/27, Afridi 2/27)
Result: Pakistan won the match by 55 runs