Pakistan crashed to a heartbreaking 8-run defeat at the hands of Bangladesh. With this defeat, Pakistan also lost the series for the first time to Bangladesh in T20Is. While the Tigers celebrated the win last night, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Pakistan as they were left to rue what might have been. Here, we will list out three main reasons for Pakistan’s heartbreaking loss to Bangladesh.
Batting collapse in the powerplay derails Pakistan
Chasing 134 for a series-levelling win, Pakistan hoped to get off to a solid start to lay the platform. But what they got was utter disaster. A run out happened to kick things off and the players came and went with no one sticking around. The top order failed as a whole and lost truckloads of wickets in the powerplay. Pakistan were reduced to 15/5 inside 5 overs and the powerplay score was 17/5 in 6 overs.
When you lose more than 3 wickets in the powerplay, you seldom win that game and in this case, the top order for Pakistan was literally blown away in the powerplay. From here, it was difficult to compete even in a 134 chase. Credit to Faheem Ashraf, Abbas Afridi and even Ahmed Daniyal to give Bangladesh a massive scare. But they held their nerves as it was a bridge too far for the Men in Green.
The collapse of the top order has been a recurrent theme for Pakistan as in the first game, the top order fell away apart from Fakhar Zaman. Even he fell cheaply in this game. To succeed, one needs the top order to perform and not collapse like a pack of cards. If Pakistan are to avoid the whitewash, they need to address and rectify this issue at the earliest.
Inability to dismiss Jaker Ali pegs Pakistan backÂ
Bangladesh did not have it all their way as Pakistan reduced them to 28/4 inside the powerplay. But after being in this position, they couldn’t push through and create further inroads. They allowed Jaker Ali to first build a stand with Mahedi Hasan of 53 off 49 balls for the 5th wicket to recover from a precarious position. Then he kept on adding crucial runs with the tail to take the score past 130.
Jaker scored 55 off 48 balls and made sure Bangladesh bat out 20 overs and he was ably supported by Mahedi Hasan who scored an invaluable 33 off 25 balls. It meant Bangladesh went to a par score rather than a modest score and gave bowlers something to bowl at.
Pakistan needs to be more incisive in their bowling and drive home the advantage should they be in a similar position. They should not let the opposition off the hook considering their fragility in their batting. So, this is an area they need to look at but not overtly worry about.
The failure of Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, and Salman Ali Agha hurts PakistanÂ
Senior players are expected to stand up with the series on the line especially if you are 0-1 down in the series. But on this occasion for Pakistan, it did not happen as the seniors failed to step up to the plate. While Fakhar scored a nice 44 in Game 1, he too failed in Game 2. The other two have failed in two consecutive games. Saim Ayub ran himself out for 1 off 4 balls. Zaman scored 8 off 8 balls while the captain played 23 balls for 9 runs before getting dismissed.
These are not returns to be proud of as senior players. They need to contribute to the team and not be walking wickets. Run outs cannot happen all the time. Ayub and Salman are now senior players in this format and must take more responsibility. Fakhar is in any case a senior player and knows that. Taking more responsibility will help Pakistan arrest this shock loss.
‘Going forward to the remaining game, one will want Pakistan to step up to the plate with bat in hand and seniors like Fakhar, Saim and Salman to lead the way and set it up for the bowlers. The bowlers need a score to defend to win games but getting modest totals and failing to chase them does not help anyone’s cause. Pakistan has the team to win, but they have let themselves down with batting.
What Lies Ahead
The third and final T20I of the series takes place on July 24th i.e. Thursday at Mirpur in Dhaka. Bangladesh would like to win and whitewash the series 3-0 with a win on that day while Pakistan will look to restore some pride with a win on Thursday. Which team will come out on top?
Only time will tell as the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka gets ready to host both the teams for one final time. We had a thriller in Game 2 and could be in for another one on Thursday weather permitting at the venue.
Also Read: BAN vs PAK: Mike Hesson Blames Mirpur Pitch For Pakistan’s Defeat