It was a game of ebbs and flows as Mirpur provided a thriller between Bangladesh and Pakistan on Super Sunday. At the end of the night, it was Pakistan who fell short by just 11 runs in a thrilling game as the hosts pocketed an important win and the series 2-1 to garner important points in the standings for 2027 ODI World Cup. Both teams had their moments of highs and lows as the match went from one team to another. Bangladesh played the clutch moments better and came out on top. Pakistan lacked in a few areas and we will highlight them for you here.
Lagging behind in powerplay in both innings pegged Pakistan back
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first hoping to take early wickets to peg Bangladesh back. But that did not prove to be the case as Bangladesh openers despite being a tad watchful did not give their wickets away. They got off to a steady start but it was solid. Since, they were batting first and no pressure of required rate, the aim for Bangladesh was to keep wickets in hand and go big in the end overs and the base was created.
Bangladesh were 50/0 in 10 overs and put on 105 for the first wicket to lay the base for Bangladesh from which they could get to the total they did. Conversely, Pakistan when they came out to bat in the chase were going for runs and giving away their wickets. It meant the Men in Green lost 3 early wickets by being ultra aggressive inside 3 overs. Despite their being a brief recovery, Pakistan were 43/3 in 10 overs. The runs weren’t the problem, wickets lost were. The Pakistanis lost two more wickets and were 5 down inside 20 overs.
At the same point, Bangladesh were only one down when the halfway stage of the contest came while Pakistan were already 5 down. The top order fired for Bangladesh especially the openers while the middle order stood up as well. Pakistan once they lost three early ones and were 5 down inside 20 overs of the chase were always playing catch-up. They did well to match Bangladesh tally of the score after 40 overs as well as the fightback was on. But it was always the wickets column that hurt them. This is something that needs to be kept in mind from Pakistan’s point of view going ahead.
Lack of support for centurion Salman Ali Agha complicates thingsÂ
Pakistan top order crumbled under pressure and lost three wickets inside 3 overs. Thereafter, there was a brief partnership Ghazi Ghouri and Abdul Samad as they resurrected the innings together for Pakistan somewhat. But that partnership was broken after a 50-run stand as Salman Ali Agha came in and soon the team was 5 down as well inside 18 overs. Salman had to stand up new being the only senior guy left with bat in hand, and the T20 captain delivered for his side in the most unbelievable fashion.
But the top order, one of them should have provided the platform for Salman to perform even better but it was not to be for him. For a while, Saad Masood the debutant gave good support and he scored 38 off 44 balls as well which is great as a debutant. But Salman was doing the bulk of the scoring when Faheem Ashraf came in and the left-hander failed to rotate the strike and was stuck in. Still it was Agha doing the heavy lifting and added around 48 runs with Faheem before the left-hander fell for 9 off 20 balls.
Captain Shaheen Afridi came and played a smart hand as he was handling things nicely and that was the support Salman needed. Afridi played to the merit of the ball and sometimes eased the pressure by hitting boundaries. But the support from the top order wasn’t there for Salman. Yes, there are newcomers there and they can wilt under pressure, but someone like Rizwan today should have stood up taken responsibility as a senior batter but he continues to fail in this format.
Top order not firing will be a concern for Pakistan going forward in future ODI assignments.
Lack of game awareness from Haris Rauf costs Pakistan the game
The match swung from one team to another and after Salman Ali Agha’s heroics, Bangladesh tightened the noose by increasing their required rate as well. Salman played a brave knock and his aim was not only to score a ton but take the game deep for the win. Because in these chases, the deeper you take and have wickets in hand, one can chase down anything in sub-continent.
Salman’s heroics came to an end in the 48th over and once he went and Rauf came in, Pakistan needed 28 off 12 balls with 2 wickets in hand. But that’s when Shaheen Afridi turned it on by whacking Mustafizur Rahman for two sixes in the over including a wide as well. Afridi also hit Fizz so hard that it injured the bowler so bad that he was down on the ground with left knee injury and a stretcher had come out initially. The Fizz got to his feet and was desperate to deliver the final ball of the over.
With 14 needed off 7 balls and 2 wickets in hand, all Haris Rauf had to do was play out the ball as Shaheen was the last hope for Pakistan. If that had happened, Pakistan would have required 14 off 6 balls with 2 wickets in hand and may have allowed Afridi to go for the big ones more frequently or easily. But Rauf against an injured bowler tried to take him on and was holed out at long-on and the balance shifted again. Suddenly, 14 off 6 balls with only one wicket in hand meant it was all on Afridi and he needed to be careful playing his shots.
Afridi tried his level best but Rishad through clever bowling under pressure as he was having an off-day up until that moment held his nerve to secure the win by 11 runs as Afridi failed to clear the ropes. But the captain could do so much. All Rauf had to was defend and maybe pressure would have been more on Bangladesh. It was a game of fine margins and Pakistan came second best in it.
So, Pakistan lose this ODI series 1-2 and so Bangladesh gets important points for the ODI World Cup 2027 standings. Pakistan goes home and will prepare for PSL 2026 scheduled to start on 26th March 2026 till 3rd May 2026 while Bangladesh will host New Zealand in April in white-ball fixtures. It will most likely be a second string New Zealand side with the regulars busy in IPL and PSL respectively.
Also Read:Â BAN vs PAK: Bangladesh Edge Out Pakistan In Thriller To Win Series 2-1