Pakistan 274 all out (Sadaqat 75, Salman Agha 64, Hossain 3-56) beat Bangladesh 114 all out (Litton 41, Sadaqat 3-23, Rauf 3-26) by 127 runs (DLS method)
Sadaqat’s sparkling innings set the tone for the entirety of the game. He ensured there would be no repeat of the batting implosion Pakistan suffered in the first ODI. He cast off the caution that marked much of his debut innings, a pair of boundaries kicking things off. He was determined to let no bowler bog him down, the biggest statement of intent coming when he launched Nahid Rana over mid-off for six in his first over. With Sahibzada Farhan unable to dance to the same tempo, the run-scoring was left almost entirely to Sadaqat. By the time he fell, bottom edging a lap off the bowling of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, he had scored 75 of Pakistan’s 103, the run rate in excess of eight.
What followed was a little spell of Bangladeshi dominance as the field spread out and the pace was taken off the ball. Sahibzada never could get going and ultimately miscued a wild smear to third man, and another tortured innings from Shamyl Hussain ended in similar fashion to his dismissal on Wednesday. He lashed at Rana with little conviction and plenty of top edge, and was sent packing for 6 off 22 balls.
Agha and Rizwan did what they do best, absorbing the pressure early on before bedding in for the middle overs. Agha was more proactive with the scoring rate, reaching a near run-a-ball 50, taking the pressure off Rizwan who found turning the scoreboard over more challenging. The arrangement seemed to work for nearly 20 overs, and it appeared as if they’d given the lower-middle order a free shot at a ten-over burst.
Agha and Rizwan were setting Pakistan up for a big finish, with the visitors sitting pretty at 231 for 3, and more than eleven overs to go. Rizwan drove one back to the bowler Miraz, while non-striker Agha, out of his crease stopped the ball with his foot. Agha bent over to pick it up even as Miraz attempted to do the same. Ultimately, the bowler managed to pick up the ball and threw it at the stumps with Agha well short of his crease. Bangladesh appealed, and Agha, fuming, was sent on his way.
From thereon, Bangladesh were ascendant. Two balls later, Rizwan attempted to launch Miraz out of the ground, only to lose his shape as deep midwicket completed a sharp catch. Bangladesh struck regularly and damagingly every few overs as Hussain Talat missed an unwieldy hoick, before further self-destruction as Abdul Samad caught himself in a horrible mix-up halfway down the crease to expose Pakistan’s tail. It did not require much from Bangladesh to mop it up as they took pace off the ball, drying up the runs and defanging what was left of their opposition.
As a reaction to Rana’s success in the first game, Pakistan drafted in Rauf for extra pace, but it was their captain Shaheen Shah Afridi who made the more crucial inroads up top. He trapped Tanzid Hasan into flicking towards short midwicket, setting the batter up for that dismissal before a burst of extra pace keeled Najmul Shanto’s stumps over. Mohammad Wasim Jnr chipped in with a tame dismissal as Saif Hasan was forced to go, and Bangladesh reeled at 15 for 3.
It was a damaging passage of play as hailstorms lurked nearby. Soon after, the Dhaka Stadium found itself bearing the brunt of the weather as players took shelter from lightning strikes. A downpour delayed the game for more than two hours before play could finally get underway, but the loss of the three wickets meant the 18 overs lopped off the chase saw the target reduced by just 32 runs.
The only batter remotely equipped to make a fist at that asking rate was Litton Das, who singled Rauf out for punishment, taking 20 in his first two overs. But support at that strike rate was lacking at the other end from Towhid Hridoy. It meant that when Litton missed a sweep off Sadaqat in front of his stumps and the DRS flashed up three reds, the game was effectively done. Rauf returned to tidy up his figures with three wickets as Sadaqat and Faheem Ashraf also chipped in. It would take just 23.3 overs for the innings to fold, the last six wickets falling for 19 runs.
After two games where each side has alternated good and horror performances, the series moves into a decider, perhaps with the hope they can, for once, be as evenly matched on the field as they are in the series scoreline.
More to follow
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
