Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal hit back-to-back century against touring Pakistan to seal the three-match One Day International series thrashing the visitors by 7 wickets in the second match in Dhaka on Sunday. This is eighteen One Day International series win for the Tigers, first time against the rivals. Pakistan scored 239 runs for 6 wickets in 50 overs after skipper Azhar Ali won the toss and decided to bat first at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. In reply, Bangladesh reached the target in 38.1 over for 3 wickets. Tamim who hit a century in the first match which Bangladesh won by 79 runs, also got his fifth ODI century to seal the series. The 26-year left hand batsman smashed the century off 108 balls hitting 16 fours. Tamim was unbeaten scoring 116 runs off 116 balls hitting 17 fours and 1 six. Mushifiqur Rahim also bagged his 22nd half century in the match and scored 65 runs off 70 balls smashing 8 fours and 1 six. The duo made a 118-run partnership in the 3rd wicket. Earlier, Tamim and Soumya Sarkar started chasing the 240-run target in an aggressive mood. Soumya smashed three consecutive fours in the first three deliveries of third over bowled by Junaid Khan. However, the 22-year left-hand batsman was caught behind in the 5th delivery. He scored 17 runs off 11 balls with 4 boundaries. Bangladesh piled up 50 runs in 6 overs. Aggressive Tamim played only 31 balls to complete his fifty smashing 12 fours. Bangladesh’s 100 came just in 14 overs. Tamim-Mahmudullah added 78 runs off 68 balls in the second wicket partnership. However, Mahmudullah (17) was bowled by Saeed Ajmal in the first delivery of 15th over. Tamim and Mushifiqur Rahim then started playing cool cricket. Their second 100 came in 20 overs. Tamim finished the game with Shakib who added 7 runs. Earlier, Pakistan skipperAzhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed opened batting for Pakistan. They put 36 runs on the scoreboard off 43 balls. Bangladesh pacer Rubel Hossain made the first strike after he was called to bowl in the 7th over of the innings. Rubel got Sarfraz (7) caught at slip by Soumya Sarkar. In the next over, spinner Arafat Sunny bowled Mohammad Hafeez for a duck. Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan came to action in the 16th over of the innings. He got Azhar (36) caught by Mushifiqur Rahim behind the stamps in the 3rd delivery. Nasir Hossain then bowled Fawad Alam for a duck in the 17th over. Shakib struck again and made Mohammad Rizwan (23) LBW in the 22nd over. Haris Sohail and Saad Nasim then added 77 runs in the 6th wicket partnership to take the score from 77/5 to 154/6. However, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza who is back on the field after a match suspension struck in the 39th over to break the partnership. Sohail was caught by bowler Mashrafe himself. He scored 44 runs off 61 balls hitting one four and one six. Nasim, who is playing his second ODI, bagged his maiden half-century off 70 balls. He then made another 85-run unbeaten seventh-wicket partnership with Wahab Riaz. Nasim was not out at 77 off 96 balls hitting 6 fours and 1 six while Wahab Riaz 51 off 40 with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Shakib finished his 10 overs bowling with 2 wickets for 51 runs. Nasir, Rubel, Sunny and Mashrafe got a wicket each. Bangladesh won the first ODI at the same venue by 79 runs on last Friday. The last match of the series will be held at the same venue on April 22.
