Pakistan 127 for 5 (Haider 45, Rizwan 40, Mahmudullah 3-10) beat Bangladesh 124 for 7 (Naim 47, Wasim 2-15, Qadir 2-35) by five wickets

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have both found runs much harder to come by this series, and throughout the Powerplay, they preferred conservatism over aggression. That meant this was the highest opening partnership of the series, but when a rank long hop saw Babar hole out, Pakistan had just 32 runs in seven overs.

That final over

On the first ball of the sixth over, a drive from Babar hit Taskin Ahmed flush on the hand, causing the Bangladesh fast bowler to go off for medical attention, with Shohidul Islam completing his over. When Taskin returned a little later, it seemed like little more than a footnote in the game. But towards the end it became immediately apparent that Shohidul taking over the sixth over meant Bangladesh were a bowler short for the final six deliveries.

Captain Mahmudullah took on the job himself, with Pakistan needing eight. He began with a dot ball before Sarfaraz sent one straight down cow corner’s throat, and Haider sent the next one down to long-on. Mahmudullah was on a hat-trick, Pakistan needed eight off three, and two new batters were at the crease. Iftikhar met his first delivery with a lovely lofted drive that went all the way for six, but with two to get off the last two balls, he went for the glory shot and was out caught at short third man.

This is where things began to tip over in bedlam. Mahmudullah bowled from well behind the umpire, and Nawaz pulled out exceptionally late as the ball clattered into the stumps. The umpires called a dead ball but a brief argument ensued, with Bangladesh clearly unhappy about that call. Next delivery, Mahmudullah stopped in his stride, threatening to run the non-striker out. The build-up over, he finally tossed one up full, and Nawaz backed away to clear extra cover, finding a gap and taking Pakistan through to the narrowest of victories.

The immediate squeeze

Wasim and chances grabbed

Wasim spent the entire T20 World Cup on the bench, even when Hasan Ali’s struggles appeared to hint there might be an opening in the side. He has brushed aside that disappointment emphatically in Bangladesh on pitches that aren’t designed for his kind of game. After two exceptional performances, it was more of the same for the young fast bowler, who was economical up front, and returned to mop up with a couple of wickets at the death. This might have been a low-intensity game but Wasim treated it as anything but, keeping rigidly to an off stump line in the Powerplay, allowing just five runs in two overs, before being called on to bowl the 17th and 19th. Bangladesh would manage just 10 runs in those two, with two wickets in the 19th to take Wasim’s series figures to 11-0-48-5.

Haider finally comes good

Haider’s inclusion in the Pakistan side is almost divisive enough to form part of a culture war. There’s the mounting statistical evidence he has failed to raise his game at international level, a slew of low scores in innings that palpably lacked confidence underlining that point. And then there’s the eye test combined with his domestic form, which indicates this precocious 21-year old is a supremely gifted striker of the ball. These might not be the pitches to showcase that, but in a target of 125 where no other Pakistan batter (min. three balls faced) scored at more than six an over, Haider smashed his way through the Bangladesh attack with 45 off 38. It included a courageous pair of sixes in the 16th over, just after Shohidul had Rizwan chopping on to bring the asking rate back under control and set Pakistan on course.