 Things could have been much more polarized than they eventually ended up being
the first one-dayer. While Pakistan will be hoping that the gap between the two
sides stretches further, Bangladesh will be keen on bridging the gap when
the two sides meet again on Saturday.
Click for Live Score Card of Bangladesh Vs Pakistan
Pakistan have a tendency to arouse excitement even in the most boring situations.
After exciting their fans with their performance in the field, the batsmen in
return gave the fans multiple shocks. Batting continues to remain a question
mark for Pakistan, though they did get out of trouble thanks to the one-man
army in Shahid Afridi. And the all-rounder has been in top form since
his return to international cricket, picking up another five-for on his way
to yet another Man-of-the-Match performance. Records too are falling away in
his stride. He is four wickets away from becoming the highest wicket-taker in
the current year, currently led by Lasith Malinga. Pakistan see no real reason
to change the line-up, though Shoaib Malik's will know he needs to perform despite
getting only limited chances lately.
While Bangladesh can take pride in pegging Pakistan back to 5 for 63, their
own performance was forgetful through most part of the match. The batsmen had
no answer to Pakistan's seemingly endless options in spin bowling. It remains
to be seen where they will find answers to their woes, though players like Tamim Iqbal and Shakib al Hasan can be dangerous once they get their launch pad.
Changes are likely and Elias Sunny, the slow left-arm bowler, could come
in for Farhad Raza.
It will be interesting to see if the curator opts for yet another turning track
- a strength that has often troubled the visiting teams, but has become a weakness
in front of the world's best spin attack at the moment.
Bangladesh will know that a loss will them the series but the problem is that
they will also understand that they need to continue to try playing positive cricket.
The flip to playing positive cricket is that they will have occasions such as
the previous game where they may collapse to a lowly total and that may not go
down too well with the fans.
Pakistan should win the second ODI as well, although I do expect the hosts to
do a better job than before.
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