Pakistan vs Bangladesh 2020: Babar Azam seals T20I series for the hosts
Scorecard:
Bangladesh: 136-6
Tamim Iqbal 65(53), Atif Hossain 21 (20); Mohammad Hasnain 2/20
Pakistan: 137-1
Mohammad Haffez 67(49*), Babar Azam 66* (44); Shafiul Islam 1/27
Skipper Babar Azam lead from the front with the bat with an unbetaen 66 alongside the experienced Mohammad Hafeez's 67* as Pakistan beat Bangladesh comfortably by nine wickets. With this win, Pakistan have already won the three-match series 2-0 and have made a statement of intent ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.
Also see – BBL Most Runs
Brilliant Start with the ball:
Bangladesh batted first but got off to a very poor start as they lost opener Mohammad Naim for a first-ball duck in the second over. The experiment of sending Mehdi Hasan up the order did not work out well and soon Bangladesh were in a spot of bother at 41-3. Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain and Shadab Khan all contributed with a wicket each.
Tamim Iqbal led the Bangladesh fightback:
While wickets kept falling from one end, Tamim Iqbal kept the other end ticking and scored a fighting half-century. He was well assisted by Atif Hossain and skipper Mahmudullah. Once Tamim got run out for 65 off 53 balls in the 18th over, all the momentum was sucked out of Bangladesh's innings. However, Aminul Islam scored two boundaries in the final over to take the total to 136.
Jittery start to the chase:
Pakistan had a clumsy start to their chase when they lost Ahsan Ali for a duck off the bowling of Shafiul Islam and gave Bangladesh an early hope.
Babar and Hafeez show their class:
After Shoaib Malik justified his selection in the T20 squad in the first game, it was time for Hafeez to prove his worth. And so he did, by scoring an unbeaten 67 off 49 balls, ably supporting skipper Babar Azam, who himself remained unbeaten on 66 off 44 balls.
Both looked comfortable at the crease and Bangladesh bowlers were given no chance to make inroads into the Pakistan batting line-up. Pakistan won the game easily by nine wickets and with 20 balls to spare. With this win, Pakistan have won the T20 series 2-0 with a game still to be played. Babar was awarded the Man of the Match award for his brilliant knock.
Babar was extremely satisfied with the team's performance and with his first series win as Pakistan's captain. These were his thoughts after the game:
"I play my game... when I look to change my game I get out. I want to continue my good form. I want to give 110% in every game for my team. I only think about my batting when I am batting (Not about captaincy). I give credit to senior players, they help me a lot in the field. We needed that victory as a team. Youngsters have done well in this series and that is important as we want more options for the T20 World Cup. We would like to give chance to players sitting on the bench in the final game."