Opener Yasir Hameed cracked asparkling century as Pakistan cruised to a comfortable 76-run victory over Bangladesh in a group A league match of the Asia Cup one-day tournament here today. Hameed paced his innings brilliantly to record his third one-day century, a 123-ball 102, against a modest Bangladeshi bowling attack as Pakistan posted 257 for six in their allotted 50 overs at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground.Tearaway fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar then put to rest all the speculation about his fitness by producing a devastating spell to claim three for 30 as Bangladesh folded up for 181 in 45.2 overs. Mohammad Sami (2-30) and Shoaib Malik (2-41) shared the spoils. Javed Omar waged a lone battle for Bangladesh, scoring 62 off 86 balls before he was controversially ruled run out while television replays showed Shoaib Malik had disturbed the bails before collecting the ball.Middle order batsman Alok Kapali’s 28 off 27 balls provided the late sparks but the required rate by then had climbed beyond managable levels to seven an over. Omar and Mohammad Ashraful (12) provided a fairly brisk start to the Bangladeshi innings, adding 48 in 10 overs but Sami’s double blow took the wind out of their sails. Sami had Ashraful caught behind and then trapped captain Habibul Bashar plumb in front in the space of seven balls.Bangladesh never really recovered from the twin blows although the last two pairs added 31 runs and delayed the inevitable for about ten overs. Brief scoresPakistan: 257/9 (Y Hameed 102, I Farhat 28, Inzamam-ul Haq 59, Y Youhana 29 n.o, A Razzaq 2/37) beat Bangladesh 181 (J Omar 62, A Kapali 28, S Akhtar 3/28, M Sami 2/30, S Malik 2/41).
