Bangladesh put up incredible resistance, eliminate top order to push Pakistan in first T20I

Gritty Bangladesh led by some superb bowling from the pace unit fought back into the first T20I after putting up a below-par total in the first innings of the game. 

Defending 128 runs on a lively pitch at Dhaka, the Tigers pace duo of Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed put up a spirited performance to send back the dangerous opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

While Rizwan (11 off 11) got his stumps rattled by a screamer from Mustafizur Rahman, Babar (7 off 10) dragged an inside edge back into the stumps while trying to guide a fuller length ball to third man.

If that wasn’t enough, Mahedi Hasan, the first change introduced into the bowling attack, caught Haider Ali plumb in front of the stumps in the fifth over reducing Pakistan to 23-3.

The final over of the powerplay resulted in a freak wicket as well, with Shoaib Malik getting run out in a lazy effort to plant his bat. Keeper Nurul Hasan’s presence of mind made sure that his accurate throw caught the veteran Pakistan international off guard and dislodge the stumps just in time before he could put his bat down.

The pitch once again played a big part in the powerplay with the pacers extracting good bounce and movement of the pitch, something that has not been seen in the recent past in Bangladeshi pitches.

At the time of writing, Pakistan were batting at 32-4 after 8 overs. Fakhar Zaman was batting at 9 off 16 balls with Khushdil Shah on the other end at 2 off 5.