Pakistan hit new lows in their crushing defeat against Bangladesh in the first ODI

Nahid Rana has ten wickets in ODIs; five of those came against Pakistan in the first ODI in Dhaka. Pakistan were all over the place as Rana’s pace had them hit new lows. 

Falling apart after the 1st powerplay

Being sent in to bat first, with three debutants including Maaz Sadaqat, Sahibzada Farhan, and Shamyl Hussain in their ranks, Pakistan would hardly have expected a whirlwind that would lead to their demolition.

It did not look like the visitors would be handed the beating of their lives when the innings began. The run-scoring was tediously slow, yes, but both openers, Maaz and Sahibzada, seemed to be doing decently against Rana, clocking in the 140s consistently.

It was the last ball of the first power play when things started going awry for Pakistan with Sahibzada’s departure. There were questionable shots played off peach deliveries, there were screamers too, and most importantly, the cluelessness of Pakistan was ubiquitous.

Faheem Ashraf, the top scorer for Pakistan, showed some fight and kept standing till the end. But the damage was too immense to contain for him alone.

They ended with a first-innings total of just 114, their lowest against Bangladesh in the one-day format.

Pakistan bowlers had an impossible task

They say don’t judge a pitch until both sides have batted on it, lest you wrongly vilify a team for low returns when it was the surface doing devilish things. That, however, was not the case for Pakistan. 

Bangladesh’s sound batting proved that the pitch was as fair as they come. Ten overs down, and the hosts were 81 for 1, which was also their second-highest powerplay score against Pakistan.

With a low total to defend and the surface infatuated with pacers, you would think Pakistan’s first instinct would be to be disciplined. That was the opposite of what they did. The side conceded 14 runs off just wides, with eleven of them coming in the first two overs.

Shaheen drew first blood in his second over, sending Saif Hasan packing. However, that was pretty much the only bump in Bangladesh’s seamless cruise to victory.

Pakistan eventually lost the game by eight wickets and 209 balls remaining. This was the shortest ODI game by overs bowled between Pakistan and Bangladesh ever recorded.

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