NZ T20I Tri-Series 2022: The tri-series between Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Newzealand is on. The first match of the series is between Pakistan and Bangladesh. The two teams squared off in an epic battle where Pakistan emerged the winner by 21 runs.
Let’s Take a Look at The Highlights:
Pakistan Batting First
Pakistan amassed an amazing total of 167 thanks to Rizwan’s brilliant knock. Although it is not a winning total, Pakistan’s bowling assault can hold it down. At first, Babar Azam’s first shot was rusty, but his partner made sure to make up for it. Masood was having trouble at first, but as soon as he left the game after appearing in a cameo, his strike rate substantially increased.
However, Rizwan continued to play aggressively, hitting boundaries at regular intervals throughout the entire innings. The spinners from Bangladesh were quite frugal, but Taskin Ahmed stood out as the best bowler since he grabbed a few wickets and seldom gave anything away.
Bangladesh’s Failed Chase
Despite Rauf’s final over, Pakistan easily won the match because they maintained control while defending 167 and didn’t give up much. In the batting powerplay, the new-ball bowlers struck twice, dismissing both openers. Afif and Litton fought valiantly as they put up a third-wicket partnership of 50 runs. Then, however, a well-known Bangladeshi collapse happened.
The chase was all but gone as they dropped from 87 for 2 to 101 for 6. Yasir Ali spent some time honing his batting techniques, produced some exquisite strokes, and made sure the loss margin was 21 runs. With the ball, everyone contributed, and Mohammed Wasim Jr. finished with 3 wickets.
The tussle between Bangladesh and Pakistan was inevitable, and Shakib’s absence didn’t make things any easier for them. However, Babar’s team has gained ground and will now play New Zealand in a D/N game tomorrow.
What the Captains said
Babar Azam, the winning captain looked happy with the team’s performance. He said, “I am very happy, winning gives us a lot of confidence, we started and finished well. We were happy as a batting group, our plan was to get around 50 runs in the batting PP. Shan (Masood) and Rizwan batted well, he stayed till the end and took us to a good score. The wind was a factor and the bowlers used it to good effect. Every match is a big game, we will look forward to the opportunity of playing against good teams.”
Nurul Hasan, the losing captain talked about the team’s effort. He said, “Disappointed, the wicket was good, but I think we need to improve in a few areas. The bowlers did well, but we can tweak in a few areas, but then we lost too many wickets in the middle. Litton and Afif batted well, so did Yasir, they’re some positives. Taskin bowled well and took a few wickets for us.”
