Pakistan thrash Bangladesh to seal series

Bangladesh have lost the three-match T20 series against Pakistan with one match still to go. After losing to the UAE last week, the Tigers faced a similar fate against Pakistan.

In the second match of the series held on Friday, Bangladesh lost by a big margin of 57 runs.

Chasing a huge target of 202 runs set by Pakistan, Bangladesh started well but couldn't maintain the momentum. At the beginning of the innings, Tanzid Hasan Tamim scored a quick 33 runs off 19 balls. However, after his dismissal, Bangladesh’s batting lineup collapsed. Litton Das (6), Parvez Hossain Emon (8), Towhid Hridoy (5), and Jaker Ali (0) all failed. Only Mehidy Hasan Miraz tried to fight back, but his 23 runs weren’t enough for the team.

Pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib was the only shining light with the bat. He scored his first international T20 fifty off 31 balls. Remarkably, it was the first time a number nine Bangladeshi batter scored a T20I fifty, making it a special milestone. Thanks to his effort, the visitors reached 144 runs, slightly reducing the margin of defeat.

Eight bowlers were used by Pakistan, and seven of them took wickets. The most successful was leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, who took 3 wickets for just 19 runs in 4 overs. Shadab Khan, Saim Ayub, Khushdil Shah, Haris Rauf, Faheem Ashraf, and Hasan Ali each took one wicket. Only captain Salman Ali Agha went wicketless.

Earlier, after winning the toss and choosing to bat in Lahore, Pakistan scored 201 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs. Although opener Saim Ayub (4) got out early, Fakhar Zaman (74) and Mohammad Haris (41) built a strong partnership. Later, Nawaz played a stormy innings of 51 runs to help the team reach a big total.

For Bangladesh, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Hasan Mahmud took 2 wickets each, while Rishad Hossain took 1. The rest of the bowlers gave away too many runs and failed to take wickets.

With this defeat, Bangladesh have now lost two series in a row. After the UAE loss, they couldn’t compete well in this series either. Their performance in batting, bowling, and fielding has been extremely poor.

Although the series is already lost, Bangladesh will aim to save some pride in the third and final match on June 1.