Pakistan crush Bangladesh

Mohammad Yousuf getsfancy with a reverse sweep shot [AFP]

Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 152 runs in a shortened one-day cricket international twice disrupted by power outages.

Mohammad Yousuf posted an unbeaten 108 off 103 balls for his 15th ODI century in Pakistan’s total of 322 for five off its 50 overs.

Bangladesh, in pursuit of a revised target of 282 in 39 overs, was shot out for 129 in 29.5. Play was twice suspended due to power breakdowns at Gaddafi Stadium that kept players off the field for 48 minutes.

Before the light towers went off, left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir (3-29) rattled Bangladesh’s top order when he clean bowled Tamim Iqbal (5) and then had Shahariar Nafees (24) and Aftab Ahmed (14) caught behind.

After the play resumed, paceman Rao Iftikhar (2-16) got rid off captain Mohammad Ashraful (9) and Sakib Al Hasan off successive deliveries.

Legspinner Shahid Afridi chipped in with three late wickets for 41, including No. 10 batsman Mashrafe Mortaza, who topscored with 25.

Earlier, Yousuf hit 10 fours in his flawless century and featured in a record partnership with captain Shoaib Malik, who scored a better than run-a-ball 85.

They shared 145 runs for the fourth wicket, surpassing the 112 for the fourth against Bangladesh by former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan in 2003.

Hard-hitting batsmen Misbah-ul-Haq (38 off 27 balls) and Afridi (27 not out) also contributed late in the innings as Pakistan made 102 runs in the last 10 overs.

Pakistan set the pace

Malik won the toss and elected to bat first and Bangladesh new-ball bowlers Farhad Reza (2-41) and Mortaza (2-52) struck early.

Wicketkeeper Dhiman Ghosh, who dropped a regulation catch from Salman Butt in Mortaza’s second over, made amends when he held onto four catches.

Medium fast Reza bowled an unchanged spell of 10 overs and was duly rewarded with the wickets of openers Butt (33) and Nasir Jamshed (20) while Younis Khan chased a wide delivery from Mortaza and got a faint edge to Ghosh.

Mortaza achieved a landmark when he became only the second Bangladesh bowler after left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique to complete 100 wickets in ODIs when he had Misbah caught behind in his return spell.

Bangladesh lost its way after restricting Pakistan to 70-3 in the 18th over.

Yousuf and Malik accelerated the runscoring against part-time bowlers.

Spinner Mahmudullah Riad conceded 59 off five overs while Ashraful was hammered for 26 off two.

Malik completed his half century off 45 balls but holed out at long off from the bowling of spinner Shakib Al Hasan in an attempt to hit a six.

Yousuf completed his century when he flicked left-arm spinner Abdur Razzaq and ran a single in the 48th over.

The second game of the five-match series will be at Faisalabad on Friday.