Spinners give Pakistan the edge

A chase that was motoring along in a fairly confident manner was jolted after an unscheduled floodlight failure in Chittagong, which disturbed the concentration of the well-set pair at the crease and brought a power-shift towards Pakistan's spinners. The slower bowlers, led by Mohammad Hafeez, undid the foundation set by Mahmudullah and Shahriar Nafees, leaving the climb to 178 a lot steeper for the middle order.

Having bowled out Pakistan early, Bangladesh had a tricky six overs to bat out before the interval. Their chase began poorly when Tamim Iqbal, struggling for runs, was foxed first ball by Hafeez.

The pressure was on, with a slip and short leg and the new ball turning and bouncing. The pair of Nafees and Mahmudullah were watchful but importantly, ensured they didn't go scoreless for a lengthy period - a factor in their previous defeats this series. Mahmudullah slogged Hafeez in the third over to get the boundary bogey off the team's back.

Nafees, also struggling to justify his spot, looked in control against the spinners, sweeping the left-arm spin of Abdur Rehman and cutting Shahid Afridi. Afridi, in his enthusiasm to get an early breakthrough, erred by firing it too flat, allowing Nafees to rock back and use the pace of the ball to fetch boundaries.

The interruption, after the 15th over, caused a downturn in Bangladesh's fortunes. Saeed Ajmal trapped Nafees lbw playing down the wrong line, before Rehman caught Mushfiqur Rahim in front of the stumps trying to sweep. Bangladesh lost their third wicket in as many overs when Hafeez got one to turn sharply to trap Mahmudullah on the backfoot. It was left to the pair of Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain to limit the damage, something they managed to do in the second game to save Bangladesh from an outright humiliation. Only this time, the target was much smaller, but on a tougher surface.

46.1 overs Pakistan 177 (Umar 57, Misbah 47, Razzak 3-21, Mahmudullah 3-4) v Bangladesh

Bangladesh gave themselves their best chance of ending the trend of one-sided matches in the series by restricting Pakistan to 177 in the final ODI in Chittagong. Playing for pride, with the series already lost, Bangladesh played to their strength - spin - and it helped them take control either side of a steady 94-run stand between Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal.

For a change, it was Pakistan battling to last 50 overs as their last-wicket pair came together in the 45th over. The procession of wickets at the start of the batting Powerplay shifted the momentum firmly towards Bangladesh, nullifying that partnership which looked ominous for the hosts at one stage. The left-arm trio of Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan and Elias Sunny shared six wickets between them, while Mahmudullah grabbed three lower-order wickets to wrap up the innings.

The spinners enjoyed a pitch that made it extra hard to get them away. The ball gripped, turned, kept low and forced the visitors to concentrate more than they've had to so far in the series. If the batsmen had a tough time getting bat to ball, spare a thought for the wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim. The Bangladesh captain struggled to deal with the tricky surface and watched shooters slip between his legs and past his gloves. By the 15th over, he had already conceded 12 byes, a Bangladesh record. Despite those spills, Mushfiqur still effected four dismissals and in the process reached the landmark of 100 dismissals.

The low bounce really tested the batsmen's technique. One such delivery from Shakib, which sneaked past the outside edge and the off stump, drew a smile from Umar. He tried to see some humour in the situation, which could help when he keeps as replacement for the rested Sarfraz Ahmed.

Pakistan knew they would be up against a sluggish pitch from the first over. Deliveries from Shafiul Islam stopped on the batsmen, as Mohammad Hafeez found out. Trying to force the ball through the infield, he ended up spooning a catch to short cover. Younis Khan started to get a measure of the pitch, playing the ball late and muscling it to compensate for the lack of pace from the surface. He too found the spinners challenging and was out edging to Mushfiqur, driving away from the body trying to break the shackles. His opening partner Asad Shafiq played right through an arm ball from Shakib.

Misbah and Umar steadied the innings, adopting a watchful approach against the spinners. Misbah opened up against Sunny, hammering boundaries to midwicket and down the ground. He also tried disturbing the bowler's rhythm by moving across his stumps to paddle, at times bringing out the reverse sweep. Umar used his feet well, though it was one of his more patient knocks as he regularly came forward to defend, smothering the spin.

Umar fetched two sixes off Nasir Hossain, using his feet for both. The tide turned when Misbah departed, making room and spooning a catch at short extra cover off Razzak. Two balls later, Shoaib Malik tried to hit himself into form by giving Razzak the charge, but closed the face of the bat and gave a return catch. A disappointed Malik had frittered another opportunity to justify his place in the side.

Shahid Afridi holed out trying to slog against the spin, and the sudden spurt of wickets left greater responsibility on Umar than he would have expected. However, he too trooped off to the pavilion before he could script another recovery, beaten for turn and bounce off Sunny. Mahmudullah triggered an early end to the innings, assisted by Mushfiqur, who by then was seeing the ball like a football in fading light.

The question remains if Bangladesh's batsmen, struggling for consistency, can overcome the most penetrative spin attack in the world.

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