PESHAWAR, 28 August 2003 — Javed Omar and Habibul Bashar put the Pakistan bowlers to the sword on a record-breaking first day for Bangladesh in the second Test at the Arbab Niaz stadium yesterday.
Bangladesh, without a win in their previous 22 Tests, took control at 240 for two by the close after electing to bat first on a pitch that offered nothing to the bowlers.
The Pakistan bowlers toiled hard in extremely hot conditions with the temperature soaring to 36.5 Celsius and the humidity touching 48 percent as Omar and Bashar produced a record second-wicket stand of 167.
Bangladesh lost the first Test at Karachi by seven wickets. Omar, who made 85 runs in his debut Test against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2001, grinded out 96 unbeaten runs for his side by the end of Wednesday’s one-sided play.
He slowed down considerably when he lost Bashar just after tea. Bashar missed out on a back-to-back century against Pakistan when he was declared leg before to Shabbir Ahmed three runs short of his third Test hundred.
The right hander, who scored 71 and 108 at Karachi last week in the first test, faced 167 balls and hit nine fours. But after Bashar’s departure Omar teamed up with Mohammad Ashraful (34) to put on another undefeated 60 runs for the third wicket.
The only other wicket to fall on a frustrating day for the home side was that of opener Hannan Sarkar who fell for six runs in the day’s sixth over, edging a perfectly pitched outswinger from Umar Gul to Rashid Latif.
Omar was 72 at tea and Bangladesh on 166 for one but on resumption his scoring rate slowed considerably and he displayed no urgency to get his first Test hundred before the close. His 96 runs took 286 balls although he hit 16 boundaries.
It was a big contrast to the first two sessions when he and Bashar produced their record partnership, the highest for any wicket against any country by Bangladesh since they were accorded test status in 2000.
The previous Bangladesh highest for any wicket against any country was also held by Omar and Bashar who put on 131 runs against South Africa at Chittagong last April.
Bashar has now featured in eight of the nine century partnerships recorded by Bangladesh.
Pakistan skipper Latif kept ringing the changes in the bowling hoping to unsettle the batsmen but despite all his efforts there were only two occasions in the day when the batsmen played false strokes.
Bashar, on 57 and with the total on 118 runs, offered a sharp chance to Yasir Hameed at silly point off Kaneria but he did not accept the chance. Than on 84 he played a drive at Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammad Hafeez just got a hand to the ball in the covers.
But apart from these two alarms, the batsmen were in total command as even the world’s fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar struggled in the hot and humid conditions, being used in five short spells. At one stage, he was physically sick.
Azharuddin Appeal
Against Life Ban Fails
Meanwhile, an Indian court yesterday dismissed an appeal by former Test captain Mohammad Azharuddin against a life ban from cricket imposed on him for match-fixing.
The 40-year-old, who has always maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing, was banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in December 2000 after they conducted an inquiry into a damning federal report on corruption in cricket.
“It is a disappointing thing. The petition has been dismissed,” Azharuddin’s lawyer K. Jagadeesh said.
“We have to await the copy of judgment to know the reasons.” The former player declined to comment.
The verdict was given by Justice Dasa Ramaiah of the Hyderabad civil court, where the case came up for hearing. Azharuddin has so far only been faced with disappointment in his almost three-year-old legal battle.
