Sports desk: A Tamim Iqbal century led Bangladesh to 341 for 7, but Fahim Ashraf and Hasan Ali slammed 93 in just 6.5 overs in the ninth-wicket to give Pakistan a two-wicket victory in a warm-up game on Saturday.
Pakistan, in their chase of 342, lost their first two wickets before reaching 20, and although Ahmed Shehzad (44) and Mohammad Hafeez (49) played decent innings, Bangladesh were hardly threatened.
Shoaib Malik’s 66-ball 72 and Imad Wasim’s 45 kept their team on way for a respectable score, only to be ended before they wrestle the game away from the Bangladesh bowlers, who did not do that bad till the very end.
But Fahim and Hasan did the unthinkable, the former smashing 64 from just 30 balls with four fours and the same number of sixes, and the latter adding 27 off 15 to deny Bangladesh a victory they thought they deserved.
Winning the toss, skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza had opted to bat first and his batsmen duly vindicated his decision.
Opener Soumya Sarkar (19) failed to score big, but Tamim and Imrul Kayes both toyed with the Pakistan bowlers, making 122 in the second wicket.
Imrul hit 61 in 62 balls thanks to eight fours while Tamim hammered nine fours and four sixes in his 93-ball 102-run innings.
Mushfiqur Rahim was also in a fiery mood, hitting three fours and three sixes to make 46 in 35 balls.
Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain added 23, 29 and 26 respectively.
Junaid Khan bagged four wickets for Pakistan while Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan took two each.
The Tigers will rue leaking out so many runs later in the game, but they will also feel glad that it was a mere warm-up match, and not one in a competitive tournament.
