June 26, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 21, 1429

LAHORE, June 25: A fine century by captain Mohammad Ashraful followed by some tight bowling led by Abdur Razzak steered Bangladesh to an impressive 96-run win over minnows UAE in the Group ‘A’ opening match of the Asia at the Gaddafi Stadium late on Tuesday night (also partly reported in Wednesday’s edition).

Set a mammoth target of 301, the UAE showed some prowess, thanks to Khurrum Khan and Arshad Ali, who batted solidly. However, their team could only post 204 in 45.4 overs before being dismissed.

Razzak was highly economical, finishing with figures of three wickets for just 20 in his 10 overs. Razzak, by claiming the prized scalp of top-scorer Khurrum, reached the 100 mark in his 69th ODI. Khurrum hit a praiseworthy 78 off 81 balls.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal run out 40

Nazimuddin c Arshad b Shah 2

Mohammad Ashraful run out 109

Raqibul Hasan c Amjad b Shah 83

Alok Kapali c and b Khurrum 1

Mashrafe Mortaza c Khurrum b Shah 3

Mahmudullah Riyad not out 8

Mushfiqur Rahim st Amjad b Khurrum 16

Dolar Mahmud run out 20

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-16) 18

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 300

DID NOT BAT: Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain.

FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-107, 3-248, 4-250, 5-252, 6-257, 7-278, 8-300.

BOWLING: Shah 10-0-49-3 (8w); Alhashmi 5-1-21-0 (5w); Javed 2-0-24-0; Tauqir 3-0-6-0; Silva 7-0-33-0; Saqib 3-0-13-0 (1w); Khurrum 10-0-78-2 (2w); Arshad 10-0-74-0.

UAE:

Amjad Javed c Iqbal b Mortaza 10

Arshad Ali c Hasan b Mahmudullah 41

Indika Batuwitarachchi lbw b Hossain 0

Amjad Ali c Kapali b Razzak 19

Saqib Ali c Hossain b Mahmudullah 10

Khurrum Khan c Hasan b Razzak 78

Vikrant Shetty b Razzak 7

Mohammad Tauqir c Rahim b Mahmud 18

Shadeep Silva c and b Kapali 7

Zahid Shah not out 5

Fahad Alhashmi b Kapali 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-8) 9

TOTAL (all out, 45.4 overs) 204

FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-16, 3-48, 4-70, 5-117, 6-134, 7-181, 8-198, 9-198.

BOWLING: Mortaza 7-1-47-1 (1w); Hossain 4.5-0-24-1 (3w); Razzak 10-2-20-3; Mahmud 6.1-0-47-1 (2w); Mahmudullah 10-0-38-2 (1w); Kapali 7.4-0-27-2.

RESULT: Bangladesh won by 96 runs.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Ashraful (Bangladesh).

UMPIRES: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Ian Gould (England).

TV UMPIRE: Zameer Haider (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: Mike Procter (South Africa).