Bangladesh could not beat the hosts even in their 20th encounter on Pakistani soil. Shakib Al Hasan's team lost to Pakistan by a big margin of 7 wickets in their first match in the Super Four phase of the Asia Cup.
It was to be expected that their modest capital of 194 runs would not be enough against the best team in ODIs. The pace bowlers of Bangladesh still tried. They gave their best. Fighting with low capital also requires a bit of luck. But luck was not as good for Bangladesh today as it was for Pakistani opener Imam-ul-Haq. He brought the team to the threshold of victory by playing the team's highest innings of 78 runs after surviving three times at the mercy of DRS.
In the beginning, however, the Pakistani batsmen seemed a bit shaky. They were batting cautiously against Taskin-Shariful's perfect line-length bowling. Pakistan could not get more than 37 runs after losing the wicket of opener Fakhar Zaman in the first power play. Skipper Babar Azam could not stay at the crease for long after dropping to three. 17 runs came from his bat before being bowled by Taskin.
But with time the wicket becomes easier and easier for the batsmen. As a result, the early pressure and pacers could not continue in the later part of the innings. The spinners also did not get water. In that opportunity, Imam and Rizwan made a partnership of 85 runs for the third wicket. However, Imam returned to the dressing room with a personal 78 runs to bring the team close to victory. However, Rizwan left the field only after confirming the victory of the team from 63 runs unbeaten.
Pakistan reached the target of 194 runs set by Bangladesh with 7 wickets and 63 balls to spare. As a result, the net run rate has also suffered a big blow for Shakib-Bahini. After the first match in the Super Four phase, Bangladesh's net run rate stands at -1.051.
Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. However, due to the failure of the batsmen, the team was reduced to just 193 runs. Captain Shakib Al Hasan blamed the bad batting for the loss at the end of the match, 'We batted very badly on such a wicket. We lost several wickets in the beginning by playing clumsy shots. We should never have lost 4 wickets in the first 10 overs on such a wicket, but it happened.'
Bangladesh's next match in the Super Four is on Saturday (September 9), against Sri Lanka.