It was a game for the ages in Mirpur, Dhaka in the decider as the pendulum swung from team to another. In the end, it was the hosts Bangladesh who held their nerves to win the contest by 11 runs and win an important series 2-1 to collect important points in the standings for themselves. Bangladesh played the big moments better and deserved the win in the end. After being asked to bat first, the Tigers rode on a superlative maiden ODI ton from Tanzid Hasan to post 290/5 with handy contributions from other batters as well.
In the second innings while defending the target, Bangladesh relied on Taskin Ahmed’s 4-wicket haul and Mustafizur Rahman’s 3 wickets to upstage a scintillating ton from Salman Ali Agha while Shaheen Afridi the Pakistan captain almost won the game towards the end of the match. But it was a bridge too far for Pakistan in the end as Bangladesh held their nerves for a 11-run win. After two one-sided games in Mirpur, we were provided a game for the ages.
Tanzid Hasan’s superlative maiden ODI ton powers Bangladesh to 290/5 in 50 overs
Put into bat first, Saif Hassa and Tanzid Hasan came out to open the batting for Bangladesh while Shaheen Afridi the captain had ball in hand for Pakistan. Bangladesh got off to a solid start as Tanzid was the aggressor of the two while Saif played second fiddle to him. Both complimented each other well and scored exactly 50 runs in the first 10 overs of powerplay to lay the foundation for the rest of the innings.
The duo converted that and made it a century stand for the first wicket as Bangladesh had a solid base to get to a big score. The duo put on 105 for the first wicket in 18 overs before the Pakistan captain Afridi struck to get rid of Saif Hassan for 36 off 55 balls with 3 fours to his name. Najmul Hossain Shanto came out to bat next. Shanto and Tanzid also forged a useful stand as the aim was to build good partnerships and avoid losing wickets in clusters.
The duo played through the halfway stage of the innings and added 53 runs for the second wicket before Shanto fell for 27 off 34 balls with 3 fours to his name to Haris Rauf. Keeper batter Litton Das walked out to bat next. Soon, Tanzid completed his maiden ODI ton while Litton looked fluent from the get-go of the innings. The duo added 36 runs for the third wicket before the set batter Tanzid fell for a magnificent 107 off 107 balls with 6 fours and 7 sixes to his name to Abrar Ahmed. Towhid Hridoy came out to bat next.
Litton and Hridoy then joined forces to form another important stand to take the innings forward. Both of them complimented each other well as Litton was the aggressor of the two while Hridoy did his bit and rotated the strike to give it to the fluent and set batter. The duo added a valuable 68 runs for the 4th wicket with Litton scoring the bulk of the runs before the keeper batter fell for an enterprising 41 off 51 balls with one four and one six to his name to Haris Rauf.
Rauf had two in two balls as Rishad Hossain the new batter came and went chopped it back onto the stumps for a golden duck and the speedster was on a hat-trick at this stage in the 47th over. But Afif Hossain came out to bat next and got a wide ball as the hat-trick was saved. Afif hardly took strike and gave it to Hridoy who added crucial runs for Bangladesh in the end overs. The duo added an unbroken 28-run stand for the 6th wicket in 3.2 overs which were crucial in the end of the game.
Bangladesh finished with a competitive 290/5 in 50 overs with Hridoy unbeaten on 48 off 44 balls with 4 fours to his name and Afif Hossain unbeaten on 5 off 8 balls. As many as 26 extras given by the fielding side Pakistan today.
Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 3/52 in 10 overs. Shaheen Afridi chipped in with 1/55 in 10 overs. Abrar Ahmed finished with 1/49 in 10 overs. Faheem Ashraf bowled 4 overs for 24 runs. Saad Masood on debut bowled 8 overs for 55 runs. Maaz Sadaqat bowled an over for 9 runs. Salman Ali Agha bowled 7 good overs for 35 runs. Pakistan now needed 291 runs to win the contest and win the series 2-1.
Salman Ali Agha’s ton goes in vain as Taskin Ahmed & Mustafizur Rahman helps Bangladesh seal the series 2-1
Chasing a mammoth 291 for the win, Sahibzada Farhan and Maaz Sadaqat came out to open the batting for Pakistan while Taskin Ahmed had ball in hand for Bangladesh. Farhan made his intentions clear with a boundary first-up but Taskin provided the first breakthrough for his side removing Farhan for 6 off 5 balls with one four to his name. Debutant Ghazi Gouri came out to bat next. Sadaqat struck a maximum to get himself going. But he too fell as just 6 was added to the score before Sadaqat fell for 6 off 5 balls with one six to his name to Nahid Rana.
