The slow and low tracks in Mirpur may have stifled Pakistan’s batting, but it’s done worse for the hosts. Their captain Mushfiqur Rahim said: “I have not experienced what home advantage is in the last two series, to be honest with you. When you talk about home advantage, you expect to be playing on pitches you are familiar with, so you know what a good total would be, be it 240 or 150.” But he was also prompt to point out that his batsmen “lacked application”. They lasted just 30.3 overs in the previous game, struggled to last 20 overs in the Twenty20 game before that and even in Tests, and have largely found it tough to bat for extended periods.
Earlier, Pakistan beat Bangladesh in their first one day international cricket match by five wickets.
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, Elias Sunny, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam.
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal.
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