Mohammad Nawaz turns it around to dash Bangladesh’s hopes and give Pakistan the win
Bangladesh finish competition without a win before flying to Australia for the T20 World CupPakistan 177 for 3 (Rizwan 69, Babar 55, Nawaz 45*, Mahmud 2-27) beat by seven wickets Bangladesh 173 for 6 (Litton 69, Shakib 68, Naseem 2-27, Wasim 2-33)
MOHAMMAD NAWAZ
An unbeaten 20-ball 45 from Mohammad Nawaz helped Pakistan overcome middle-overs jitters to defeat Bangladesh in the last league-stage game of the tri-nation series. His innings of five fours and one six now gives Pakistan a winning momentum entering Friday’s final against New Zealand.
BABAR AND RIZWAN
Even though Pakistan won the game by seven wickets, the game was closer than what the scorecard suggests. Half-centuries from Babar Azam (55) and (69) did set up a base in the chase of 174 with their eighth T20I century stand, however the chase was dragging thanks, in part, to some tidy bowling from Bangladesh even if they were not penetrative enough to take wickets.
But Nawaz’s innings at a strike-rate of 225 turned the chase around. It also helped him complete a personal redemption having conceded 37 runs in three overs in the first innings. He was the most expensive bowler in the first innings of the game where fifties from Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan helped Bangladesh score their highest total of the competition .PAKISTAN WIN BY 7 WICKETS TODAY
Bangladesh tried another new opening pair
Bangladesh tried another new opening pair, with Soumya Sarkar partnering Najmul Hossain Shanto, but it did not prove to be any different from their previous games. That brought in Litton at No. 3, but he suffered a muscle strain two balls into his stay, which suggested that he would not be able to bat too much longer. But, instead, that freed him up, with his running limited early on, and he relied on his timing and hand-eye coordination to dominate the young Pakistan seam-bowling attack that comprised of Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain and Mohammad Wasim. PAKISTAN WIN BY 7 WICKETS TODAY
Luckily for Bangladesh – especially with one eye on the T20 World Cup – Litton’s muscle strain seemed to go away, and he along with Shakib built through the middle overs to an 88-run stand for the third wicket that allowed the side to build some momentum, a rare facet in their batting innings in this series that has otherwise been plagued with momentum-sucking regular wickets through the middle overs in the previous three matches. PAKISTAN WIN BY 7 WICKETS TODAY
This time around, Shakib and Litton batted together from the sixth over to the 15th, dominating Shadab Khan’s legspin and Na PAKISTAN WIN BY 7 WICKETS TODAY And that’s what happened with Shakib staying on till the 19th over, who hit his second PAKISTAN WIN BY 7 WICKETS TODAY