Bangladesh started their T20 series against Pakistan with a big win, beating the visitors by seven wickets in the first match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Parvez Hossain Emon was the star of the match, scoring an unbeaten 56 runs from 39 balls, hitting three fours and five sixes. His excellent batting helped Bangladesh reach the target of 111 runs in just 15.3 overs.
Before that, Bangladesh’s bowlers did a great job by bowling out Pakistan for 110 runs in 19.3 overs. Taskin Ahmed took 3 wickets for 22 runs, while Mustafizur Rahman was outstanding, giving away only 6 runs in his 4 overs and taking 2 wickets.
Pakistan’s batting was weak. Only Fakhar Zaman scored well, making 44 off 34 balls. Most other batters failed, with five of them getting out in single digits. Some late hitting by Abbas Afridi (22) and Khushdil Shah (17) helped Pakistan cross 100.
Bangladesh had a tough start, losing Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Liton Das for just 1 run each. Both were dismissed by young debutant Salman Mirza, and the team was struggling at 7 for 2.
But Emon and Towhid Hridoy (who scored 36) played calmly and built a solid partnership of 73 runs to take control of the match. Pakistan missed chances to turn the game — Abrar dropped a catch and Mohammad Haris missed a run-out.
Abbas Afridi finally broke the partnership by removing Hridoy, but it was too late. Emon completed his fifty with a big six and then Jaker Ali (15 not out) hit the winning boundary to seal the victory.
With this win, Bangladesh lead the series 1-0. After their recent series win against Sri Lanka, this strong performance shows the team’s growing confidence. The second match will be important as Pakistan try to come back.
