With one match to play, Pakistan have wrapped up the three-match T20I series against hosts Bangladesh, who continued on a poor run, on Saturday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first, but once again they failed to post a challenging total.
In reply to Bangladesh’s 108, Fakhar Zaman hit his seventh T20I fifty to guide Pakistan to their second consecutive win in this series. The third and final T20I of the contest will take place on Monday at the same venue.
Mustafizur Rahman removed Babar Azam in the third over of the innings, but that was the last time when Bangladesh showed some resistance against Pakistan who came to Bangladesh after losing the semifinal to Australia.
Pakistan ended up on 109 for two in 18.2 overs with Fakhar remaining unbeaten for 57 off 51 with two four and three sixes.
Fakhar was dropped by Saif Hassan at the deep when he was at 26 off 26 balls. The batter skied the ball high, Saif got enough time to take a good position but he failed to grab the ball.
Earlier, Shaheen Afridi, who was rested in the previous match, got two wickets, and Shadab Khan also scalped two. Riding on their quality bowling display, Pakistan restrict Bangladesh for 108 for seven in 20 overs.
Saif Hassan, the right-handed opener, who got his maiden T20I cap in the first match, failed again to shine. He suffered a golden duck this time.
The other opener, Mohammad Naim, amassed two runs playing eight balls. He looked uncomfortable from the beginning of the innings, and eventually fell prey to Mohammad Wasim.
In the third wicket stand, Afif Hossain and Najmul Hossain Shanto added 46. Afif looked to live on a good rhythm but he failed to carry on as he was dismissed playing a loose shot off Shadab Khan. With a four and a six, Afif added 20 off 20 balls.
Najmul ended up on 40 off 34 balls before falling prey to Shadab. Mahmudullah and Nurul Hasan continued on bad patches as they posted 12 and 11 this time.
Pakistan won the first match of the series, and another win would wrap the series for them.
When Pakistan wrapped up the series, the most memorable point of this match was a fan who invaded the field from the northern stand of the gallery. He was haunted by some groundsmen without any luck.
The incident took place after the 13th over of Pakistan’s innings. The fan ran directly to Bangladesh cricketers and bowed down to Mustafizur. However, the security men came quickly to drag him away.
This is not the first time when fans invaded the field in Mirpur. Earlier, in 2016, a fan invaded the field to reach Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the then Bangladesh captain.
Source: United News of Bangladesh