Thrilling Match Win Seals Series for Bangladesh
After a nail-biting contest, Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by 11 runs in the series-deciding match. With this victory, the Tigers not only secured the series 2–1 but also created history. After Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s side in 2015, Bangladesh tasted an ODI series victory against Pakistan for only the second time in their history. With this series win, Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s team also climbed to 9th place in the ICC ODI rankings, surpassing West Indies.
Batting first at Mirpur on Sunday, Bangladesh collected a fighting total of 290 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. The main architect of the team’s big total was Tanzid Hasan Tamim. Forgetting the disappointment of the previous match, he played brilliantly and scored the first century of his ODI career.
Chasing the big target of 291 runs, Pakistan’s top order was burned down early by the fiery pace of Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana. The visitors were struggling badly after losing 3 wickets for just 17 runs on the scoreboard. They were almost out of the match after losing 5 wickets before reaching 100.
However, Abdul Samad and Saad Masood tried to pull the team back from the brink. After that, Salman Agha, the villain of the previous match, continued the fight almost single-handedly from the edge of collapse. Scoring a brilliant century, he made the match exciting again.
When Pakistan’s hopes of victory were growing with Salman’s batting, Taskin Ahmed appeared as the savior. Salman was defeated by a brilliant slower delivery from Taskin and returned to the pavilion, shattering Pakistan’s last hope. Eventually, the visitors were all out for 279 runs in the allotted 50 overs.
Taskin Ahmed was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh, taking four wickets alone. Mustafizur Rahman claimed three wickets. Nahid Rana took two wickets and Rishad picked up one.
