Bangladesh’s batsmen have once again failed to set a competitive target in the third T20 against Pakistan, who are looking to sweep the series by chasing down 125.
Still looking for an effective combination in their batting line up, the hosts chose to bat at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium and posted 124 for seven on Sunday.
Opener Nazmul Hossain Shanto (5) began with a boundary but was castled by Shahnawaz Dahani (1-24) before Shamim Hossain (22) added 30 runs for the second wicket with topscorer Mohammad Naim (47 off 50 balls).
After Pakistani leg-breaker Usman Qadir (2-35) drew a topedge from Shamim to send him packing but in a counterattack, Afif Hossain stitched up 43 more runs with Naim.
As the boundaries dried up, pressure mounted on the batsmen when Afif, after clubbing two sixes over the top of midwicket, skied another from Usman for a comfortable catch at short fine leg.
Moments later Wasim took out Shanto, reducing the home side to 111 for five at the death.
Skipper Mahmudullah (13) and Nurul Hasan perished in two balls with Bangladesh struggling to reach 120 as Qadir and Wasim strangled the scoring rate, giving away just 27 in the last four overs.
Bangladesh have lost both their previous encounters due to batting failures and trail the series 2-0. The series will be followed by two Tests.
(Source: Bdnews24)
