Bangladesh rout Pakistan to win ODI series 3-0

Opening batsman Soumya Sarkar hit a maiden one-day century as Bangladesh thrashed woeful Pakistan by eight wickets in Dhaka on Wednesday to sweep the one-day series 3-0.

The 22-year-old left-hander smashed an unbeaten 127 as the fired-up hosts surpassed Pakistan's modest 250 all out in the 40th over at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali's 100 made no difference to his team's fortunes after Bangladesh had won the first match by 79 runs and the second by seven wickets.

It was the first series whitewash by the Tigers against an Asian Test-playing nation, and followed their appearance in the quarter-finals of the recent World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said he was delighted at the way the team had shaped up in the past few months and hoped to continue the good work in future.

"This is a good team we have and I am really happy the way we are playing," he said. "Soumya (Sarkar) was brilliant today but our work is not done yet. We will now focus on the remaining matches."

The two teams will play a Twenty20 international on Friday before starting a two-Test series from April 28.

The win was never in doubt after Sarkar, who hit 13 boundaries and six sixes in his 110-ball innings, put on 145 for the first wicket with Tamim Iqbal.

Tamim, who had slammed centuries in the first two matches, missed a third consecutive hundred when he was leg-before to Junaid Khan for 64.

The left-arm seamer also bowled Mohammad Mahmudullah in his next over, but Mushfiqur Rahim (49 not out) ensured victory with an unbroken stand of 97 for the third wicket with Sarkar.

Pakistan were left to rue a dramatic collapse when they lost eight wickets for 47 runs after Azhar's century had lifted them to a comfortable 203 for two in the 39th over.

Shakib Al Hasan, Mortaza, Arafat Sunny and Rubel Hossain claimed two wickets each as Bangladesh clawed their way back after wayward bowling earlier in the innings.

Azhar led from the front to become the first Pakistani captain in five years to score an one-day century following Shahid Afridi's 124 against Bangladesh in 2010.

He heaped praise on Bangladesh for outplaying his young team that included just four players from the World Cup.

"I would like to congratulate Bangladesh because they played very good cricket," he said. "We played well in patches but we could not put it together.

"As everybody knows, our senior players have left the one-day scene. The youngsters have to stand up and we have to pull our heads together.

"Hopefully we do well in the Twenty20 and the Test series."

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Azhar shared an opening stand of 91 with debutant Sami Aslam, who made 45.

Nasir Hossain provided the breakthrough when he had the left-handed Aslam caught by wicket-keeper Rahim.

Senior all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez was bowled by Sunny for four to extend his batting misery in a series in which he compiled just eight runs in three matches.

Haris Sohail (52) added 98 with Azhar for the third wicket before the rot set in.

Azhar was bowled by Shakib and Mortaza dismissed Haris to launch Bangladesh's comeback.

Full scoreboard

Pakistan:

Azhar Ali b Shakib 101
Sami Aslam c Rahim b Nasir 45
Mohammad Hafeez b Sunny 4
Haris Sohail c Rahim b Mashrafe 52
Mohammad Rizwan c and b Shakib 4
Fawad Alam c Nasir b Mashrafe 4
Saad Nasim c Taskin b Rubel 22
Wahab Riaz c Mashrafe b Rubel 7
Umar Gul run out 0
Zulfiqar Babar not out 1
Junaid Khan b Sunny 4
Extras (lb1, w5) 6
Total (all out, 49 overs) 250
Fall of wickets: 1-91 (Sami), 2-105 (Hafeez), 3-203 (Azhar), 4-207 (Haris), 5-213 (Rizwan), 6-224 (Fawad), 7-243 (Wahab), 8-244 (Gul), 9-245 (Nasim), 10-250 (Junaid)
Bowling: Mashrafe 10-0-44-2 (2w), Taskin 2-0-22-0 (2w), Nasir 7-0-37-1, Rubel 6-0-43-2 (1w), Sunny 10-0-43-2, Shakib 10-0-34-2, Sabbir 2-0-17-0, Mahmudullah 2-0-9-0

