PAK vs BAN: Nawaz's quick-fire 45 helps Pakistan beat Bangladesh

CHRISTCHURCH: Mohammad Nawaz raced Pakistan's run rate as the green shirts chased down 174 runs with seven wickets in hands against Bangladesh in T20I tri-series here today. 

Set to chase 174 runs in 20 overs, Pakistan's openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan started off with their natural game. The two openers, who are often criticized for slow run rate, once again scored runs at a lower strike rate. 

However, they laid down a solid foundation for Pakistan in run-chase by scoring 101 off 76 balls. 

Back-to-back wickets in the 13th over scared the Pakistani fans following the poor form of middle-order batting. Babar got out after scoring 55 off 40 balls including nine boundaries. 

Haider Ali went for naught as pressure built up once again on Pakistan. But, Nawaz stood strong and smashed 45 off 20 balls laced with five boundaries and a six. 

Nawaz and Rizwan scored 64 together with a major contribution by the left-handed batter. With a scoring rate of 225, Nawaz paced Pakistan's inning when needed the most.

Hasan Mahmud tool two wickets for Bangladesh while Soumya Sarkar bagged one. 

Earlier, Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das stole the show before Mohammad Wasim Jr bowled a brilliant last over for Pakistan. 

Shakib's wicket in the second last over stopped the flow of runs for Bangladesh under pressure. Wasim conceded just three runs while bagging two wickets to help Pakistan restrict Bangladesh to 173-6 in 20 overs. 

With a change in dead rubber contest of T20I tri-series, Pakistan opted to bowl first. Having nothing to lose, Bangladesh lost Soumya Sarkar earlier but Liton carried things for Bangladesh who are already out of the final match. 

Liton and opener Najmul Hossain Shanto scored 34 off 21 to provide stability to Bangladesh. Najmul scored 12 before falling to Wasim in sixth over.

Shakib then joined Liton for highest partnership of the first innings. The two batters stole the limelight by scoring 88 off 55 balls to help Bangladesh recover from 41-2 to 129-3. 

Liton scored 69 off 42 balls including six boundaries and two sixes while Shakib hit the ball to fence seven times and over the boundary rope thrice to score 68 runs off as many balls as Liton. 

Naseem and Wasim bagged two wickets each while Mohammad Nawaz took one. 

Toss

Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat first against Pakistan in T20I tri-series dead rubber here today. 

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud 

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