Pakistan vs Bangladesh, 1st Match at Christchurch, T20I Tri-Series, Oct 07 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Pakistan are off the mark in the tri series. The T20 World Cup preparations are underway and will continue to go on regularly. We have seven games in eight days. We'll see you again tomorrow for Pakistan vs New Zealand. For now, it's goodbye from me, Ekanth, on behalf of my co-commentator, Ankur Dhawan, and our scorer, M Venkat Raghav.

JOYDEEPSINGHGIL: "Mustafizur and mahmud conceded 90 runs within just 8 overs at 1 wicket costed ban this match and other conceded just 77 within 12 overs at 3 wickets"

Rashid: "What does hawkeye suggest for 18.3?" The replay wasn't shown but it looked out.

Nurul Hasan: We are disappointed. The wicket was good and the bowlers did well. We need to improve in a few areas though. Wickets in the middle while batting cost us. Litton and Yasir batted well, but as I said, we need to improve there.

Babar Azam: We are happy as a team, have started well. Rizwan played well. We were happy as a batting unit after the first innings. We wanted to get 50 in the powerplay, then Masood came in and played well. The sun was out but the wind made it tricky but as professionals we need to adapt. Our pacers and spinners bowled well across different stages. We have some concern in the field and have room for improvement regularly.

AJ: "Despite the loss, maybe the BD management will ponder sending Yasir up the order. He tonked one of the most in form fast bowlers in that last over with ease."

Mohammad Rizwan, POTM for 78*: It's a proud moment for me. We keep things simple. It was a good batting track, we thought we were 10-15 short despite playing well. Our bowlers did well to defend the total. I always use spikes, but it was a bit slippery today. I believe in hard work and leave it to Allah for the rest. Some of the boundaries are big here. But we are playing the ball on the merit. Without a plan, it becomes difficult.

6:44pm: A clean game for Pakistan. Rizwan anchored the innings with the bat. With the ball, Wasim was stunning. Rauf was hostile. Shadab ended with decent figures. Nawaz bowled tight and was rewarded with two in two. Bangladesh's batting blew hot and cold. The openers tried to go big but couldn't get going. Litton and Afif stuck in but couldn't accelerate. The lower-middle order was unsuccessful, except for Yasir of course. He chanced his luck, tried his best to get close. The best returns for him were in the last over, which ended with 20 runs.

Final-over formalities time

Hat-trick ball!

Khurram: "It happens many times in T20s that top and middle order don't step up to the task and then the tailenders take the match close and you wonder if the top-middle order had played just a little bit better, just a few boundaries, may be only a couple of fours "

Ali Hasni : "@dan defending is easy only if there is no Dew. Else no one likes to defend with wet ball"

Dahani loses his run-up and will reload.

Dan: "Asia Cup not withstanding, it seems that this Pakistan team feels much better defending totals than chasing them. The chase depends too much on Rizwan and Babar, while their bowlers defend totals much better."