Mohammad Rizwan the experienced keeper batter came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary straightaway to get things going. Rizwan too did not last long as just 5 runs were added to the tally before Rizwan fell for 4 off 4 balls clean bowled by Taskin Ahmed as Pakistan were now 17/3 inside the first 3 overs. Abdul Samad came out to bat next.
Samad and Ghouri were in desperate need of a partnership and slowly they did in their own way. The duo first took the team to 43/3 in 10 overs of first powerplay. The duo went beyond the powerplay as well as runs started to come a tad easy for the team. The duo added an important 50-run stand for the 4th wicket before debutant Ghazi Ghouri fell for 29 off 39 balls with 3 fours and a maximum to his name to Rana. Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next.
Salman took his time getting in but then once in played his game and shots to show why he belongs at the ODI level. Samad was with him as they tried to forge a partnership. The duo added 15 runs for the 5th wicket before Samad was dismissed for 34 off 45 balls with 5 fours to his name to Mustafizur Rahman as half the side for Pakistan were out for 82 inside 18 overs. Saad Masood came out to bat next on debut.
Agha and Masood then got together and started the rearguard action for Pakistan as the Men in Green had their backs against the wall at this stage and needed a miracle to make a match out of it. The duo got in and played at the right tempo to make a match out of it. The aim was to take the game deep as much as possible and they did so. Rishad Hossain was taken to the cleaners in the initial overs. The duo of Salman and Masood added 79 runs for the 6th wicket before the debutant fell for a well-made 38 off 44 balls with 5 fours to his name to Mustafizur Rahman.
Faheem Ashraf came out to bat next but it was a struggle for the left-hander today as he could not get going and struggled for timing. Despite that, Salman dominated the partnership and kept Faheem from strike and scored the runs as the duo added 48 runs for the 7th wicket to take the team total way past 200. But at the score of 209, Faheem fell for 9 off 20 balls to Taskin Ahmed. The game was once again gone at 209/7 in the 40th over when captain Shaheen Afridi joined Salman Ali Agha in the middle.
Shaheen played it smart as he played the role of second fiddle and allowed the in batter to go for the runs. Pakistan refused to give up and kept the required rate under manageable levels even if they lost wickets in clusters. Salman played an unbelievable knock and got to a special ton on an important occasion for team. Afridi from time to time was playing his shots to keep the required rate under check.
The game got tense as the equation boiled down to 33 off 18 balls with 3 wickets in hand. The duo had added 52 runs for the 8th wicket before Agha fell for a magnificent 106 off 98 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Taskin Ahmed and he got a standing ovation as well from all involved. Haris Rauf came out to bat and got off the mark.
With 28 now needed off 12 balls, Afridi had no choice but to take on Mustafizur and took him on he did by hitting a couple of sixes and then injured Mustafizur badly by hitting his knee and he was down in pain for a long time. A stretcher came out, but the Fizz got up not to be left behind and bowled the final ball of the over with pain and got rid of Haris Rauf for 1 off 2 balls. 16 runs were added between the pair but at 277, Rauf gave it away where he should not have. Abrar Ahmed came out to bat next.
But he was at the non-striker’s end with 14 needed off 6 balls, Rishad Hossain had to bowl the final over. The bowler despite dropping a catch managed to hold his nerve and with only 2 runs added to the score got rid of Shaheen Afridi off the final ball of the innings for 37 off 38 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Abrar remained unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls as Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 279 in 50 overs. 9 extras given by the fielding side Bangladesh.
Bangladesh bowlers toiled hard and got their rewards in the end. Taskin Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/49 in 10 overs. Mustafizur Rahman gave him able support with figures of 3/54 in 10 overs. Nahid Rana chipped in with 2/62 in 10 overs. Rishad Hossain finished with 1/56 in 7 overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz finished with miserly figures of 0/37 in 10 overs. Saif Hassan bowled 3 overs for 18 runs. Bangladesh won by 11 runs to win series 2-1. Tanzid Hasan was awarded the Player of the Match. While the Player of the Series was shared between Nahid Rana and Tanzid Hasan.
So, Bangladesh win the series 2-1 and get important points in ICC 2027 World Cup standings while Pakistan despite the series loss are secured at the top half of the table. More action for Bangladesh to come as they host New Zealand in white-ball series in April while Pakistan heads back home and gears up to play in upcoming PSL starting on March 26th and scheduled to run till 3rd of May 2026.
Also Read: BAN vs PAK: Tanzid Hasan’s Maiden ODI Ton Powers Bangladesh To 290/5