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20 overs Bangladesh 175 for 6 (Shakib 84, Tamim 24, Arafat 3-25) v Pakistan
Shakib Al Hasan's effort was the best for a Bangladesh batsman in T20Is © Associated Press
To qualify for the Super Eights, Bangladesh needed to not only beat Pakistan for the first time in 13 years, but beat them by 36 runs. However, by the end of the first innings they had given themselves a good chance of pulling off the unthinkable, needing to defend 139 in order to progress further in the tournament.
Teams usually prefer to chase in net run-rate scenarios, but Bangladesh chose to bat despite some threat of rain. All questions around that decision were quashed as batsman after batsman attacked erring Pakistan bowlers, and they all pulled it off for. Mohammad Ashraful began with an aerial sweep off Mohammad Hafeez, Tamim Iqbal took Umar Gul apart in a 17-run over, Shakib Al Hasan provided the long innings with the highest score for a Bangladesh batsman, and he had support from captain Mushfiqur Rahim whose innings petered out in its second half.
The standout feature of Bangladesh's effort was how they refused to slow down with the fall of wickets. Tamim's response to Ahsraful's fall on 14 was to cut and whip Hafeez for back-to-back fours. He had already pulled and cut Gul for three fours two overs earlier. Shakib joined in the fun with three successive fours off Sohail Tanvir, the culprit again being the short bowling.
A dicey call from Shakib and a slip while turning back cost Tamim his wicket, but Shakib continued to go strong, resuming the charge with two fours off Saeed Ajmal in the 10th over. The first of the two, though, came off an inside edge that went through Kamran Akmal's legs. That, though, was the last time you would be prepared to forgive the fielders for their lapses.
Soon, Tanvir was to drop a dolly from Rahim off the first ball Yasir Arafat bowled, in the 13th over. Shakib was 42 off 30 at that time. He introduced a second wind to that innings now. First came a calculated risk when he seemed to have been done in by a sharp bouncer, but he went ahead with the pull, getting a thick enough top edge to clear the keeper. Arafat kept pitching it short, and the next shot had no element of risk to it: Shakib pulled him over midwicket to bring up his fifty.
Arafat and Shahid Afridi managed to induce a period of lull with two wickets in five deliveries, but Kamran failed to make it three in eight when he dropped a sitter from Nasir Hossain. At 133 for 4 in the 16th over Shakib remained the main threat. He resumed the assault in the 18th over, moving around in the crease to play with Umar Gul's length, hitting him for three more fours - a scoop, a flick and a drive past extra cover. The innings was back on track, and Shakib, at 77 after 18 overs, could even think of a century now.
Ajmal was to prove tough to hit in the 19th over, but Shakib paddled him over short fine leg to reach 83, beating Bangladesh's previous best effort, 81 by Nzimuddin against the same opponents. Shakib finally fell in the final over, but he had managed enough momentum to make sure 33 came off the last three overs.
Shakib Al Hasan's effort was the best for a Bangladesh batsman in T20Is © Associated Press
To qualify for the Super Eights, Bangladesh needed to not only beat Pakistan for the first time in 13 years, but beat them by 36 runs. However, by the end of the first innings they had given themselves a good chance of pulling off the unthinkable, needing to defend 139 in order to progress further in the tournament.
Teams usually prefer to chase in net run-rate scenarios, but Bangladesh chose to bat despite some threat of rain. All questions around that decision were quashed as batsman after batsman attacked erring Pakistan bowlers, and they all pulled it off for. Mohammad Ashraful began with an aerial sweep off Mohammad Hafeez, Tamim Iqbal took Umar Gul apart in a 17-run over, Shakib Al Hasan provided the long innings with the highest score for a Bangladesh batsman, and he had support from captain Mushfiqur Rahim whose innings petered out in its second half.
The standout feature of Bangladesh's effort was how they refused to slow down with the fall of wickets. Tamim's response to Ahsraful's fall on 14 was to cut and whip Hafeez for back-to-back fours. He had already pulled and cut Gul for three fours two overs earlier. Shakib joined in the fun with three successive fours off Sohail Tanvir, the culprit again being the short bowling.
A dicey call from Shakib and a slip while turning back cost Tamim his wicket, but Shakib continued to go strong, resuming the charge with two fours off Saeed Ajmal in the 10th over. The first of the two, though, came off an inside edge that went through Kamran Akmal's legs. That, though, was the last time you would be prepared to forgive the fielders for their lapses.
Soon, Tanvir was to drop a dolly from Rahim off the first ball Yasir Arafat bowled, in the 13th over. Shakib was 42 off 30 at that time. He introduced a second wind to that innings now. First came a calculated risk when he seemed to have been done in by a sharp bouncer, but he went ahead with the pull, getting a thick enough top edge to clear the keeper. Arafat kept pitching it short, and the next shot had no element of risk to it: Shakib pulled him over midwicket to bring up his fifty.
Arafat and Shahid Afridi managed to induce a period of lull with two wickets in five deliveries, but Kamran failed to make it three in eight when he dropped a sitter from Nasir Hossain. At 133 for 4 in the 16th over Shakib remained the main threat. He resumed the assault in the 18th over, moving around in the crease to play with Umar Gul's length, hitting him for three more fours - a scoop, a flick and a drive past extra cover. The innings was back on track, and Shakib, at 77 after 18 overs, could even think of a century now.
Ajmal was to prove tough to hit in the 19th over, but Shakib paddled him over short fine leg to reach 83, beating Bangladesh's previous best effort, 81 by Nzimuddin against the same opponents. Shakib finally fell in the final over, but he had managed enough momentum to make sure 33 came off the last three overs.