Bangladesh:

Tamim Iqbal lbw b Junaid 64
Soumya Sarkar not out 127
Mohammad Mahmudullah b Junaid 4
Mushfiqur Rahim not out 49
Extras (lb1, w4, nb2) 7
Total (two wickets, 39.3 overs) 251
Fall of wickets: 1-145 (Tamim), 2-154 (Mahmudullah).
Bowling: Hafeez 8-1-37-0, Gul 7-0-53-0 (3w), Wahab 6-0-30-0 (1w), Junaid 7.3-0-67-2 (2nb), Zulfiqar 10-0-56-0, Azhar 1-0-7-0.

Bangladesh won by eight wickets, sweep series 3-0
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI), Sharfuddoula Saikat (BAN)
TV Umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)
Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

Bangladesh innings

Bangladesh have romped to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the third match to make a clean sweep of the ODI series 3-0.

Chasing a target of 251, the hosts replied with 251-2 in 39.3 overs with Musfiqur hitting the winning runs.

Soumya Sarkar led the chase with a maiden unbeaten century making a fluent 127 off 110 balls with 13 fours and six sixes.

Soumya Sarkar slams a massive six off Azhar to achieve his maiden ODI century in style. Ban 193-2, 34 overs.

Junaid strikes as Mahmudullah is bowled playing the wrong line. Ban 155-2, 27.5 overs.

Mahmudullah b Junaid Khan 4 (10b 1x4 0x6)

Pakistan finally get a breakthrough as Tamim is adjudged leg before off Junaid with Bangladesh being unsuccessful with the review. Ban 145-1, 25.3 overs.

Tamim Iqbal lbw b Junaid Khan 64 (76b 8x4 1x6)

Tamim completes his 29th ODI fifty off 62 balls paddle sweeping Babar to the fine leg fence.

Hafeez is taken to the cleaners by Sarkar and Tamim who blast him over the ropes. Ban 112-0, 22 overs.

Sarkar completes his second ODI half century off 63 balls.

Sarkar hits the first six of the innings hoisting Hafeez down the ground. Ban 42-0, 9 overs.

Tamim pounces on a short ball from Gul to thump it for a boundary to midwicket. Ban 27-0, 6 overs.

Hafeez bowls a maiden to Sarkar in the fifth over.

Sarkar is on song blasting two consecutive boundaries off Gul through midwicket.

Sarkar gets a streaky boundary via an inside edge off the first ball from Gul.

Sarkar hits the first boundary of the innings opening the face of the bat run Hafeez to third man. Ban 6-0, 1 over.

Hafeez opens the attack for Pakistan as Bangladesh begin their chase of 251.

Pakistan innings

Skipper Azhar Ali hit a maiden one-day century before a batting collapse left Pakistan 250 all out with an over to spare in the third and final international against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Seeking to avoid a series whitewash after losing the first two matches, Pakistan appeared to be heading for a big total when they reached a comfortable 203 for two in the 39th over.

But Azhar's dismissal at that stage for a fluent 101 off 112 balls sparked a dramatic collapse in which the tourists lost their last eight wickets for just 47 runs at Dhaka's Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Arafat Sunny and Rubel Hossain claimed two wickets each as Bangladesh clawed their way back after wayward bowling earlier in the innings.

Azhar led from the front to become the first Pakistani captain in five years to score an one-day century following Shahid Afridi's 124 against Bangladesh in 2010.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Azhar shared an opening stand of 91 with debutant Sami Aslam, who made 45.

Nasir Hossain provided the breakthrough when he had the left-handed Aslam caught by wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim.

Senior all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez was bowled by Sunny for four to extend his batting misery in a series in which he compiled just eight runs in three matches.

Haris Sohail (52) added 98 with Azhar for the third wicket before the rot set in.

Azhar was bowled by Shakib and Mashrafe dismissed Haris as Bangladesh began their comeback.

Pakistan dropped off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz and injured paceman Rahat Ali to play Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar and the uncapped Sami.

Bangladesh retained the same side from the previous game.

The two teams will play a Twenty20 international on Friday before starting a two-Test series from April 28.

Pakistan:

Azhar Ali b Shakib 101
Sami Aslam c Rahim b Nasir 45
Mohammad Hafeez b Sunny 4
Haris Sohail c Rahim b Mashrafe 52
Mohammad Rizwan c and b Shakib 4
Fawad Alam c Nasir b Mashrafe 4
Saad Nasim c Taskin b Rubel 22
Wahab Riaz c Mashrafe b Rubel 7
Umar Gul run out 0
Zulfiqar Babar not out 1
Junaid Khan b Sunny 4
Extras (lb1, w5) 6
Total (all out, 49 overs) 250
Fall of wickets: 1-91 (Sami), 2-105 (Hafeez), 3-203 (Azhar), 4-207 (Haris), 5-213 (Rizwan), 6-224 (Fawad), 7-243 (Wahab), 8-244 (Gul),
9-245 (Nasim), 10-250 (Junaid)
Bowling: Mashrafe 10-0-44-2 (2w), Taskin 2-0-22-0 (2w), Nasir 7-0-37-1, Rubel 6-0-43-2 (1w), Sunny 10-0-43-2, Shakib 10-0-34-2, Sabbir 2-0-17-0, Mahmudullah 2-0-9-0

Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI), Sharfuddoula Saikat (BAN) TV Umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG) Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

Azhar cracks a couple of boundaries off Nasir. Pak 127-2, 27 overs.

Sunny strikes castling Hafeez who gives him the charge but is beaten by the arm ball. Pak 105-2, 21.2 overs.

Mohammad Hafeez b Arafat Sunny 4 (15b 0x4 0x6)

Bangladesh finally get a breakthrough with Aslam being adjudged caught behind though replays suggested there was no bat involved. Pak 91-1, 18 overs.

Sami Aslam c Mushfiqur Rahim b Nasir Hossain 45 (50b 7x4 0x6)

Sami is turning it on cracking two consecutive boundaries off Nasir. Pak 38-0, 6 overs.

Sami gets going hammering Taskin for three boundaries. Pak 28-0, 4 overs.

Azhar hits the first boundary of the match cutting Taskin through point. Pk 12-0, 2 overs.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first.

Bangladesh are unchanged while the tourists make three changes,

Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar and Sami Aslam are in for Rahat Ali, Sarfraz and Saeed Ajmal.

Hafeez eligible

The International Cricket Council Tuesday cleared the bowling action of Pakistani spinner Mohammad Hafeez following remedial work and retests, making him eligible to play in international matches.

Hafeez's action was reported as suspect in the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi last November.

The 34-year-old was suspended from bowling at international level after biomechanical tests on his action in Loughborough, England, revealed his elbow extension was beyond the 15 degree tolerance limit.

Under the ICC rules bowlers are allowed to flex their elbows by up to 15 degrees.

Hafeez underwent remedial work on his action and had a re-test in Chennai, India on April 9, which the ICC said he cleared.

The clearance means Hafeez can bowl in the third and final one-day international against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Pakistan trail the series 2-0, their first series defeat against Bangladesh.

Pakistan were the worst hit of the ten-Test playing countries after the ICC launched a crackdown on chuckers in June last year.

Ten bowlers were reported for suspect actions with Hafeez, team-mate Saeed Ajmal and Sri Lanka's Sachitra Senanayake being the high-profile casualties.

Pakistan's women's cricket team spinner Javeria Khan also cleared her action, which was reported and found illegal in 2010.

The ICC, however, warned that any bowler who has been cleared can be called again by the umpires.

"The umpires are still at liberty to report Hafeez and Javeria in the future if they believe they are displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal actions from the retests," it said.

If a cleared bowler is reported again within two years of the first occasion he will be banned from international cricket for 12 months.

"Thanks to almighty Allah to bless me to clear my official bowling action test.Happy&thankful," tweeted Hafeez.

"Special thanks to my family and all those who helped me overcome this problem."

 

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