Pakistan 132 for 4 (Muneeba 61, Maroof 48, Trisna 2-21) beat Bangladesh 101 for 9 (S Sultana 26, Sadia 2-19, Aliya 2-24) by 31 runs
Maroof joined Muneeba in the second over of the match, after Pakistan had been sent in, and the pair controlled the innings for the next 14.4 overs, going at just over 7.2 an over. Maroof played second fiddle, scoring 48 off 49 balls with only two fours, while Muneeba took on the bowling, hitting eight fours and striking at over 120.
Pakistan seemed poised for a big finish at 109 for 1 after 16 overs, but the wicket of Muneeba brought Bangladesh into the game: the last four overs brought just 23 runs, with Fariha Trisna picking up 2 for 14 across the 18th and 20th overs and Nahida Akter 1 for 9 across the 17th and 19th.
Bangladesh’s response contained the second-highest partnership of the match: 33 for the second wicket between Shamima Sultana and Sobhana Mostary. It put Bangladesh in a reasonable position at 38 for 1 in the seventh over, but the chase lost all momentum after Nashra Sandhu broke the stand, with the last 13.3 overs only bringing 63 runs for the cost of eight wickets.
Sadia Iqbal and Aliya Riaz picked up two wickets apiece, while Sandhu (3-0-8-1) and Nida Dar (3-1-9-1) led the way in curtailing Bangladesh’s run flow. Shamima (26 off 38) was the only Bangladesh batter to pass 20.
