Bangladesh overwhelm Pakistan with Nahid’s pace

Sports Desk
Pakistan, who were bowled out for a few runs by pacer Nahid Rana’s career-best bowling, were not even noticed by Bangladesh. Tanjid Hasan Tamim blew their easy capital with a blistering fifty.

Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by 8 wickets in the first ODI of a three-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Wednesday.

Playing his first ODI on home soil, Rana took 5 wickets for 24 runs. After Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field first, Pakistan were bowled out for just 114 runs in 30.4 overs due to his devastating pace.

This is Pakistan’s lowest total against Bangladesh in ODIs. Their previous lowest was 161 runs scored in the 1999 ICC World Cup at Northampton.

Chasing in reply, Bangladesh quickly lost opener Saif Hasan (4), who was dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi. However, an 82-run stand between Tanjid and Nazmul Hossain Shanto for the second wicket took Bangladesh to victory. Shanto scored 27 runs off 33 balls before being dismissed by Mohammad Wasim Jr.

Tanjid remained unbeaten on 67 off 42 balls to take Bangladesh to 115 for 2 in 15.1 overs, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead in the series.

This was Bangladesh’s first win against Pakistan in this format since 2018. It was also Bangladesh’s third-biggest win in terms of balls, with 209 balls in hand.

Earlier, Pakistan had made a solid start with a 41-run opening stand by their two debutant batsmen, Sahibzada Farhan and Maj Sadaqat. But then Rana staged a dramatic collapse.

He broke the partnership by dismissing Farhan (27) on the last ball of the first power play; Afif Hossain took an easy catch at point.

Another debutant, Shamil Hossain, became the runner’s second victim. He was caught by wicketkeeper Liton Das at short-edge for four runs. Earlier, Tanjid Hasan Tamim missed his catch at long-on when he was on two runs.
After Sadaqat was dismissed for 18, Rana quickly dismissed Mohammad Rizwan (10) and Salman Ali Agha (5), completing his first five-wicket haul of his career. He became the second Bangladeshi bowler after Mustafizur Rahman in the 2019 World Cup to take a five-wicket haul against Pakistan in an ODI.

The 23-year-old pacer has played five ODIs so far, including his last five-wicket haul against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi in October.

Skipper Mehedi Hasan Miraz (3-29) then quickly dismissed debutant Abdul Samad (0), Hossain Talat (4) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (4) to consolidate Bangladesh’s control. Taskin Ahmed also dismissed Mohammad Wasim Jr (0) to leave Pakistan in danger of being bowled out for 9 for 82.