In what was an absolute cliff-hanger of a match, Bangladesh suffered the blow as they were beaten by 4 wickets to Pakistan in the first of 3-match T20 series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.
After chasing a paltry total of 127, Pakistan were struggling at 40/4 after 10 overs chasing 128. Some poor shots, some lazy running, and some difficult conditions by Pakistan kept Bangladesh right in the contest, but the turnaround from Pakistan began with Khushdil Shah and Fakhar Zaman, who started to take control as their partnership went along. Bangladesh came back again, getting rid of those two in quick succession. Only to be blown away by some lusty blows towards the end.
The wicket of Khushdil made everyone think that Bangladesh were ahead going into the final three overs. But Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz produced a display of powerhitting that was almost out of place on a pitch where everyone seemed to struggle. A freak partnership of 36 off just 15 balls wrapped it all up in style. Bangladesh bowlers were not at fault, their batters need to take the blame for putting up only 127.
Meanwhile, after winning the toss, Bangladesh opted to bat first and scored a paltry total of 127. 26 runs came in the last two overs and Bangladesh and it gave some momentum going into the chase. The first part though was shambolic as the new-look top-order struggled for fluency. They were reduced to 15 for 3 in the 5th over and didn't really recover.
Afif Hossain played a nice little cameo of 34-ball 36, but his team needed more than just 36. There were useful hands from Nurul and Mahedi, as the hosts added 87 in the last set of 10 overs. For Pakistan, the return to form for Hasan Ali was welcome news and the other debutants acquitted themselves pretty well which restricted the Tigers at 127.
