Bangladesh are on cloud nine at the moment, having registered their elusive first win against Pakistan since their giant-killing moment 16 years ago. They achieved the feat by beating the visitors by a convincing margin of 79 runs in the opening game of the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, reports cricketcountry.com.

Bangladesh however, cannot afford to go complacent following the historic victory, and must prepare harder than ever in order to justify their tag as the series favourites, which was bestowed upon them even before the Pakistan landed in the country. The hosts now hold a chance to win the three-match series after their return to international cricket following a quarter-final exit from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

For Bangladesh, every department performed relatively to satisfaction in the first ODI, with the batting department shining the brightest. The top-order duo of Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim showed great maturity during their landmark partnership of 178 runs for the third-wicket, a record for Bangladesh for any wicket. Shakib Al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman ensured that their side finished on a score well beyond 300 with some powerful hitting in the death overs.

Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah, who were among the most successful batsmen during the World Cup, turned out to be disappointments after getting dismissed for 20 and five respectively. While Sarkar was a victim of some irresponsible running between the wickets, Mahmudullah missed the line of a Rahat Ali delivery completely as he attempted to heave the bowler over the covers.

Despite the mishit, Mahmudullah may not necessarily lose his spot in the second one-dayer to Mominul Haque. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, who missed out on the first game due to a one-match ban imposed on him, gave Mahmudullah an opportunity after a couple of average outings during the group stage of the recent mega-event and the batsman returned the favour handsomely in the form of back-to-back centuries against England and new Zealand.

In the bowling department, youngsters Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed impressed with three wickets apiece. They will be a valuable assets for  Mortaza in the second game as well as a result. Rubel Hossain was relatively economical with figures of one for 45 in eight overs, including a maiden. Among the disappointments with the ball were Abul Hasan and Nasir Hossain, with one of them expected to pave way for the return of Mortaza.

For Pakistan, the only bright aspects in the game was another hostile spell of fast bowling by Wahab Riaz,  half-centuries by the new ODI skipper Azhar Ali (72) as well as Haris Sohail (51) and debutant Mohammad Rizwan (67). Riaz was able to extract a generous amount of swing during his spell, which helped him grab four wickets for 59 runs and troubling Tamim and Rahim in the process.

He was however, the only one to put up a fight among the bowlers, with comeback boy Saeed Ajmal, who first displayed his remodeled action during the 11th over of the Bangladesh innings, conceding 74 runs without taking a wicket from 10 overs. Poor fielding too proved to be an old thorn for the Pakistanis, with several missed opportunities causing the game to slip out of their hands.

Ajmal along with the rest of the bowling attack will have to improve their show as well as provide able support to Riaz in the second game if they are to keep themselves alive in the series. The fielding will be a crucial factor for the team to work on as well. With the game scheduled to take place in the same batting-friendly venue of Dhaka, batting first after winning the toss in order to let the batting order perform their task without pressure would sound like an ideal decision for both sets of players. Also, Ehsan Adil has been replaced by Umar Gul in the squad and the latter may get a chance in Sunday’s clash.

Squads:

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Rony Talukdar, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Abul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Arafat Sunny

Pakistan: Azhar Ali (c), Sami Aslam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood, Saeed Ajmal,  Zulfiqur Babar, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan.