Mohammad Rizwan and captain Babar Azam shared a 101-run opening partnership as Pakistan edged Bangladesh by seven wickets with one ball remaining Thursday at the New Zealand Twenty20 cricket tri-series. This was their 8th-century partnership in T20Is. They now have the most 100 and 50-plus stands in the T20I. They have also been rated as the most dangerous opening pair by the ICC for the T20 World Cup 2022.
Babar scored 55, and Rizwan added 68 to help Pakistan surpass Bangladesh’s total of 173-6. Pakistan lost Babar’s wicket and another in the 13th over and had to rely on Mohammad Nawaz’s unbeaten 45 off 20 balls to secure the victory.
Bangladesh had a disastrous start to their innings when opener Soumya Sarkar returned early. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan and vice-captain Litton Das hit half-centuries as they held off Pakistan’s bowling attack to post an 88-run partnership.
Shakib then kept up with Das as they moved the scoreboard at a breakneck pace in the middle overs, taking the total to 129 in the 15th over before Nawaz removed Das.
The match was the last in the round-robin section of the tri-series and came after the tournament finalists already had been determined. Pakistan and New Zealand will meet in the final on Friday.
Bangladesh finished the tournament without a win but still picked up some momentum ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia later this month. The team’s total on Thursday was its best of the tournament and its third-best against Pakistan in a T20 international.
