Asia Cup: Imam, Rizwan half-centuries lead Pakistan to 7-wicket win over Bangladesh

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Lahore. Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan struck half-centuries as Pakistan registered a comfortable seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the Super Four stage opener of the Asia Cup at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Wednesday.

Pakistan bowled Bangladesh out for just 193 after Haris Rauf’s quick-fire four-wicket haul. Imam scored 78 in the opening Test, his fifth ODI fifty in the last eight innings. Rizwan, on the other hand, remained unbeaten on 63 to give Pakistan two points and topped the Super Four stage.

Pakistan’s chase of the target began with a stylish flick by Fakhar Zaman off Taskin Ahmed before being caught at first slip off Shorful Islam. After a 20-minute floodlight failure, Imam hit Taskin for three fours, although the Bangladesh bowlers did their best to contain the Pakistan openers.

Bangladesh got the breakthrough when Shorful had Fakhar lbw for 20 off 31 balls, but he burned both his reviews in three overs trying to lbw Imam and Babar Azam. Taskin was rewarded for bowling at pace, getting a fuller delivery to stay low and Babar’s inside edge reaching the stumps.

Rizwan made his mark by swiping the cross-bat off Hasan Mahmood and took four more runs from him, while Imam survived a third LBW shout and pulled Mehdi Hasan Miraj for a maximum to complete his 19th ODI half-century. Rizwan and Imam combined to hit three fours and two sixes off Mehdi and Shakib Al Hasan as Pakistan looked comfortable to win.

But Imam fell when Mehdi beat him on the inside edge while attempting a slog and was dismissed for 78 off 84 balls. Rizwan continued to hit boundaries and brought up his 11th ODI half-century and with support from Agha Salman, who hit the winning four via reverse-sweep, scored the remaining runs to ensure an emphatic victory for Pakistan.

Abbreviated Score :

Bangladesh 193 in 38.4 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 64, Shakib Al Hasan 53, Haris Rauf 4-19, Naseem Shah 3-34) lost to Pakistan 194-3 in 39.3 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 78, Mohammad Rizwan 63 ) not out, Shorful Islam 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 1-32) by seven wickets

(IANS)

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