Pakistan took the revenge from Bangladesh as they crushed the Tigers by 55 runs.
Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi who came under severe criticism for his statement about Indian fans, silenced his critics with his superb knock of 49 runs in 19 balls. He may have missed a milestone but he led his team to victory by 55 runs in their first game in the tournament.
Pakistan’s top order finally lived upto expectations. Though the opening partnership didn’t last long, Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez put together 95 runs for the second wicket to put Pakistan in a comfortable place. This allowed Afridi to come up the order, take some risk and hit some hard hitting knocks - which he did.
They put up a formidable total of 201 in 20 overs.
Bangladesh’s bowling was pathetic. Most of the deliveries landed short of pitch which Pakistani batsmen duly sent to boundaries. The captain himself, Mashrafe Mortaza didn’t lead by example who was the second most expensive bowler (3-0-41-0) right behind Al-Amin Hossain (3-0-43-0).
To score 202 runs in 20 overs to win the game was an uphill task for the Bangladesh team. Much to the dismay of their fans present in the stadium, Bangladesh’s shaky start didn’t give them much hope. Sakib Al Hassan was the lone ranger for the day scoring 50 in 40 balls.
Unfortunately for him, despite his best efforts there wasn't much he could do as he got no support and wickets kept falling.
Pakistan wrapped up Bangladesh at 163 with three overs remaining.
