Sports

Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 21 runs in first match of Tri-series

CHRISTCHURCH – Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 21 runs in the first match of the tri-series at Christchurch cricket ground on Friday.

Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and restricted Pakistan to 167/5. Pakistan’s ace batsman Mohammad Rizwan remained the top scorer with 78 not out, Shan Masood scored 31 runs while captain Babar Azam made only 22 runs.

Bangladesh’s Taskin Ahmed bagged two wickets.

In reply, Bangladesh only managed to score 146 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Mohammad Wasim Jr picked up three wickets, while Mohammad Nawaz bagged two wickets.

New Zealand is also playing the series, which is part of their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Australia 2022 preparations. Pakistan will face off the host team on Saturday.

In the second round of matches, Pakistan will play New Zealand and Bangladesh on 11 and 13 October, respectively with the final scheduled for Friday, 14 October.

Squads:

Pakistan: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani

Bangladesh: Nurul Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan, Afif Hossain, Musaddek Hossain, Liton Das, Yasir Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed. — (Agencies)