Career-best bowling figures from Nahida Akter (5/8) hogged the limelight as Bangladesh beat Pakistan by five wickets in the T20I series opener in Chattogram on Wednesday (October 25). It was a familiar template of modus operandi for Bangladesh who opted to bowl and used their spinners to good effect on a tacky surface. Pakistan never managed to get any sort of impetus to their innings and struggled particularly to cope with Nahida’s nagging line. The rest of the bowlers also aided her aptly to ensure that Pakistan had no leeway in their scoring.
With a below-par target to chase, Bangladesh were led by skipper Nigar Sultana and Murshida Khatun who made notable contributions. The former ensured that she was there till the end to see the team through. The chase did go down to the last over but that was more due to Bangladesh adopting an ultra cautious approach on what was a tough track to bat on. Pakistan were about 30-40 runs short of a par score and their batters were unable to adjust to the sluggish nature of the pitch.
Brief scores: Pakistan 82 in 19.4 overs (Nahida Akter 5-8) lost to Bangladesh 86/5 in 19.4 overs (Nigar Sultana 26*; Nashra Sandhu 1-16) by five wickets
