Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam both scored fifty runs as Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets while chasing a total of 174.
In the sixth T20 Tri-Series match between Bangladesh and Pakistan, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan both scored fifty runs to help Pakistan defeat Bangladesh by seven wickets.
On Thursday, in the sixth match of the T20 tri-series at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and decided to bat first against Pakistan.
Pakistan overcame middle-overs jitters to defeat Bangladesh in the final league game thanks to an unbeaten 20-ball 45 from Mohammad Nawaz. Pakistan will now play New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final on Friday, while Bangladesh will head to Australia after losing all four of their tri-series games.
The platform was established by Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan with their eighth century stand in T20Is.
Nawaz’s innings, which had a 225 strike rate, was what ultimately caused Pakistan to win the match. He was able to improve his bowling statistics after giving up 37 runs in just three overs during the first inning. Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan each scored fifty to help Bangladesh reach their highest tri-series total, making Nawaz Pakistan’s most expensive bowler.
By seven wickets, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh 173 for 6 (Litton 69, Shakib 68, Naseem 2-27, Wasim 2-33) with a total of 177 for 3 (Rizwan 69, Babar 55, Nawaz 45*, and Mahmud 2-27).
SHAKIB’S STEADINESS AND LITTON’S TURNAROUND
Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain Shanto were Bangladesh’s second new opening pair, but they lost another early wicket. That brought in Litton at No. 3, but he was unable to bat for very long due to a muscle strain he experienced early in his innings.
Luckily for Bangladesh, especially with the T20 World Cup approaching, Litton’s muscle ache seemed to subside, and he and Shakib Al Hasan put on an 88-run third-wicket stand. In contrast to their previous three performances in the tri-series, their partnership allowed Bangladesh to gain some momentum through the middle overs.
From the sixth over to the fifteenth, Shakib and Litton batted together and completely destroyed Shadab Khan’s leg-spin and Nawaz’s left-arm orthodox spin.
Shakib batted until the penultimate over of the tri-series before scoring his second consecutive fifty. He moved to the spinners’ pitch with his feet and took advantage of the leg side in the slog overs. After Shakib was dismissed, however, Bangladesh could only muster six runs off the final eight balls. Wasim deserves praise for allowing just three runs in the 20th over, which allowed them to finish with 173 when they were aiming for a total above 180.
NAWAZ GUARANTEES PAKISTAN COMPLETES THE TASK
Although Babar and Rizwan raised their century stand in the 13th over, the game was still in doubt despite Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam using pace changes to force mishits from the batters.
With 53 runs given up on the day, Mohammad Saifuddin was the weak link in the Bangladeshi attack, and Nawaz and Rizwan entered the slog overs with the momentum on their side. Nawaz played the field, hitting the ball into gaps and milking a hat-trick of twos to dismiss Bangladesh in the final over even though Rizwan fell in the 19th over. He scored a boundary off the penultimate ball of the game to win it.
THE MVP: MOHAMMAD RIZWAN
The Player of the Match honour goes to Mohammad Rizwan. He begins by complimenting the Bangladeshi bowlers, saying they did a good job of bowling. They wanted to extend the game and keep the wickets in hand, praises Nawaz’s knock and claims it changed the momentum. He reveals how much he enjoys playing with Azam and how they always do some calculations before a chase.
CONCLUSION
Pakistan simply wasn’t playing at their best with the ball or on the field! Numerous opportunities went unseized, and even when the ball was in play, the lines and lengths were inadequate. In the field, they also lacked the necessary energy. Shah once again shone, but the rest were only good at times. Bangladesh, on the other hand, has a strong bowling attack.
Excellent work from Bangladesh! They may feel they could have scored a few more runs, but they have reached a respectable total. Although they lost two in the Powerplay, their start was not the best. Nevertheless, Das and Shakib batted brilliantly. They quickly added over 80 with both players scoring fifty. At bat, a score of 180 seemed likely. Except for the two, everyone else had a lot of trouble timing the ball and couldn’t get going. Bangladesh has nonetheless managed to achieve a respectable score.
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