Mohammad Rizwan continued his rich vein of form as Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 21 runs to win the first T20I of the seven-match tri-series at the Hagley Oval on Friday. Having won the toss and choosing to bowl first, Bangladesh failed to chase down the required 168-run target.
Rizwan, who had finished as the highest run scorer during Asia Cup 2022, and had also impressed in the recently concluded 7-match T20I series against England at home, picked up from where he left off, scoring an unbeaten 78 run knock in 50 balls.
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Shan Masood also contributed 31 runs, while skipper Babar Azam could only muster up 22 runs in 25 balls. The Men in Green scored 167 runs in their respective 20 overs, but they successfully restricted the Bangla Tigers to a score of 146 runs.
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Yasir Ali's unbeaten 42-run inning was the pick of the lot, however, the Pak pacers, including Mohammad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz breathed fire with the ball as they combined for five wickets between them.
Pushed into batting first, Rizwan and captain Babar Azam (22 off 25 balls) added 52 runs for the first wicket in 7.1 overs. The ever-consistent opener, who hit his sixth half-century in last eight T20I innings, then added 42 more runs with Shan Masood, who made 31 off 22 deliveries.
Shan Masood (31 off 22) was Pakistan's other key contributor, as Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali couldn't contribute much to reduce the tension around Pakistan's fragile middle order. Despite this, Pakistan managed to score 51 runs off the last four overs to post a competitive total against Bangladesh, playing without talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.
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In defence of their total, Pakistan pacers were too hot to handle for the Bangladesh openers in the first six overs. Wasim struck in the fifth over as he dismissed Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 10. In the next over, Sabbir Rahman fell for 14 after a simple caught and bowled dismissal off Haris Rauf.
Litton Das made 35 off 26 balls before Nawaz dismissed him and Mosaddek Hossain on successive deliveries in the 13th over. Afif Hossain made 25 off 23 balls while Yasir Ali top-scored for Bangladesh with 42 not out off 21 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes.
After dismissing Taskin Ahmed and Nasum Ahmed on the first two balls of the penultimate over, Wasim finished with impressive figures of 3/24 while Nawaz returned with figures of 2/25 in a collective bowling performance for Pakistan where all bowlers kept their economy rate below 10 despite a 20-run final over.
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Pakistan will be next seen in action when they take on hosts New Zealand tomorrow in the second match of the tri-series.
With inputs from IANS
