Bangladesh claim commanding 7-wicket win over Pakistan in Twenty20 series opener

Fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman rocked Pakistan for 110 before opener Parvez Hossain hit an unbeaten 50 as Bangladesh won the first Twenty20 international by seven wickets in Dhaka on Sunday.

Taskin finished with 3-22 while Rahman grabbed 2-6 in his four economical overs to dismiss the visitors in 19.3 overs for Pakistan’s lowest total against Bangladesh in all T20Is.

Parvez smashed five sixes and three boundaries in his 39-ball 56 not out to help the home team chase down the target in 15.3 overs, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Debutant Pakistan pacer Salman Mirza (2-23) jolted Bangladesh with wickets of Tanzid Hasan (one) and Litton Das (one) but Parvez and Towhid Hridoy (36) added 73 for the third wicket to ease up the chase.

It was only Bangladesh’s fourth win over Pakistan in 23 T20Is.

For Pakistan, opener Fakhar Zaman top-scored with a 34-ball 44, which included six boundaries and a six, while Abbas Afridi scored 22 and Khushdil Shah 17.

Pakistan’s previous lowest T20I total against Bangladesh was 127-5 at the same venue in 2021.

Litton admitted batting was not easy on a slow pitch.

“It’s not an easy wicket to bat on, but the way we batted, it looked good,” said Litton. “We took early wickets and that’s the key point.”

Pakistan skipper Salman Agha blamed poor batting. “It wasn’t enough on the board as we lost wickets at regular intervals which we have to talk about before the second game,” said Agha.

Sent into bat, Pakistan had a disastrous start, with half the side dismissed for 46 in the eighth over with Saim Ayub (six), Mohammad Haris (four) and Agha (three) falling cheaply.

Hasan Nawaz fell without scoring and Mohammad Nawaz made just three.

Zaman, dropped on four and 30, added 24 for the sixth wicket before he was run out after being sent back by Khushdil Shah but was caught out of his crease.

Shah and Abbas took Pakistan past the 100-mark during their 33-run stand for the seventh wicket. The remaining matches are on Tuesday and Thursday, also in Dhaka.

Agence France-Presse