BIRMINGHAM - Fahim Ashraf has not made his international debut yet, but that might not be far away after an unbeaten 64 off 30 balls from No.9 helped Pakistan beat Bangladesh by two wickets with three balls to spare in their Champions Trophy 2017 warm-up game at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Chasing 342 after Tamim Iqbal’s 93-ball 102 had taken Bangladesh to 341 for 9 on Saturday (May 27), Pakistan were 249 for 8 in 42.4 overs when Hasan Ali joined Ashraf at the centre. The duo put an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 93 runs in 6.5 overs to complete a thrilling chase. Hasan remained unbeaten on 27 off 15 balls, and the duo hit six fours and five sixes between them.

Before Ashraf’s heroics, Shoaib Malik had kept Pakistan alive in the chase with a 66-ball 72 after they were in some trouble at 78 for 3 in 13.3 overs.

After Ahmed Shehzad (44) became the third wicket to fall, Malik added 79 runs with Mohammad Hafeez (49) at a brisk rate to give purpose to the chase.

Hafeez and Sarfraz Ahmed fell in the space of 12 runs, as Pakistan became 168 for 5 in 28.2 overs. Imad Wasim (45) was in good touch, and he added 59 with Malik.

Mehedi Hasan dismissed Malik and Wasim, and then ran Shadab Khan out to put Bangladesh ahead. But Ashraf had other plans. Earlier in the day, Junaid Khan, who finished with 4 for 73, dismissed Soumya Sarkar with the first ball of Bangladesh’s seventh over. Then, Tamim and Imrul Kayes (61 off 62) put on 142 runs for the second wicket.

Shadab had Kayes leg before wicket in the 27th over, but the stage was set for onslaught by then. Tamim and Mushfiqur Rahim (46 off 35) put on 50 at 7.50, and the runs kept coming at a handy pace from thereon.

Tamim became Shadab’s second wicket, falling in the 34th over after hitting nine fours and four sixes. But, Shakib Al Hasan (23), Mahmudullah (29) and Mosaddek Hossain (26) chipped in to take Bangladesh to what seemed like a match-winning total. Pakistan did not help their cause by bowling 16 wides and two no balls. Going into the mid-innings break, Bangladesh, who recently beat New Zealand in the last league game of their triangular series in Ireland, would have been happy with their batting effort.

When Taskin Ahmed had Azhar Ali caught behind in the fourth over, Bangladesh were truly ahead. It was, however, not to be their day.

Bangladesh play their final warm-up game against India on May 30, while Pakistan will take on Australia on May 29.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal c Junaid b Shadab   102

Soumya Sarkar c Babar b Junaid 19

Imrul Kayes lbw b Shadab            61

Mushfiqur Rahim c Shoaib b Junaid          46

Shakib Al Hasan c Shadab b Hasan            23

Mahmudullah c Shoaib b Hasan 29

Mosaddek Hossain c Azhar b Junaid        26

Mehedi Hasan Miraz run out      13

Mashrafe Mortaza c Fahim b Junaid        1

Sunzamul Islam not out 0

EXTRAS: (b1, lb2, w16, nb2)         21

TOTAL: (9 wkts; 50 overs)             341

FOW: 1-27, 2-169, 3-219, 4-247, 5-296, 6-302, 7-331, 8-338, 9-341

BOWLING: Junaid Khan 9-0-73-4, Hasan Ali 10-0-58-2, Fahim Ashraf 6-0-35-0, Wahab Riaz 9-0-68-0, M Hafeez 3-0-11-0, Shadab Khan 9-0-55-2, Imad Wasim 4-0-38-0

PAKISTAN:

Azhar Ali c Mushfiqur b Taskin    8

Ahmed Shehzad b Shakib             44

Babar Azam c Mushfiqur b Mashrafe      1

M Hafeez c Imrul b Shafiul           49

Shoaib Malik c Imrul b Mehedi   72

Sarfraz Ahmed c Sunzamul b Mosaddek                5

Imad Wasim c Mosaddek b Mehedi         45

Shadab Khan run out      7

Fahim Ashraf not out     64

Hasan Ali not out              27

EXTRAS: (b4, lb2, w13, nb1)         20

TOTAL: (8 wkts; 49.3 overs)         342

FOW: 1-14, 2-19, 3-78, 4-157, 5-168, 6-227, 7-242, 8-249

BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 9.3-0-68-1, Taskin Ahmed 9-0-80-1, Shafiul Islam 7-0-46-1, Soumya Sarkar 5-0-25-0, Shakib Al Hasan 6-0-41-1, Sunzamul Islam 3-0-17-0, Mosaddek Hossain 6-0-29-1, Mehedi Hasan Miraz 4-0-30-2

TOSS: Bangladesh

UMPIRES: R Kettleborough (Eng), P

Reiffel (Aus)

MATCH REFEREE: C Broad