Lahore, Apr 19: A career-best 136 by Salman Butt, and his stand of 179 with Younis Khan, propelled Pakistan to 329 for 9 in the final one-dayer against Bangladesh in Karachi.

The series has witnessed sparse crowds and today was no better, which was hardly surprising considering Pakistan have won the first four games with little resistance. A sporting wicket would have offered some respite to Bangladesh, but it wasn't to be. Shoaib Malik had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss, a move prompted by the fact that there was little chance of dew troubling the bowlers later in the evening.

The pitch had a sprinkling of grass, though it only helped to bind the cracks together. The opening bowlers, Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain, bent their backs early, hoping to get some pace and nip but the pitch was hardly cooperative. Bangladesh's only moment of celebration at the start came in the form of Kamran Akmal's dismissal, edging Mortaza to Junaid Siddique at first slip. From then on, Butt and Younis milked the bowling authoritatively.

The feature of Butt's innings was the ease with which he lofted the ball into the gaps while staying rooted to the crease. The surface wasn't by any means quick, and Butt merely stayed back, waited for the ball to come to him before powering it past the infield. Balls pitched on middle and leg were whipped to the on side, anything full and fractionally wide was driven past the infield on the offside. The outfield was lightning quick and all Butt had to do was to place it just wide of the fielders to fetch the boundary. All this meant that the margin for error was minimal for the bowlers and once again it was Butt who made them pay.

That Pakistan added 64 in the first Powerplay was a sign that another big score loomed. Younis, returning after a two-match break, started off edgily, miscuing a hook, but settled in quickly, starting with a chip for four over midwicket off Shahadat. He was his usual busy self at the crease, pushing the singles, and the pair brought up the 50 stand in 49 balls. Butt pushed a single to the onside to bring up his half-century, off just 47 balls. Bangladesh could have had him on 57 had Mortaza hung on to a difficult diving catch to his right at mid-off after the batsman had given Shakib Al Hasan the charge. To add insult to injury, Butt charged the same bowler and lofted him over deep midwicket to bring up his only six of the innings.

The introduction of the spinners did little to stem the run rate. Shakib and Abdur Razzak, the left-arm spinners, varied their lengths, pushing it in quicker, sometimes giving it more flight, but the lack of turn allowed the pair to milk the singles. Younis brought up his half-century with a reverse sweep and by then the pair had gone past Pakistan's highest second-wicket stand against Bangladesh, beating the 123 between Rameez Raja and Saeed Anwar in 1997.

Mohammad Ashraful decided to bring on his seamers in the middle overs and the move paid off when Younis fell to a miscued pull off Shahadat. Mohammad Yousuf joined Butt and the pair clattered 17 off one Shahadat over, before Butt finally fell to a well-judged catch at long-on by Shakib. Pakistan had the luxury of having enough wickets in hand and in going for more runs, they lost a few wickets in quick succession. Yousuf was caught off a top edge and Shahid Afridi failed in front of his home crowd, mis-hitting to long-off. Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq added a breakneck 52 off just 5.4 overs to take Pakistan past 300.

Bangladesh managed to pluck away at the lower order wickets but Pakistan would be happy with this score, one which would really test Bangladesh in their attempt to gain a consolation win.