Dominant Pakistan beats Bangladesh by 76 runs; wins series

DHAKA: Ruthless Pakistan drubbed Bangladesh by 76 runs in the second one-day international in Dhaka on Saturday to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Umar Akmal scored 59 and Shahid Afridi hit 42 off 27 balls as Pakistan piled up 262-7 after they won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night match at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

The total proved beyond Bangladesh’s reach after they were reduced to 19-4 in the 10th over, and managed only 186-7 despite a maiden international century from Nasir Hossain.

Nasir cracked 100 and Shakib Al Hasan made 34, the pair sharing a fifth-wicket stand of 106 runs, but Bangladesh were never in the hunt against the tight Pakistani bowling.

The 20-year-old Nasir, playing only his ninth one-dayer, plundered 11 boundaries and a six before he was dismissed in the final over.

Seamer Umar Gul finished with four for 36, while off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez conceded just 15 runs in his 10 overs with two wickets.

Pakistan’s 27th win over the Tigers in 28 one-dayers has left only academic interest in the third and final match to be played in the port city of Chittagong on Tuesday.

The one-dayers will be followed by two Test matches.

Pakistan had won the Twenty20 international by 50 runs and the first one-dayer by five wickets at the same venue.

Hafeez, who opened Pakistan’s attack, removed Imrul Kayes and Shahriar Nafees in successive overs after Gul had dismissed the aggressive Tamim Iqbal in his second over.

Gul also had Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim caught at gully, before Nasir and Shakib delayed the inevitable with their century partnership.

Pakistan’s innings revolved around a fourth-wicket stand of 83 between Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq (37), before Afridi smashed two sixes and three boundaries towards the end to boost the total.

Hafeez (32) and Younis Khan (37) put on 57 for the second wicket after opener Imran Farhat had fallen in the third over.

Akmal lifted the tempo by reaching his 11th one-day half-century off 49 balls, steering seamer Rubel Hossain to the third-man fence.

The 21-year-old fell in the next over, the 39th of the innings, when he holed out in the deep off Shakib to make Pakistan 176-4.

It soon became 193-5 as one-day debutant Elias Sunny picked up his first wicket when he had Misbah caught in the deep in the 42nd over.

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Bad start for Pakistan in Champions Trophy

AUCKLAND: Australia made a stuttering start to their Champions Trophy defence with a 3-2 win over Spain Saturday, while Pakistan squandered the opportunity for an upset victory over Great Britain.

In the Pool A match, Pakistan went down 2-1 to Great Britain in a hard-fought match marked by committed defence from both teams.

Captain Mohammad Imran, who converted a penalty corner to put his side ahead after 31 minutes, said Pakistan created numerous chances in the attacking quarter but failed to capitalise on them.

“We played well but unfortunately we missed our chances and we’re working on that,” he said.

Britain were more clinical in the second half, taking all three points through second half goals to Mark Pearn and Richard Mantell.

However, Pakistan team manager Khawaja Junaid said the Green Shirts, who shocked Australia 4-3 in Perth last month, showed they were making progress.

“We are still in the tournament… we played good hockey and we are not demoralised,” he said.

England were runners-up to Australia at last year’s event and, because the tournament in Auckland is a lead-up event for the Olympics, its players form part of a combined British team this year.

In another match of the same pool, two goals from inspirational skipper Jamie Dwyer helped hot favourites Australia down the committed Spaniards.

Dwyer admitted the Kookaburras, chasing an unprecedented fourth straight Champions Trophy, failed to live up to their billing as the world’s top-ranked team and raging favourites to claim Olympic gold at the London Games.

“We were very passive, we should have been a lot more aggressive and we allowed their ball carriers too much time and space,” the four-time world player of the year said.

“We definitely didn’t play to our potential and we’re probably lucky to get the result in the end. There’s no real excuses.”

Spain peppered the Australian goal as they dominated the opening skirmishes but a well-taken short-range goal from Dwyer against the run of play put the reigning champions ahead after 10 minutes.

The Spaniards, who have only beaten Australia three times in 22 Champions Trophy clashes, hit back 15 minutes later when an off-balance Jorge Dabanch stayed on his feet long enough to fire a shot past goalie Andrew Charter.

Eduard Tubau shot Spain into the lead two minutes later, when he split the Australian defence to again beat Charter.

The Kookaburras wrested control of the second half, with Dwyer netting the equaliser just after the break and a penalty corner conversion from Desmond Abbott sealing the win.

Spain coach Daniel Martin said the performance was a confidence booster for the Beijing silver medallists as they look to bounce back from disappointing recent results.

Pool B matches

The Netherlands beat South Korea 2-0 and Olympic champions Germany defeated host New Zealand 2-1.

New Zealand captain Dean Couzins said the Black Sticks paid the price for defensive lapses.

“I don’t think we played as well as we should have,” he said.

“Germany did well to create a bit of pressure, but if you look back at the two goals they scored, we would be a little disappointed with that, and the softness of the corners we gave away.”

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