Pak vs Ban: Pakistan clean sweep T20I series against Bangladesh in thriller

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 03 Jan 2023

DHAKA: Pakistan whitewashed Bangladesh in the T20I series after the Men In Green won the third fixture by five wickets of the three-match series in Dhaka on Monday.

In today's match, Mohammad Rizwan (40) and Haider Ali (45) played tremendously, but Bangladesh did not give up, as they mounted pressure in the death overs.

Bangladesh's Mahmudullah dismissed Sarfaraz Ahmed (6), Haider Ali (45), and Iftikhar Ahmed (6) in the last over, when Pakistan needed just eight runs off six balls.

On the last ball, Pakistan needed two runs to beat Bangladesh and Mohammad Nawaz did not disappoint, as he hit a boundary to help his team clean sweep the series.

Earlier, Bangladesh put up yet another mediocre display of batting against the Men in Green Monday, handing Pakistan a 125-run target to chase. 

Mohammad Wasim and Usman Qadir picked up two wickets each as Haris Rauf and debutant Shahnawaz Dahani took one scalp each to keep the Bangladeshi batsmen at bay. 

Opener Mohammad Naim top-scored for Bangladesh, scoring 47 runs off 50 balls. Shamim Hossain scored 22 runs off 23 balls while Afif Hossain made 20 runs off 21 balls. 

Pakistan made important changes to the squad by including former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shahnawaz Dahani (debut), Iftikhar Ahmed and Usman Qadir in playing XI for the last match in place of Fakhar Zaman, Shoaib Malik, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan. 

On the other hand, Bangladesh have also made three changes bringing in Shamim Hossain, Shahidul Islam (debut) and Nasum Ahmed in place of Saif Hassan, Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam.

Bangladesh's bowling line-up have troubled the Pakistani batters but their insipid batting has failed them and helped the Men in Green win the series.

Pakistan, 2-0 up, will be comfortable heading into today's match but skipper Babar Azam will be looking to continue the side's winning momentum. 

Skipper Babar Azam has failed to find his form in the T20 series against Bangladesh so far, failing to score big on both previous occasions. 

Iftikhar Ahmed was included in former Pakistan captain and veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik's place, who will not be featuring in the playing XI squad today as his son has fallen ill. 

Pakistan's bowlers have so far impressed in the series, with Hasan Ali doing the trick in the first T20 with three wickets while Shaheen Afridi took up the baton in the second T20, when Hasan was rested and managed to rattle the Bangladeshi batters.

Squads

Bangladesh: Mohammad Naim, Shamim Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Afif Hossain, Mahmudullah (capt), Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam, Shohidul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed

Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haider Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Shahnawz Dahani