Maaz Sadaqat's all-round brilliance downs Bangladesh in truncated contest

A game involving Bangladesh and Pakistan is seldom short of drama and odd collapse. In the 2nd ODI in Mirpur, one led to the other as Salman Agha's run out hogged the limelight, following which Pakistan crashed after setting a solid foundation.

It did not impact the eventual outcome as Pakistan thrashed Bangladesh by 128 runs via DLS. Such was the intensity that even the weather intervened, with lightning and a hailstorm adding to the narrative. With the series now level at 1-1, the stage is set for the decider at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.

Pakistan were asked to bat first on another grassy deck. Maaz Sadaqat took no prisoners. Playing just his second ODI, the left-handed opener landed the first punch, striking two boundaries off Mustafizur Rahman before hitting Taskin Ahmed for two sixes. With Pakistan racing off, Bangladesh summoned Nahid Rana early, but he was dispatched as well.

Pakistan raced past 50 in the 7th over before Rana was plundered for 22 runs in the ninth, with Sadaqat raising a 31-ball fifty. At 85/0 after the first Powerplay, Pakistan were on a rampage. But skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz broke the opening stand of 103 as Sadaqat attempted a scoop and was caught for 75 off 46 balls, studded with six fours and five sixes.

His dismissal slowed Pakistan's rate as only 46 runs came off the next 13 overs. Farhan fell to a leading edge, and Shamyl Hussain was caught pulling off Rana.

Mohammad Rizwan's start was laborious, but Salman Agha counter-attacked, picking boundaries regularly. He notched a fluent half-century, with Rizwan slowly picking up. A partnership of 109 for the fourth wicket set Pakistan up for a huge score—until chaos ensued. Mehidy rammed into Agha at the non-striker's end while trying to stop the ball off his own bowling. Agha, outside his crease, bizarrely attempted to hand the ball back, but Mehidy beat him to it and fired an underarm throw to run him out.

A fuming Agha stormed off, hurling his gloves and helmet. Rizwan perished in the same over, miscuing a slog-sweep, and a collapse ensued. Abdul Samad was run out, and Bangladesh continued to call the shots. Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain mopped up the innings as Pakistan lost their last 7 wickets for just 43 runs, bowled out for 274.

Bangladesh's chase started terribly, losing their first three wickets for just 15 runs. Openers Tanzid Hasan and Saif Hassan fell tamely before Najmul Shanto was bowled for a duck. A lightning strike forced players off, followed by a hailstorm. The weather cleared to revise Bangladesh's target to 243 in 32 overs.

Bangladesh's asking rate neared 8.5, and Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy responded enterprisingly, peeling off boundaries. Das struck a couple of sixes as Sadaqat dropped a tough chance. Sadaqat redeemed himself with the ball, trapping Das lbw with his left-arm spin.

Soon, the chase fell apart as three wickets fell in three overs, with Sadaqat adding two more. The game slipped away, and Haris Rauf trapped Hridoy lbw for 28 in the 20th over. Rauf completed the clean-up with a three-wicket haul as Bangladesh were skittled for 114 in 23.3 overs.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 274 in 47.3 overs (Maaz Sadaqat 75, Salman Agha 64; Rishad Hossain 3-56, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2-34) beat Bangladesh 114 in 23.3 overs (Litton Das 41; Maaz Sadaqat 3-23, Haris Rauf 3-24) by 128 runs via DLS.