B’desh beat Pakistan by 7 wickets in T20 series

Mirpur: Super tight bowling by pacer Mustafizur Rahman and a superb half-century from opener Parvez Hossain Emon led Bangladesh to a seven-wicket victory against Pakistan with almost five overs to spare in their T20 series opener on Sunday.

Parvez struck a 39-ball 56 not out, with three fours and five sixes, to help Bangladesh reach 112-3 in 15.3 overs after winning the toss and dismissing Pakistan for 110 in 19.3 overs with Rahman conceding only six runs in his four overs.

Parvez and Towhid Hridoy (36) batted with caution to add 73 runs for the third wicket, a partnership that was key to victory on a tricky surface.

Pakistan had reduced Bangladesh’s reply to 7-2 with debutant Salman Mirza (2-23) taking two wickets in the first three overs of the match.

The pacer dismissed Tanzid Hasan with an extra bounce in his fifth ball in international cricket before getting the better of captain Liton Das.

Tanzid and Liton made 1 run each.

Pakistan could have tightened the grip had Abrar Ahmed not dropped Hridoy early in the innings at third man.