It was clear after the second over of the game that Pakistan had come to the Eden Gardens on Wednesday determined to make a statement. And statement they did make with an emphatic 55-run win to launch their World T20 campaign in style against Bangladesh.

A 10-ball whirlwind 18 by Sharjeeel Khan, studded with two sixes and a four reflected the plans Waqar Younis and Shahid Afridi had for the day.

When Sharjeel was stumped, going for an expansive shot off Arafat Sunny’s third delivery, Pakistan already had 26 on board in just 2.3 overs.

After 5 overs, Pakistan were 44 for 1, and it only got better.

Ahmed Shehzad chose this game to make a statement of his own, and so did Mohammed Hafeez. Both scored half centuries in a fabulous 95-run stand for the second wicket. Of the 52 that Shehzad scored, 32 had come in boundaries; Hafeez scored 40 of this 64 that way.

However, it was skipper Afridi (49 in 19 balls with four 4s, 4 sixes) who overshadowed one and all at the Eden on the day. With all guns blazing, he missed his half-century by just a whisker for what would have been the fastest by any Pakistani in T20 Internationals.

“Today’s display was important as a team,’ said Mohammed Hafeez in the post-match press conference. “We now have the winning momentum, we have confidence.”

The senior pro also talked of his captain, the under-fire Afridi. “It was great to see someone [who was] under so much pressure, to take responsibility…always a pleasure to see him perform.”

Afridi who had come to practice an hour before the match, promoted himself up the order to come in at number 4 at the fall of Shehzad’s wicket, and what a decision it turned out to be. “I don’t know whose decision it was for him to come higher up, but it was a terrific decision. He kept the momentum going,” Hafeez said, referring to the 121 the first three had scored in 13.5 overs at a little over 9 runs an over.

With the ball too, Afridi came out trumps as he picked up two wickets including that of a rampaging Sabbir Rahman (25 off 19).

In-form Tamim Iqbal and Sabbir Rahman put on 43 for the second wicket, but they both fell victim to Afridi and Bangladesh’s chase fell away. Shakib-al-Hasan though topscored with a fluent fifty, he never looked like making a game if it with Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Irfan never allowing the Bangladesh batting to take control.

“If it was 160-170, we could have done something, but 200 was very difficult,” conceded Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza.

He also said they had read the pitch wrong. “When we first saw it, there was grass and we thought we should bowl,” said Mortaza, who lost the toss.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Sharjeel Khan b Arafat 18

Ahmed Shehzad c Mahmudullah b Sabbir 52

Mohammad Hafeez c Soumya b Arafat 64

Shahid Afridi c Mahmudullah b Taskin 49

Umar Akmal c Shakib b Taskin 0

Shoaib Malik not out 15

Imad Wasim not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-1, NB-1) 3

TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs) 201

FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-121, 3-163, 4-175, 5-198.

DID NOT BAT: Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir.

BOWLING: Taskin Ahmed 4-0-32-2; Al-Amin Hossain 3-0-43-0; Arafat Sunny 4-0-34-2; Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-39-0 (1w); Mashrafe Mortaza 3-0-41-0 (1nb); Sabbir Rahman 2-0-11-1.

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal c Imad b Afridi 24

Soumya Sarkar b Amir 0

Sabbir Rahman b Afridi 25

Shakib Al Hasan not out 50

Mahmudullah Riyad c Sharjeel b Imad 4

Mushfiqur Rahim c Sarfraz b Amir 18

Mohammad Mithun c Amir b Irfan 2

Mashrafe Mortaza not out 15

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-4) 8

TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 146

FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-44, 3-58, 4-71, 5-110, 6-117.

DID NOT BAT: Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taskin Ahmed.

BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 4-0-27-2 (2w); Mohammad Irfan 4-0-30-1 (1w); Wahab Riaz 4-0-31-0; Shahid Afridi 4-0-27-2; Shoaib Malik 2-0-14-0 (1w); Imad Wasim 2-0-13-1.

RESULT: Pakistan won by 55 runs.

UMPIRES: I.J. Gould (England) and R.A. Kettleborough (England).

TV UMPIRE: B.N.J. Oxenford (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shahid Afridi.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2016