Pakistan began their tour of England on a fabulous note as surprisingly, it was their explosive batting performance which won them their warm-up encounter against Bangladesh out of nowhere. The game left everyone shell-shocked as Pakistan’s lower order did something extremely out of the box to defeat an ODI outfit two places above them in the ICC ODI Team Rankings.
On a cold Birmingham day, Bangladesh won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first, providing an ideal test for the top order. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza mentioned at the toss that ace pacer and X factor Mustafizur Rahman wouldn’t be participating in the game as he was rested.
Tamim Iqbal began in some style as he tore into the Pakistani bowling right at the top. Comeback man Junaid Khan was sent packing into orbit as Iqbal was particularly harsh on the left arm pacer. After Soumya Sarkar was dismissed early, Iqbal along with Imrul Kayes got together for a fine second-wicket stand as the two left-handers put on 142 on board in a little over 20 overs.
Thanks to this stand, the stage was always set for Bangladesh to get to a colossal total, and that is what exactly happened to the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah chipped in with valuable cameos. Bangladesh eventually ended with 341 on board in 50 overs while facing some resistance from Junaid Khan, who in his later spells picked up a few wickets.
Needing 342, Pakistan were on the look for a solid start, which they didn’t get as former skipper Azhar Ali and Babar Ali were dismissed cheaply. Ahmed Shehzad however, reflected some positivity playing an array of eye-catching strokes and keeping the scoreboard ticking. Once he was dismissed, bowled by Shakib though, the game seemed to be well over.
The onus was then taken by the experienced duo of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik as the latter especially expressed himself with a fine half century and later with Imad Wasim formed a good partnership which kept Pakistan in the hunt.
However, at 249-8 in 42.4 overs, the game was all but over, before the unknown Fahim Ashraf proved to be an unlikely hero. Along with bowler Hasan Ali, Ashraf took on the Bangladesh bowling as he hit a flurry of sixes to make things interesting.
The two went on a rampage as the last 35 balls of the chase yielded an eye-popping 93 runs, as thanks to Ashraf’s unbeaten 64 off 30 deliveries, Pakistan got home with three balls to spare. The game will surely inject some serious confidence into Pakistan’s campaign.