Tigers fall short despite Nasir century

Cricket365
December 3, 2011

The second ODI between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Dhaka was a bittersweet affair for Nasir Hossain as his maiden century wasn't enough to help his team to victory.

The 20-year-old Nasir, playing in only his ninth ODI for his country, hit 100 from 134 balls but the Tigers still fell short by 76 runs in the end.

Nasir's score was more than half of the Tigers' total of 186 for seven in their 50 overs. Bangladesh's batsmen struggled against the disciplined bowling from Pakistan. All-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan (34) and Mahmudullah (20) were the only other two batsmen who made it into double figures.

Bangladesh slumped to 19 for four as fast bowler Umar Gul removed the out-of-form Tamim Iqbal and captain Mushfiqur Rahim, and spinner Mohammed Hafeez got rid of the recalled Imrul Kayes and Shahriar Nafees.

A 106-run stand between Nasir and Shakib gave the hosts a glimmer of hope but any chance of a comeback win went out of the window when the latter gave Saeed Ajmal an easy return catch.

Mahmudullah also dug in for Bangladesh, but it the stand was just long enough to see Nasir to his maiden century, which included one six and 11 fours, in the final over.

He departed for exactly 100 after hitting Gul straight to third man. Gul made it two wickets in two balls and finished with a match haul of four for 36 as he bowled Abdur Razzak with the penultimate ball of the game.

Earlier, Umar Akmal hit a half-century and Shahid Afridi made a whirlwind 42 at Pakistan posted 262 for seven. It was an all too familiar story for Pakistan though as several of their batsmen made decent starts but failed to kick on.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the visitors lost Imran Fahrat in the third over after he cut Shafiul Islam to backward point.

Mohammad Hafeez (32) and Younis Khan (37) shared a half-century stand before they departed fairly soon after each other with Rubel Hossain removing Hafeez and spinner Abdul Razzak trapping the former Pakistan captain lbw.

That brought captain Misbah-ul-Haq (37) and Akmal to the crease and they put Pakistan on course for decent score with an 83-run stand, but they also failed to capitilise. Akmal made 59 from 54 balls before he holed out to long-on while Misbah became Bangladesh debutant Elias Sunny's first ODI wicket when he skied it down the throat of long-on.

Afridi, fresh from match-winning performance in the second ODI, smashed two sixes and three fours in his 27-ball 42 to push Pakistan past the 250-run mark. His cameo came to an end when he skied Shafiul to short point.

Pakistan now lead the two-match series 2-0 with and the final ODi takes place in Chittagong on Tuesday.