Gul stars in an all-round effort, it was his contribution at the end of Pakistan's innings and his stand with Sarfraz Ahmed that made the difference in the end. He backed that up with 3 for 58 and it should be no surprise if he walks away with the Man-of-the-Match award. Bangladesh fought well, first picking some quick wickets after a century opening stand to put Pakistan under pressure. Then, they came out positively in the chase, Tamim, Nasir and Shakib trying hard to keep their team within reach but the pressure got to the batsmen when the required-rate crept up beyond six. Pakistan kept their cool and snatched a win in the end.
We've had an exciting start to the Asia Cup, the hosts showing they'll be no pushovers. Do stay tuned in for the presentation. Abhishek Purohit is updating his report for this match.
Mushfiqur: "We were really close, I thought we came back well in our bowling. Our batsmen did a good job at the start, the most important was Nasir's wicket at the end. We just couldn't finish well. We are not winning most of the times after getting into such situations."
Misbah: "it was tough, we should have got 300. Again, we just messed it up. The guys are not learning from their mistakes. The pitch was absolutely perfect for batting, no spin, nothing for the fast bowlers but again the bowlers did good for us. We just have to lift our performances, we need to be more positive and we can't just repeat these mistakes. The bowlers are winning games for us for the last year and a half, but we need to support them."
Mohammad Hafeez has been given the Man of the Match award, I thought it'll be Gul. But anyway, that's what the jury has decided. He made 89 and picked up two wickets.
Hafeez: "I was not having a great time in the last series, very happy with this. I worked with my batting coach, I was just thinking of spending more time at the crease. Jamshed really took the pressure off me earlier on, we gave a good start."
That's it from us, folks. Thanks for tuning in, sending us your feedback. Do join us for the next game, that's India v Sri Lanka on March 13th. See you then, cheers.
Shakib Al Hasan b Umar Gul 64 (130m 66b 4x4 0x6) SR: 96.96
Shakib needs to go for it now, the difference betweens balls and runs has gone up significantly. Gul to finish off his spell now. Fine leg is up, massive gap between third man and deep point
END OF OVER:48 | 1 Run | BAN: 241/9 (22 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 5.02, RRR: 11.00)
- Shahadat Hossain0 (7b)
- Shakib Al Hasan64 (65b)
- Aizaz Cheema9-0-47-1
- Saeed Ajmal10-0-45-2
23 off 18, tension in the stands, Cheema to bowl now. They're saving Gul for a later over.
END OF OVER:47 | 5 Runs | BAN: 240/9 (23 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.10, RRR: 7.66)
- Shahadat Hossain0 (2b)
- Shakib Al Hasan63 (64b)
- Saeed Ajmal10-0-45-2
- Umar Gul9-0-58-2
Two slips
Shahadat needs to survive this ball, he has a word with his parner
Four wickets gone for 11 runs, two of them lost to avoidable shots
END OF OVER:46 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | BAN: 235/9 (28 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 5.10, RRR: 7.00)
- Shahadat Hossain0 (1b)
- Shakib Al Hasan58 (59b)
- Umar Gul9-0-58-2
- Saeed Ajmal9-0-40-2
Just one more wicket to go, two overs back it was Bangladesh who had the edge. All left to Shakib now. Shahadat, though, has to survive one ball
Shafiul Islam lbw b Umar Gul 1 (4m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
I remember Shafiul helping Bangladesh beat England in a thrilling game in the World Cup