Pakistan made it three in three as they completed whitewash against Bangladesh in three-T20I series. In the dead rubber encounter at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, Mohammad Nawaz scored a boundary off the last ball in a low-scoring thriller.
Rollercoaster last over
With eight runs needed of the final over, captain Mahmudullah took the initiative in his own hands. The skipper almost took Bangladesh home with two wickets in first three bowls of the final over. However, on the fourth ball Iftikhar Ahmed hit a big six to revive Pakistan’s chances. Needing two of two, Pakistan suffered another blow when Iftikhar was dismissed on the penultimate delivery. With two required of one ball, Pakistan clinched the final T20I in a dramatic fashion as Nawaz scored a boundary off the final ball to win the final T20I by five wickets.
Chasing 125, Pakistan got off to a slow start avoiding any risk in the powerplay overs. However, Bangladesh got their breakthrough in the seventh over when Aminul Islam dismissed skipper Babar Azam. The Pakistan skipper managed to score 19 runs off 25 balls. However, it was Haider Ali who played the anchor role with a well made 45 off 38 deliveries and opener Mohammad Rizwan who tried to play the anchor role with 40 off 43.
Baffling decision
Earlier Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah had won the toss and the elected to bat first. The decision came as a huge surprise as Bangladesh had lost both of their matches batting first. Both teams made three changes each coming into the game, Shoaib Malik wasn’t available due to personal reasons while Shaheen Afridi was rested, after he was fined by match referee for breaching International Cricket council (ICC) codes in the second encounter.
Mediocre total on board
Batting first, Bangladesh got off to a poor start as opener Najmul Shanto was dismissed in the second over by debutant Shahnawaz Dahani. On the other hand, Mohammad Naim with a 47 off 50 kept the scoreboard ticking despite wickets fell on the other end at regular intervals. Shamim Hossain and Afif Hossain scored 22 and 20 respectively, before falling to Usman Qadir. In their 20 overs, Bangladesh managed to put a mediocre 124/7 on the board.
