Pakistani spinners exploited the considerable bounce and turn in the Mirpur pitch to subdue and wreck the Bangladesh battingr. Misbah-ul-Haq used four spinners - Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Saeed Ajmal.
Nothing went right for Bangladesh after Mushfiqur Rahim chose to bat. There was little doubt that Hafeez would take the first new ball, especially with a left-hand batsman on strike, and he had success immediately. Tamim Iqbal, having recovered from his knee injury, moved too far across his stumps and was trapped on the back foot by a delivery that darted into him from round the wicket. Hafeez's wicket maiden set the tone for the next hour.
Umar Gul had first use of the other new ball, and though there was little assistance from the pitch for him, the Bangladesh batsmen couldn't get the ball off the square. They had scored only 2 after 5.2 overs when Naeem Islam hit one past Gul to the straight boundary. He edged the next ball to slip.
Against spin, Bangladesh were simply stagnant. Hafeez tormented Shahriar Nafees, who would score only 2 off his first 23 deliveries. He found the left-hand batsman's outside edge three times - two fell short of Younis Khan at first slip, and one flew wide.
Misbah made a double bowling change, bringing on the legspinner Afridi and the offspinner Malik. It was Malik who struck first, getting Mushfiqur to edge an attempted cut to the wicketkeeper Sarfaz Ahmed. It was the extra bounce that was the Bangladesh captain's undoing. Afridi then struck twice. In his second over, the 13th of the innings, Afridi used the extra bounce to have Nafees caught at point while trying to cut off the back foot. Two balls later he bowled a legbreak that spun sharply and took the outside edge of Mahmudullah's forward defence. Bangladesh were 31 for 5 at a point.
Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain began to repair the substantial damage but they had miles to go to get the job done. They didn't. Their partnership was worth 36 when Hossain attempted to pull a delivery from Cheema that wasn't that short. He was unbalanced as he made contact and the top edge swirled towards square leg, where Sarfraz held it.
After that performance, Afridi says there's still room for improvement in his bowling. "The atmosphere is great and we are enjoying our cricket, last 3-4 years I'm focusing on my bowling, am the leading wicket-taker in last few years for Pakistan. Am enjoying myself."
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