Dhaka [Bangladesh]: Mohammad Rizwan (40) and Haider Ali (45) starred with the bat as Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by five wickets in the third and final T20I here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on Monday. With this win, Pakistan won the three-match series 3-0 and now both teams will square off in a two-match Test series, beginning on Friday in Chittagong. Chasing 125, Pakistan started cautiously and posted only 28 runs at the end of the Powerplay. Bangladesh then got a breakthrough as the Babar Azam was dismissed by Aminul Islam in the very next over, leaving the team’s total on 32/1. Rizwan and Haider then stabilized Pakistan’s ship and got the scoreboard moving. But in the 16th over, Bangladesh broke the duo’s partnership and dismissed Rizwan on 40. The game turned on its head in the last over as Mahmudullah sent three Pakistan batters back to the dugout — Haider Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Iftikhar Ahmed — but that wasn’t enough for Bangladesh as Mohammad Nawaz hit a boundary and took his side home in the nail-biting thriller. Earlier, opting to bat first, Bangladesh lost early wickets. Opening batter Mohammad Naim played a knock 47 runs and took his side to a decent total of 124/7 in 20 overs. Brief scores: Bangladesh 124/7 (Mohammad Naim 47, Shamim Hossain 22; Mohammad Wasim Jr 2/15) vs Pakistan: 127/5 (Haider Ali 45, Mohammad Rizwan 40; Mahmudullah 3/10).
