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| Team | Played | Won | Lost | N/R | Points | NRR |
| Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +1.525 |
| Pakistan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -0.325 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1.200 |
Defending champions Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 21 runs in a Group A match of the World Twenty20.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat. Pakistan's opener gave a solid start as the pair made 142 runs for first wicket.
Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt both made 72 runs each. The two tore apart the Bangladeshi attack and it wasn't till the 16th over when Akmal departed that there was an over that did not go for a boundary, Akmal struck eight fours and a six in his 55 balls innings.
Butt, whose ability to play in the Twenty20 format was always questioned, played with purpose, his innings coming in 46 balls with eight fours and two sixes.
Bangladesh could only make 151 for seven with Mohammad Ashraful top scoring with 65 runs while skipper Shakib Al Hasan made 47.
Chasing Pakistan's 172 for three, Bangladesh were quick to lose both their openers Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal before a 91-run stand between Mohammad Ashraful (65) and Shakib Al Hasan (47) resurrected their hopes.
Sami, who was picked in place of an experienced Mohammad Asif for the match, showed heart to recover from a nervy start to end with three wickets for 29.
The start of Bangladeshi innings threatened to make it a stroll in the park for Pakistan but Ashraful and Shakib joined forces to put up a fight.
The two mixed caution with aggression as they slowly built the Bangladeshi innings and came heavily on slow bowlers especially Mohammad Hafeez (1-28) and Shahid Afridi (0-37).
Shakib's two towering sixes off Hafeez in the 14th over left Bangladesh needing just 59 runs off 36 balls. But their hopes were cut short when Shakib lofted a drive off Sami in the very next over, only to be caught by Umar Akmal at the long off.
Shakib' innings came off 34 balls and featured three fours and two sixes.
Mahmudullah, who came next, became Sami's second victim in the same over and when Ashraful was caught behind by Mohammad Aamer in 18th over, it was all but over for Bangladesh.
Ashraful's knock came in 49 balls with four fours and three sixes.
Defending champions Pakistan have dropped pacer Muhammad Asif for their Twenty20 World Cup opener against Bangladesh today after he went wicket-less in the warm-up matches.
There are also concerns that the recent financial dispute with popular actress and model Veena Malik has affected him psychologically.
"Muhammad Sami will play in his place and we have finalised the playing eleven for the opening match," he said.
Sources close to the team said the worst fears of the management had come true and Asif was definitely not at his best in the Pakistan camp.
"The public spat with Veena has definitely affected him and shifted his focus from cricket, he is struggling to regain his confidence," an insider said.
The dispute between Asif and Veena, who were in 2008 and 2009 very close to getting married, took place when Veena claimed that the fast bowler owed her around Rs 15 million.
Although a common friend stepped in to resolve the dispute between the two there was still some misunderstanding between them and Veena was unhappy that Asif had gone ahead and got married to a girl chosen by his family.
Pakistan's former leg-spinner and ex-chief selector, however, criticized the practice of announcing the playing eleven well before the match.
"I don't know why this is necessary because by announcing the playing eleven in advance you basically give away your game plan and allow the opposition to plan their strategy accordingly," Qadir said.
He also slammed the decision to not play left arm spinner, Abdul Rehman warning that Pakistan would regret this decision in the World Cup.
"On pitches which are tailor-made for spinners, Rehman should be in the eleven at all costs, in 2007 we made the mistake of not playing Danish Kaneria against Ireland and went out of the World Cup," Qadir noted.
The playing XI: The Salman Butt, Muhammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Sami, Muhammad Aamir, Saeed Ajmal.
Sat May 1 17:30 GMT 4th Match, Group A - Bangladesh v Pakistan (Match Preview)
Sun May 2 17:30 GMT 6th Match, Group A - Australia v Pakistan
Wed May 5 13:30 GMT 11th Match, Group A - Australia v Bangladesh
Each team will get 2 points for a win and 1 point for NR.
In case of a tie (i.e. both teams score exactly the same number of runs at the end of their respective innings), a super-over decides the winner. This is applicable in all stages of the tournament.
The ranking in a groupd will be decided based on following criteria:
Higher number of points
If equal, higher number of wins
If still equal, higher net run rate
If still equal, lower bowling strike rate
If still equal, result of head to head meeting.
Top 2 teams from the group will qualify for Super 8s.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
5:02 PM
