da aposte e ganhe： Right arm leg spinner Danish Kaneria, debutant Taufiq Umer and veteranSaeed Anwar shared limelight on the opening day as Bangladesh foundout the harsh realities of top level cricket in the Asian TestChampionship opener at the Multan Cricket
da heads bet： Samiul Hasan30-Aug-2001Right arm leg spinner Danish Kaneria, debutant Taufiq Umer and veteranSaeed Anwar shared limelight on the opening day as Bangladesh foundout the harsh realities of top level cricket in the Asian TestChampionship opener at the Multan Cricket Stadium Wednesday.Watched by around 12,000 spectators, the 20-year-old Danish, playinghis third Test, captured six for 42 – his Test best figures – to helpPakistan spin out Bangladesh for a paltry 134 some 40 minutes beforetea.Later, 20-year-old left-handed opener Taufiq Umer carried on his fineform by celebrating his Test debut with a strokeful and attractiveunbeaten 77 as Pakistan finished the opening day’s play at a healthy219 for two from 46 overs, a lead of 85 with eight wickets in hand.Veteran Saeed Anwar also had reasons to smile on a hot and humid daywhen he became the sixth Pakistan batsman to complete 4,000 Test runswhile reaching 49 on way to a scoring a fluent almost run-a-ball 101.It was his 11th century and first in 11 innings from seven Tests. Hislast was against Sri Lanka in Galle last year.Saeed, the 33-year-old playing his 55th Test, smashed 17 blisteringboundaries and a six before falling to 16-year-old Mohammad Sharif.Trying once too often to play his elegant wristy on-drive, theenigmatic former captain, was caught at square leg by Hasibul Hossain.Faisal Iqbal failed to take advantage of heaven sent opportunity ofgetting some runs under his belt. The 19-year-old was bowled by Sharifto a delivery that kept low and crashed onto the stumps after takingthe inside edge of the bat.Danish bowled exceptionally well and pushed the ball in the air whilepicking up his wickets in just 13 overs. He was devastating, mean andbowled with purpose.The leg spinner got the ideal start which a wrist spinner wants toapply the pressure and pick the line as early as possible. An overpitched delivery was belted by opener Mehrab Hossain but Faisal Iqbalpicked up an extraordinary reflex action catch at silly point. Catcheslike this are not seen too often and only shows the brilliant reflexesFaisal has.From then on, there was no stopping Danish as he mixed up hisdeliveries intelligently and spun the ball from the right areas.Danish, who also had a successful tour of Sri Lanka with Pakistan ‘A’in May-June, has the spark of becoming a successful wicket-taking legspinner. He, however, received support from over-ambitious and illplanned Bangladesh batsmen who looked in a hurry and decided to throwtheir wickets rather than making full use of batting first afterwinning the toss by keeping themselves cool and composed.Their batting display was a reflection of the bad habits they havecaught by playing 42 one-dayers against three Tests. But surely whenthey will play more longer duration of games, they will also learn theart of occupying the crease and punishing the loose balls.Off-spinner Shoaib Malik, who also earned a Test cap, picked up twocheap wickets while Waqar Younis who made the early breaks accountedfor two. Wasim Akram remained wicketless in his 10 overs but he shouldconsider himself unlucky when Saeed dropped a waist-high catch in thefirst slip. The former captain, who was as mean as ever, could havebeen a different bowler had Saeed not showed greasy palms.Taufiq Umer, who stroked a masterly 113 against the same side in thethree-dayer, matched Saeed Anwar with stroke by stroke.The trademark of Taufiq’s innings was his ability to stroke boundariesin front of the wickets. Bulk of his 11 boundaries were eitherstraight or through the covers as he fully cashed in on the halfvolleys and over-pitched stuff hurled by the tourists.Taufiq was as confident against pacers as against the slow bowlerswhen he worked them around to maintain the flow or runs. His alsodisplayed his hunger for big innings when he became cautious afterreaching his half century from 55 balls with nine boundaries. Atstumps, he had faced 123 deliveries and looks well poised to becomethe eighth Pakistani to score a century on debut.
