Spinners To The Fore As Pakistan Clinch Clean Sweep

Spinners To The Fore As Pakistan Clinch Clean Sweep

Mohammad Hafeez returned figures of three for 27 and finished the series as the leading wicket-taker

©REUTERS / Action Images

Pakistan 177 (Umar Akmal 57, Misbah-ul-Haq 47) beat
Bangladesh 119 (Shoaib Malik 3-6) by 58 runs
Third One- Day International, Chittagong
Scorecard

Pakistan wrapped up a 3-0 One-Day International series clean sweep with a 58-run win over Bangladesh in the third and final One-Day International in Chittagong.

After Pakistan were dismissed for 177 despite Umar Akmal making a patient 57, Bangladesh could only muster two partnerships of note as they were bowled out for 119 in reply.

Off-spinners Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik both returned three wickets to bowl Pakistan to a 22nd consecutive victory over Bangladesh, to equal the record for ODI wins in a row against another country.

Although Hafeez was impressive with the ball, he was less so with the bat, falling for a four-ball duck as Pakistan made a poor start having chosen to bat first with Asad Shafiq (7) and Younus Khan (26) falling cheaply.

Misbah-ul-Haq (47) and Akmal them combined to add 94 vital runs for third wicket to revive the innings before Bangladesh's spinners took control once again.

Left-armers Abdur Razzak (3-21), Shakib Al Hasan (1-21) and Elias Sunny (2-36) tore through the rest of Pakistan's batting while off-spinner Mahmudullah returned three for four in seven balls to wrap up the tail.

No other players could reach double figures and Pakistan were dismissed with three overs and five balls unused.

Bangladesh lost Tamim Iqbal to the first ball of the reply when he was bowled by Hafeez but after the interval, they batted strongly as Shahriar Nafees (25) and Mahmudullah (35) put on 69 for the second wicket before a floodlight failure, after which they stumbled badly, slipping from 69 for one to 83 for six.

Saeed Ajmal had Nafees trapped in front and Mahmudullah fell to the same method of dismissal as Hafeez grabbed his second wicket before Mushfiqur Rahim (0), Shakib (9) and Nasir Hossain (3) then fell in quick succession to hand complete control of the game back to Pakistan.

A fighting 34-run stand between Alok Kapali, who made 12, and Farhad Reza, whose share was 21, briefly raised hopes of an unlikely comeback from the home side but once their partnership was broken by Ajmal, the end came quickly.

Malik, who became the 13th Pakistani to play in 200 ODIs by starting the game, finished it strongly by having Kapali caught by Asad Shafiq and then bowling Sunny for one and Shafiul Islam without scoring to hand Pakistan the match and the series clean sweep.

He returned three for six in four overs, Hafeez took three for 27, Abdur Rehman two for 32 and Ajmal two for six as pace bowlers Umar Gul (two overs) and Sohail Tanvir (one over) were reduced to virtually spectating on a pitch that offered plenty to the slow bowlers.

© Cricket World 2011