Dhaka, Nov 22 (IANS): Pakistan beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the Twenty20 International to complete a 3-0 series sweep at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday.
A sensational final over from Mahmudullah in which he scalped three wickets, gave Bangladesh a little hope but Pakistan's Mohammad Nawaz (4*) carved over extra cover for a boundary to guide his team home, while chasing 125 to win, here.
Mohammad Rizwan (40 off 43) and Haider Ali (45 off 38), too, displayed some brilliant cricket in Pakistan's hard-fought victory.
Earlier, a fine bowling by Osman Qadir and Mohammad Wasim Jr helped the men-in-green to restrict the hosts to a paltry total of 124/7 in 20 overs.
Chasing the small target, Pakistan lost their skipper Babar Azam in the sixth over of Aminul Islam. Both the Pakistan's openers were playing safe until Babar Azam tried to accelerate the scoring rate.
He picked up Aminul Islam in the sixth over and lofted him over the deep mid-wicket, unfortunately he did not get the right elevation and caught by Naim. He made only 19 runs. After the end of powerplay Pakistan were 28 for no loss.
After Azam's departure, Rizwan and Ali stitched a remarkable 51-run partnership that brought the team in a comfortable position. But Pakistan suddenly lost quick wickets including set batsmen Rizwan and Ali.
Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah had, earlier, opted to bat first. But they were again off to a poor start with Shahnawaz Dahani dismissing the opener Najmul Hossain Shanto for 5.
A decent partnership would then inculcate between Naim and Afif Hossain. They rotated the strike around in the next few overs, without showing any urgency to take the attack to the Pakistan bowlers. Afif's knock of 30 off 31 deliveries would finally come to an end, as he looked to up the ante against Qadir, attempting a slog-sweep only to find a thick outside edge.
Bangladesh lost four wickets in the final two overs including Naim (47), Nurul Hasan (4), Mahmudullah (13) and Aminul Islam (3) as Pakistan restricted Bangladesh to 124/7.
Brief scores;
Bangladesh: 124/7 in 20 overs (Naim 40, Shamim Hossain 22, Afif Hossain 20 , Mahmudullah 13, Mohammad Wasim Jr 15/2, Usman Qadir 35/2).
Pakistan: 127/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 40, Haider Ali 45, Babar Azam 19, Mahmudullah 10/3, Aminul Islam 26/1).