Once again, Pakistan pacers ran riot with the new ball in Asia Cup 2023. Bangladesh's top-order could not do much against the troika of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf as Bangladesh were reduced to 47/4, a similar situation India found themselves in last week. Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim came to their rescue and shared a 108-run partnership for the fifth wicket. The partnership helped Bangladesh’s veteran duo achieve a feat that belonged to MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
This was Shakib and Rahim’s fifth 100-plus partnership for the fifth wicket or lower. Before them, Dhoni and Yuvraj had shared five 100-plus partnerships in ODIs as well. The feat is only bettered by Dhoni and Suresh Raina who have six such partnerships.
Shakib and Mushfiqur were cautious against the pacers. Shakib got a reprieve when he was batting on 32. The leading edge was dropped by Naseem off his own bowling. The skipper was more attacking and reached his half-century from 53 balls. However, he attempted a pull shot off Faheem Ashraf that landed in Fakhar Zaman's hands. He scored 53 runs from 57 balls including seven fours.
Meanwhile, Mushfiqur reached the top five of all-time Asia Cup run-scorers. He surpassed Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga (741 runs) and Pakistan's Shoaib Malik (786 runs) on the list. He is only behind Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on the list among current players. Rohit has scored 830 runs from 23 innings at an average of 48.82 including one century and seven half-centuries.
The 36-year-old scored 64 runs from 87 balls including five fours. He lost his wicket to Rauf in the 38th over of the innings. After Rahim, the lower order could not last long against Pakistan pacers as Bangladesh were bowled out for 193 in 38.4 overs.
Pakistan pacers took as many as nine wickets whereas part-time off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed took one wicket. This was the second time Pakistan pacers have taken nine or more wickets in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. Against India, Pakistan pacers took all 10 wickets at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
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