NAIROBI, Sept 2: A scintillating 81 off 51 deliveries by Mohammad Nazimuddin briefly threatened an upset but lack of support from other batsmen allowed Pakistan a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in the Quadrangular Twenty20 tournament here on Sunday. The early loss of fellow opener Tamim Iqbal did not deter Nazimuddin as he dispatched the much talked-about duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif to all parts of the Nairobi ground.

Rao Iftikhar replaced Asif as early as the sixth over but 20 came off his first over as Bangladesh went past fifty. The introduction of spin, however, paid dividends for the second time in the match as Shahid Afridi dismissed Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraful was run out in the following over.

While Nazimuddin kept blazing, Afridi picked up another wicket to dry scoring from one end. Nazimuddin was finally dismissed by Yasir Arafat after striking eight fours and five sixes taking with him back to the pavilion Bangladesh’s hopes of victory. Shoaib Akhtar returned to pick up another wicket in his final over but the Pakistan bowling attack, for the second match running, failed to dismiss their opposition after their batsmen had piled up a huge total.

Earlier, a 76-run opening partnership between Salman Butt and Imran Nazir and some firm hitting by Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi enabled Pakistan to score 191 for seven.

Asked to bat first by Mohammad Ashraful, Pakistan openers adopted aggression right from the first ball. The Bangladesh bowlers, especially Mashrafe Mortaza, were bent upon bowling short and were dealt with severely. Pakistan’s 50 came up in the fifth over which was blasted for 21 runs by Imran Nazir, including a brace of fours and sixes.

Imran was eventually run out one short of his half-century but Younis, who dealt mainly in sixes, kept the run rate close to nine an over.

The introduction of spin slowed Pakistan’s progress a tad and also brought the wicket of Salman who was cleaned up by Ashraful for 33. Shoaib Malik promoted himself up the order but only lasted six deliveries and scored 10. His dismissal, however, brought the crowd-favourite Shahid Afridi to the crease who had on Saturday blasted a 50 off 18 deliveries in the match against Uganda.

Content with giving Younis the strike, Afridi broke the shackles after being dropped by Farhad Raza when on 2. A few sixes after Younis’ dismissal (48 off 25 deliveries) gave not only the crowd more to cheer about but also gave Pakistan bowlers yet another solid platform to work with.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Salman Butt b Ashraful 33

Imran Nazir run out 49

Younis Khan st Mushfiqur b Razzak 48

Shoaib Malik c Ashraful b Farhad 10

Shahid Afridi c Kapali b Ashraful 32

Misbah-ul-Haq c Aftab b Farhad 2

Kamran Akmal c Mahmudullah b Ashraful 11

Yasir Arafat not out 2

Shoaib Akhtar not out 1

EXTRAS (W-2, NB-1) 3

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 191

FALL OF WKTS: 1-76, 2-102, 3-121, 4-147, 5-164, 6-186, 7-188.

DID NOT BAT: Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Asif.

BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 4-0-53-0; Syed Rasel 4-0-23-0 (1w); Abdur Razzak 4-0-18-1; Mohammad Ashraful 4-0-42-3; Farhad Raza 4-0-55-2 (1nb, 1w).

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal c Afridi b Shoaib Akhtar 1

Mohammad Nazimuddin b Yasir 81

Aftab Ahmed lbw b Afridi 5

Mohammad Ashraful run out 7

Alok Kapali b Afridi 19

Mahmudullah run out 9

Mashrafe Mortaza not out 10

Farhad Raza b Shoaib Akhtar 18

Mushfiqur Rahim not out 1

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-3, W-5) 10

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 161

FALL OF WKTS: 1-21, 2-69, 3-77, 4-106, 5-128, 6-132, 7-158.

DID NOT BAT: Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel.

BOWLING: Shoaib Akhtar 4-0-30-2 (2w); Mohammad Asif 4-0-36-0 (1w); Rao Iftikhar 4-0-33-0; Shahid Afridi 4-0-26-2; Yasir Arafat 4-0-31-1 (1w).

RESULT: Pakistan won by 30 runs.

UMPIRES: R. D’Mello and S.R. Modi.

MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Imran Nazir.

—Agencies