Mirpur: Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi insisted on improving the batting in the middle overs after the visitors cruised to a 128-run win over Bangladesh in the second ODI of the three-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Batting first, the Green Shirts got off to a blistering start as their opening pair Mas Sadaq and Sahibzada Farhan put on a century plus in 13 overs.
The touring side suffered a brief top-order collapse, but Salman Ali Agha and Mohammad Rizwan put them back in command with a 109-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
But their back-to-back dismissals in the 39th over sparked a collapse that saw Pakistan lose five remaining wickets for 43 off 57 balls, eventually ending up 274 all out.
While the Green Shirts did enough to hold on as Bangladesh were bowled out for 114 in 23.3 overs following a two-hour rain ban, their skipper Shaheen insisted they must address concerns of losing wickets in clusters, especially in the middle overs.
“Losing back-to-back wickets after a good start is something we need to improve on as a team,” Shaheen said in the post-match briefing.
The 128-run win was a stunning turnaround for Pakistan, after a heartbreaking eight-wicket haul in the series opener, which would have given them a must-win in the recently-concluded tournament.
“The last game didn’t go our way. The simple message is to go and play your natural game,” shared Shaheen.
The star performer of the tournament for Pakistan was rising all-rounder Maas, who backed up his half-century with economical bowling figures of 3/23, earning him the Man of the Match award.
Moss’s all-round brilliance also earned him special praise from the captain, who revealed the entire team was “delighted” with the youngster’s performance.
“I’m really happy for Massa’s century – the youngster has played a really good game and the whole team is happy for him.”