Tigers make history in Mirpur thriller

A brilliant fast-bowling display and some power-hitting from Jaker Ali saw Bangladesh win the second T20I by eight runs and clinch the three-match series 2-0 with a game in hand, despite a nervy ending that threatened a comeback for Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.  

What could have been a portrayal of total dominance by the Tigers over Pakistan, turned into a nail-biting affair in the end -- thanks to Faheem Ashraf's 32-ball 51-run cameo and a few misfields by the hosts, giving a reprieve to Faheem on 38 via a dropped catch. Still, the Tigers prevailed, clinching their first-ever victory in a multi-game bilateral T20I series over Pakistan.   

From losing seven for just 47 in 11.5 overs, Pakistan turned things around at the death, needing just 13 from the final over of Mustafizur Rahman after Faheem and debutant Ahmed Daniyal combined to amass 15 in the penultimate over, bowled by Rishad Hossain. 

When Faheem was castled by Rishad in the final delivery of the 19th over, it seemed as if Bangladesh had once again tightened their grip in the game. But Daniyal struck Mustafizur for a boundary in the first delivery of the final over, keeping everyone on edge. However, he eventually departed in the next ball while trying to clear the field as Bangladesh won the thriller. 

After Jaker's 48-ball 55 helped Bangladesh post a respectable 133 all out in 20 overs, it was the pacers that turned up the heat in Mirpur, reducing the visitors to 15 for five in 4.4 overs. 

It started with Pakistan losing their first wicket -- that of opener Saim Ayub's -- in the very first over, owing to a collective fielding effort by the Tigers that saw a superb dive in the outfield, quick collection, and swift removal of the bails by wicketkeeper and skipper Litton Das.  

After that, pacers Shoriful Islam and Tanzim Hasan Sakib looked to be men on a mission. Shoriful had Mohammad Haris trapped in front with a jaffer that came back sharply in towards the right-hander before having Fakhar Zaman glove one back to the keeper. 

Sakib made the Nawazs -- Hasan and Mohammad -- edge back successive deliveries to the keeper, as Bangladesh restricted Pakistan to just 17 for five in the Powerplay.    

With half of their side already back in the hut, Pakistan never looked threatning in their pursuit of an undaunting total till Faheem made things interesting with a resilient effort. The spinners came into the act soon, with Mahedi Hasan having Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha caught at long-on and Khushdil Shah trapped in front to leave the visitors seven down and gasping for breath.

Faheem stitched stands of 41 and 33 for the eighth and the ninth wickets with Abbas Afridi and Daniyal, respectively, creating panic in the Bangladesh dug out.  

Like the final phase of the game, things did not go quite as planned for the Tigers in the first half of the game either. The Tigers made the same mistakes that Pakistan had made in the first match of the three-match series, just 48 hours previously at the same venue. 

Poor shot selection, soft dismissals, unnecessary hastiness -- the script that Pakistan had followed when they were bundled out for 110 in 19.3 overs on Sunday -- were the traits of Bangladesh's innings yesterday, after being asked to bat first. 

Had it not been for a six-laden knock from Jaker at the death, Bangladesh might as well have accumulated something similar to that of Pakistan's total in the first game. However, with Jaker showing some true muscle power to dispatch as many as five maximums by capitalising on some full and loose deliveries from Pakistan, the Tigers were able to provide the bowlers with something to defend on a traditionally low and slow Mirpur surface.   

It was the nature of the Mirpur surface and the ability to adjust to it that dominated in the post-match pressers of both sides in the first game, with opener Parvez Hossain Emon -- the player-of-the-match of that contest for his unbeaten 56 -- refuting Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson's claims of Mirpur surface not being "up to international standards". 

According to Emon, Bangladesh were able to adjust better to the Mirpur wicket and would have gone on to make around 160 in that game had they batted full 20 overs as they chased down Pakistan's meagre total in the 16th over. 

However, the way Emon and most of the Bangladesh batters threw their wickets away at inopportune moments could make one question whether the hosts were actually able to grasp the approach needed to bat on surfaces that Mirpur typically offers. 

To put it into context, Bangladesh were four down for just 28 in 5.5 overs, with the first four batters throwing their wickets away in an attempt to score quickly from the word go. 

From there on, Bangladesh bounced back through a 53-run fifth-wicket stand between Jaker and Mahedi (33 off 25) and some sparsely added runs in the last few stands. 

In the end, it was an exceptional bowling effort in the initial overs that saw Bangladesh eventually edge the game, but it would be naive of the Tigers to think that they had every part of the game in their control.