Bangladesh v Pakistan, Asia Cup, Mirpur

Afridi strikes keep Pakistan in front

75 overs Bangladesh 113 for 3 (Tamim 50*, Shakib 5*) need another 150 runs to beat Pakistan 262 for 8 (Hafeez 89, Jamshed 54, Shahadat 3-53)

	Jahurul Islam was bowled by Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi lasted one delivery with the bat but struck in successive overs to leave the new cautious avatar of Tamim Iqbal and the Bangladesh middle order with a climbing asking-rate. The hosts' chase was on course at 90 for 1 in the 21st over when Afridi bowled Jahurul Islam and Mushfiqur Rahim in the space of five deliveries as Pakistan edged ahead at the halfway stage of the Bangladesh innings.

Till Afridi's strikes, Bangladesh would have had Misbah-ul-Haq worried with the planned manner in which they went about the chase. With Tamim clearly looking to anchor the innings, Nazimuddin and Jahurul did the attacking.

Nazimuddin drove and flicked with gusto, and hit Umar Gul out of the attack. Fourteen runs came off Gul's fourth over, the eighth of the innings, as Nazimuddin smashed a couple of fours on either side of a superbly timed flick that sailed over deep square leg for six. Jahurul kept the runs coming after Nazimuddin's departure.

Both batsmen were well-set when they gave away their wickets. Nazimuddin slashed a wide delivery to third man while Jahurul was bowled as he missed a slog off a flighted Afridi delivery. Afridi dealt a bigger blow to Bangladesh when he bowled Rahim who tried to cut his faster one.

At the other end, Tamim went on accumulating serenely, finding the boundary every now and then to keep the required-rate in check. He got to his fifty off his 75th delivery, and the landmark brought a prolonged pointing of his bat towards someone in the stands. Tamim's eventual selection for the Asia Cup had come after a tussle between the chief selector and the Bangladesh board president. Not only was Tamim proving a point with his innings, he was also keeping Bangladesh in the hunt.

50 overs Pakistan 262 for 8 (Hafeez 89, Jamshed 54, Shahadat 3-53) v Bangladesh

	Mohammad Hafeez put his lean run against England behind him with a patient half-century

Pakistan's batting crumbled without warning or justification, but their openers had laid so solid a platform that even a collapse of 7 for 63 could not prevent them from setting Bangladesh a challenging target on a slow Mirpur surface.

Pakistan's innings could be summed up as accumulation, panic and aggression. After Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed put on 135 at close to five runs an over, Shahadat Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan brought Bangladesh back with a flurry of wickets. It was now Pakistan's turn to hit back from 198 for 7. Umar Gul smashed a quick 39 at No. 9 to lift his side to 262, which is far more than what Bangladesh have managed to chase in a day-night game in Mirpur in the past.

Hafeez and Jamshed were scarcely bothered by the Bangladesh bowling after Mushfiqur Rahim asked Pakistan to bat. As it often happens, a run-out was needed to break the big opening partnership. As it does not often happen, batsman after batsman suddenly found ways to implode.

In a sign of what lay in store for Bangladesh, Younis Khan succumbed to a leading edge off Shahadat after playing his flick early. Shahadat, who had been average till then, immediately found some menace and produced two sharp bouncers to lure Hafeez and Asad Shafiq into fatal pulls.

Umar Akmal, never one to change his hit-everything style, slog-swept his wicket away to Shakib, who was to get more reward for being the bowler who troubled Pakistan the most. Shahid Afridi did not get the time to display his brand of hit-everything, as he bunted a return catch to Shakib first ball. Drama has a way of somehow squeezing itself into everything Afridi is involved in. Shakib fumbled the catch on the first attempt, prevented the ball from touching the ground on the second, lobbed it up into Misbah-ul-Haq's helmet and still had enough balance left to take the rebound on the third attempt. Misbah himself did not get the opportunity to use his crisis-recovery skills as he was soon bowled through the gate.

It was left to Gul to show that his ODI batting average of 9.28 did not reflect his flicking and pulling capabilities. After his lone counterattack, he walked back with his highest ODI score, having taken 16 runs off a Mashrafe Mortaza over, the 49th.

Pakistan would have never thought that they would need Gul to bail them out after the start given by Hafeez and Jamshed. Hafeez put his lean run against England behind him with a patient knock - his first fifty in ODIs in four months - and along with his latest opening partner, Jamshed, gave Pakistan a strong start to their Asia Cup campaign. Jamshed, whose last game for Pakistan was in August 2009, justified his selection ahead of Azhar Ali with a busy innings that afforded Hafeez the space to overcome his scratchy beginning.

Shakib had said in the lead-up to the tournament that Bangladesh's target was to win the Asia Cup. The former captain backed up his words in the field and troubled Pakistan's openers the most. Shakib apart, though, Bangladesh's attack was steady at best and allowed a visibly struggling Hafeez to work himself into some form.

Hafeez's footwork was non-existent at the start; he played away from his body and needed 12 deliveries to get off the mark. Mortaza, back in the national side for the first time since the Australia series in April 2011, kept Pakistan in check. Bowling with a slightly changed action that made him fall away in his delivery stride, Mortaza got some nip and bowled with control.

Pakistan had managed 17 off the first seven overs before Jamshed, who favoured the on side, swung Shafiul Islam past short fine leg for four. Hafeez found his timing in the same over when he whipped Shafiul from outside off between mid-on and midwicket.

Shakib came on in the tenth over and immediately bothered Hafeez. A drive fell just in front of short extra cover. Three deliveries later, an appeal for a catch at slip was turned down as Hafeez advanced down the pitch to defend.

That was as close as Bangladesh came to breaking the stand. As Hafeez and Jamshed brought up their fifties, Bangladesh's decision to bowl on the flat pitch seemed set to hurt them further, until Jamshed's slow response to a call for a single gave them an opening. They barged into it whole-heartedly, but would not have accounted for Gul the batsman.