Tigers give a new account

For a brief period yesterday, Pakistan's batting seemed to breathe again. Their leader, Azhar Ali, the most dependable batsman among the lot, scored the first century by a Pakistan skipper since 2010 and gave the visitors a good start at Mirpur.

His 101 was built on two vital 90-plus partnerships and took the visitors' score past the 200-run mark by the 39th over. He looked calm and composed and pounced on the loose deliveries.

However, despite the initial thumping, the Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and company barely looked worried. The bowlers went about their merry way, almost as though they were expecting the Pakistanis to collapse.

While the Tigers' confidence levels may be riding high on the back of the series victory, the stability they showed during those comparatively trying moments though isn't something that they are used to; especially against a side like Pakistan.

In the 39th over Pakistan were cruising at 202 for 2. On any other day they would have gone on to make a score past 300 and in all likelihood won the game; at least that's what the statistics suggest.

Pakistan have posted 300-plus totals nine times against Bangladesh and on every single occasion they crossed the 200-run mark by the 40th over. Yesterday was one of those rare passages of play, which witnessed Pakistan crumble for just 250 and the entire credit goes to the way the Tigers bowled.

The fielding especially seemed a step-up from the rest of the games. Nasir Hossain's diving catch at deep mid-wicket to dismiss Fawad Alam was the highlight of the first innings.

As soon as Fawad swept Mashrafe, Nasir was on the prowl. Not for a second did he take his eye off the ball. As the ball dipped near the boundary line, he made a final sprint, held on to it and ended up with a rough landing on his knee.

That tremendous catch, in a sense, described Nasir's tale in ODI cricket thus far. From being dropped and written off prior to the World Cup due to his lacklustre form to playing a series of brilliant domestic knocks to return in the brink of the mega event, he has clearly overcome a huge struggle; and his whole-hearted performances on the field suggest that he doesn't want to go back.

Although he didn't get an opportunity to display his batting skills in this series, he made up for it with his bowling and fielding. His bowling especially has seemed to make remarkable progress.

He was given the ball within the first 10 overs by Mashrafe in a bid to plug the runs; a move which the skipper had tried against India in the quarterfinals of the World Cup as well.

Having spent a difficult few months outside the national team, Nasir seems to be back with a vengeance to not only do well but also excel in all the three formats.

Nasir's all-round performance was equally matched by Shakib Al Hasan. Not only did he bowl the most economical figures yesterday, but also he displayed great awareness on the field to get Umar Gul run-out. It was his quick pick-up and throw at the non-striker's end that left Gul stranded mid-way.