Pakistan beat Bangladesh in the opening match

Bangladesh VS Pakistan
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As part of preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup, the New Zealand Cricket Board has arranged a tri-nation series with Bangladesh and Pakistan. The series started today with the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at Hagley Oval, where Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 21 runs.

Toss: Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bowl first.

Rizwan keeps his consistency.

Mohammad Rizwan, the No.1 batsman in the T20 format, and Babar Azam got a good start for Pakistan. Mohammad Rizwan kept his consistency in this match as well. Today, Rizwan made a brilliant partnership of 52 runs with Babar Azam. However, their partnership broke in the 8th over as Babar Azam lost his wicket to Mehedy Hasan after scoring 22 runs.

After that, Shan Masood joined Rizwan at the crease. Both batters looked confident on the pitch. However, both batters were playing slowly. But Mohammad Rizwan eventually became aggressive against the Bangladeshi bowlers. With Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan added another 42 runs on the scoreboard.

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Although Shan Masood departed the crease with 31 runs, Mohammad Rizwan continued picking runs. He remained not out in this match. Moreover, Rizwan scored the highest 78 runs for the team. Relying on his bat, Pakistan scored 167 runs in 20 overs.

Bangladesh failed to get a good start

Bangladesh have been suffering on the opening wicket for many years. The team management experimented with many players on the opening wicket, but everyone failed to get a good start. Today, spinner Mehedy Hasan Miraz started the innings with Sabbir Rahman. But they couldn’t play more than five overs against Pakistani pacers.

Mehedy Hasan departed the crease after scoring only 10 runs. Sabbir Rahman also lost his wicket, scoring only 14. However, Liton Kumar Das tried to settle down on the pitch. He made a partnership of 50 runs with Afif Hossain. But Mohammad Nawaz broke their partnership as he picked up Liton Das in the 13th over. Moreover, Nawaz got another wicket in the same over.

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However, Yasir Ali fought for his life to chase the target. In the middle order, he played a vital role. He hit five boundaries and two over boundaries. But, his unbeaten 42 runs couldn’t avoid defeat against Pakistan. Pakistan tied up Bangladesh by 146 runs. Therefore, Pakistan started the tri-nation series with a victory.