- Advertisement -
Muhammad Naeem Khan Niazi
LAHORE, May 29 (APP):A strong bowling performance by Hasan Ali and an all-round show by Shadab Khan reduced Bangladesh to 164-10 in pursuit of 202 runs as Pakistan won the first T20I of the three-match series by 37 runs at the Gaddafi stadium here on Wednesday night.
Returning to the national colours after a lapse of almost one year, Hasan Ali claimed the best bowling figures with a maiden fifer (5-30) in T20Is as bowled with pace, precision and used variations to his advantage. Hasan Ali, in the post-match conversation with presenter Zainab Abbas, thanked the PCB for his fully supporting him in his rehabilitation.
Bangladesh had a similar start like Pakistan as they lost two wickets within the first power-play but a 63 runs partnership between Towhid Hridoy 17 (22) and captain Litton Das 48 (30) for the third wicket kept the Bangladesh tigers in contention but with the fall of Litton Das in the 12th over and the team total at 100 made the target an uphill task for the visitors.
Opener Tanzid Hasan 31 (17) had played a blistering knock at the top but he could not maintain the momentum and lost his wicket to a variation by Hasan Ali. He hit two boundaries and three 6s in his short stay at the crease. Litton Das and Towhid played contrasting innings but Litton fell for 48 in an effort to catch up with the required run-rate. He also hit three 6s. No other batter except Jaker Ali 36 (21) could face the consistent bowling by Pakistani bowlers and the whole team crumbled to 164-10 in 19.2 overs.
Hasan Ali was the pick of the bowlers who claimed five wickets for 30 runs in 13.2 overs while Shadab Khan picked a brace for 24 runs off his four overs. Faheem Ashraf , Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah picked one wicket each while Abrar Ahmed and Haris Rauf remained wicketless.
Earlier, aggressive knocks from captain Salman Ali Agha 56 (34) and Hasan Nawaz 44 (22) took Pakistan out of trouble with a 65 runs partnership off 32 balls for the fourth wicket after they had lost both openers Saim Ayub 0 (1) and Fakhar Zaman 1 (4) by the second over with the team total at 5-2. Mohammad Haris 31 (18) looked in good touch but fell in the seventh over with team total at 53-3.
Salman Agha hit eight boundaries and six in his knock while Hasan Nawaz carried his form from the Pakistan Super League and hit two boundaries and four lofty 6s in his aggressive knock. Salman Ali Agha fell in the12th over with total at 118-4.
All-rounder Shadab Khan, when Pakistan needed the most, played an aggressive knock of 48 (25) laced with five boundaries and two 6s and helped to the take the team total beyond 200. It was Pakistan’s first 200 run total in a T20I at the Gaddafi stadium.
Shadab Khan was adjudged player of the match for his all-round performance in the match.
Shoriful Islam was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh who picked two wickets for 32 runs off his three overs. Rest of the five bowlers used by Litton Das picked one wicket each with the figures: Mahedi Hasan 4-0-36-1, Hasan Mahmud 3-0-24-1, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 2-0-22-1, Rishad Hossain 4-0-55-1 and Shamim Hossain 4-0-31-1.
Pakistan will face Bangladesh in the second T20I of the series at the same venue on May 30 (Friday) at 8 pm. Pakistan lead the three -match T20I series 1-0.