Bangladesh 240 for 3 (Tamim Iqbal 116*, Mushfiqur Rahim 65) beat Pakistan 239 for 6 (Sad Nasim 77*, Wahab Riaz 51*, Haris 44, Shakib Al Hasan 2-51) by seven wickets

Man of The Match: Tamim Iqbal

Brilliant Bangladesh team overwhelmed Pathetic Pakistan with a comprehensive 7 wickets drubbing in the second ODI and Shere Bangla National stadium Dhaka. This back to back win after a drought of 16 years against Paksiatn has put them on the brink for another Banglawash which my friend Chory puts as “Bongo Dholai”.

 It was not win it was the manner they won was awesome. Tamim scored yet another gorgeous unbeaten century (116*), majestic Mushfique played another gem of an innings. The strong Pakistan bowling attack looked pretty ordinary. Bangladesh winning the three matches ODI series 2-0 has made Bangladeshis all over the world proud. The cheers of Bangladesh fans reverberated in London, New York, Melbourne, and Dubai and in that matter all over the world. Victory is always sweet but some victories are even sweeter.

Even jubilant Prime Minister of Bangladesh shared the moments of joy on the occasion. The new look Pakistan team appeared to be no match for the emerging tigers hungry for the blood. It was not even a contest. It was absolute one way traffic. Bangladesh achieved its first ever ODI series win against Pakistan with a match to spare .Talks of yet another White Wash getting louder and seeming forthcoming.

Terrific Tamim and Magical Mushfique once again teased, tormented and humiliated Pakistan reducing them to the level of ordinary net bowlers. Glorious strokes kept flowing from their bat as another 118 runs was added in their third wicket partnership in no time .Bangladesh raced to overhaul the victory target of 240 with 71 balls to spare.

We cannot say that Pakistan bowling attack was below par .Wahab Riaz , Rahat Ali were instrumental in beating strong South Africa not long ago in World Cup. Who can forget that devastating spell of fast bowling of Wahab Riaz at Adelaide Oval against Champions Australia? Bangladeshis were simply awesome on the day. Tamim enjoyed the freedom of playing his masterly strokes and Mushfique has made it his habit.

It all started with young Soumya Sharkar perhaps given license to bat with freedom blasted 17 off 12 deliveries with four strokes across the fence .Trying one stroke too many against Junaid Khan after taking three boundaries he edged behind. Mahamudullah joined Tamim the gladiator in avalanche. Run started coming thick and fast. Tamim himself admitted after the match that he was a lot relieved man after scoring a century in the first match and he was in belligerent flamboyant mood on the day.

His first stroke was an arrogant blast, a saunter down the pitch to Junaid Khan and a flat-batted wallop through the covers. In the sixth over, he had already cracked Rahat Ali for two fours when he got a full ball angling into his pads; deep square leg didn't have to run too far to his right to cut off Tamim's flick, but the timing was so good he didn't get anywhere near it even after putting in a desperate slide. Bangladesh raced to 50 in the wink of an eye.

Azhar in desperate attempt to stem the flow of run commissioned his best bowling options Wahab Riaz and Ajmal early. But of no avail. Avalanche continued. Tamim cracked three fours off the last three balls of the ninth over, bowled by Saeed Ajmal, and did the same thing in the tenth over, bowled by Wahab Riaz, to bring up his half-century off 31 balls.He danced down the pitch to smash  fast bowler Wahab Riaz  showed the kind of mood he was in. Mahamudullah got a trade marck turning delivery from Ajaml – a glimpse of his glorious past that knocked the middle stump. Law of average seems to have caught up Riad.

In came little Master Mushfique and another show of Tamim –Mushfique commenced. As it appears a clam before storm Mushy was a bit quiet at the start perhaps adjusting his bearings. As soon as he found everything in place he blasted Ajmal out of the part with his trademark slog sweep. Three consecutive boundaries followed in Rahat’s over. Tamim was showing his vociferous appetite al through. The pair was cantering, Pakistan attack was badly bruised.

The only respite came through a glitch of the floodlights, but not for long. Tamim completed his well-deserved back to back century. Mushfique could not and actually there was not enough runs left as well. Rahat Ali got his wicket after he produced yet another sparkling 65 in 70 deliveries .Tamim remained unconquered with a run a ball 116. Perhaps a better one than his first .Tamim getting back to his groove is a great momentum returning to Bangladesh batting. His admirers want this Tamim appear almost in every match. He himself has spoiled his fans with his flamboyant gay cavalier style of batting.

Pakistan opted to bat first .But the wicket behaved aa bit differently. It was a double paced wicket with ball stopping on the batsmen. Mashrafee read it quickly and kept shuffling his bowling options .Spinners were brought on early though Rubel drew the first blood .Arafat Sunny and Shakib started turning the ball. . Pakistan was struck deadly body blows when two of their experienced professionals Hafiz and Fawad Alam were consumed before they could even open their account .Even part timer Nasir Hossain joined the party.

At 77/5 Pakistan was looking miserable. Perhaps Mashrafee made some strategic mistake at this stage .Rubel the most economic bowler was held back. Nasir was bowling a tight length and line .He was discontinued .Haris Sohail and Sad Nasim had their best moment of the match. The most profitable time for the Pakistan was the batting power play when instead of bringing back Rubel Mashrafee opted to bowl himself. It was not his day yet he persisted. He managed to get rid of Haris Sohail alright but leaked too many runs.

The pair of Haris and Nasim doubled the score from 77 to 154 when the talks of lowest ever Pakistan ODI score against Bangladesh was being talked. From there on Sad Nasim and Wahab Riaz batted merrily adding 85 invaluable runs in 66 deliveries without being separated. Sad in his only second ODI remained unbeaten with good looking 77 and Wahab Riaz started justifying some comparison with great Pakistani fast bowling all-rounder Wasim Akram with a punishing 51 off 40 deliveries.

Bangladesh looked sublime right from the start .They went out and enjoyed chasing a moderate target of 240 .The way they batted made people believe that this team is now oozing with supreme confidence. They believe in their abilities and are eager to translate their potential even better after every match. Pakistan was virtually blown away by Tamim and Mushfique.

Last match while taking the Man of the Match trophy Mushfique was joking that he would have liked Tamim to win it but he will not share as Tamim was going to get it next match. Has Mushfique become a fortune teller? Tamim gracefully won the Man of The Match award and rightly so. Bangladesh wrote yet another new page in its cricket history. Another series white wash is now on the card.

BDST: 0850 HRS, APR 20, 2015
HB