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MIRPUR: Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the first T20I of the three-match series here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium courtesy of Parvez Hossain Emon’s half century and Taskin Ahmed’s three-wicket haul on Sunday.
Chasing a modest total of 111, the tigers lost their opening two wickets in the first two overs. Debutant Salman Mirza took his first international wicket in the first over.
Tanzid Hasan (1) fell to a catch at mid-on. While Litton Das also fell for (1), caught at first slip by Khushdil Shah, leaving the hosts struggling at 7-2 in 2.2 overs.
After early hiccups, Parvez Hossain Emon and Towhid Hridoy stabilised the innings by establishing a 73-run partnership for the third wicket, propelling Bangladesh to 80-3 in just 12.3 overs.
The stand was broken by Abbas Afridi in the 12th over, when he castled Hridoy, who scored 36 off 37 balls with two sixes and two fours.
Parvez Hossain Emon continued his fine batting, scoring an unbeaten 56 and helping the side to claim victory in just 15.3 overs.
For Pakistan, Salman Mirza was the stand-out bowler, taking two for 23 in his 3.3 overs, while Abbas Afridi chipped in with one wicket.
Pakistan Innings
Earlier, after being put in to bat first, Pakistan started well when Fakhar Zaman found some early boundaries, but once Saim Ayub was removed for six, the batting line proved to be a house of cards.
Fakhar continued his aggressive batting, but on the other hand, wickets were falling at regular intervals. Mohammad Haris fell to Mahedi Hasan on four, captain Salman Agha also got out to Tanzim Hasan Sakib for just three.
The southpaw kept scoring, but the wickets continued to fall, as incoming batter Hasan Nawaz added one more golden duck to his stats, while Mohammad Nawaz was also in a hurry, scoring only three runs.
Half of the side went to the pavilion at the score of 46 in only 7.4 overs, but Fakhar Zaman and Khushdil Shah built a brief 24-run stand to give Pakistan some hope.
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Despite this, Zaman, the top scorer with 44 runs from 34 balls, including six fours and a six, was run out due to a misunderstanding with Khushdil, leaving Pakistan 70-6.
Khushdil and Abbas Afridi showed some skills in the final phase of the innings, but it was not enough to take Pakistan to a respectable target. Abbas smashed three sixes, while Khushdil tried to stabilise the innings but got out on 17 runs to Mustafizur Rahman, leaving Pakistan at 103-7 in 16.2 overs.
Taskin was called back to dismantle the lower order, dismissing Faheem Ashraf (5), running out debutant Salman Mirza for a duck, and Afridi for 22 to close the innings.
Pakistan were wrapped up for 110 in 19.5 overs, it was the first time that Bangladesh had bowled out the Green Shirts in a T20I.
The total was also Pakistan’s lowest against Bangladesh in T20Is.
Taskin Ahmed led the bowling attack with figures of 3/22, while Mustafizur Rahman chipped in with 2/6. Mahedi Hasan and Tanzim Hasan Sakib each claimed a wicket apiece.
For the unversed, the second T20I of the series will be played at the same venue on Tuesday.
Mike Hesson slams Mirpur Pitch
Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson slammed the Mirpur surface in the opening T20I, calling it ‘unacceptable’ for international cricket.
“I think (the pitch) is not ideal for anybody. Teams are trying to prepare for the Asia Cup or the (T20) World Cup. It is not acceptable. It is still no excuse for some of the decisions we made with the bat. But this pitch is not up to international standards,” he remarked.
“We got off to a little bit of a flyer. Fakhar Zaman played four or five shots. It gave us a false indication about how the surface was playing,” Mike Hesson elaborated.
“We didn’t help ourselves through the middle. We chose some poor options. When the ball started to nip through, and bounced steeply, we probably didn’t assess that it was a bit more challenging to play high-risk shots. Couple of run-outs also didn’t help,” he concluded.
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