Cricket: Hafeez, Nasir make 135 for opening wicket stand

DHAKA: Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed provided a sound foundation with a 135-run partnership after Pakistan were sent into bat by Bangladesh in the opening match of the Asia Cup one-day tournament here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.

This was the second century stand for the first wicket by Pakistan in the Asia Cup after 116, scored also against Bangladesh, at Karachi in 2008. Interestingly, Nasir Jamshed was also involved in that partnership with former captain Salman Butt.

Hafeez scored a brilliant 89 from 126 balls with seven fours for his 13th half-century in ODI cricket while Nasir, included in the team after a long time, made 54 for his ODI fifty.

The record for the highest opening stand in the Asia Cup was 201 set by Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh at Karachi in 2008.

In all, there were eleven instances of hundred partnerships in the Asia Cup with Sri Lanka making six followed by India (3) and Pakistan (2) while no century stand for first wicket was seen by any Bangladesh opening pair.