Bangladesh clinches a T20 series victory over Pakistan for first time
Dhaka (Bangladesh), Jul 22 (AP): Jaker Ali struck a fighting half-century as Bangladesh clinched a T20 series victory over Pakistan for the first time with Tuesday's eight-run win.
Jaker anchored the innings with sustained aggression to hit 55 runs off 48 balls with five sixes, helping Bangladesh recover from a shaky start to post 133 before being all out on a sluggish wicket.
Chasing 134, Pakistan's top six batters were out for single digits before Faheem Ashraf waged a lone battle.
He raised his maiden 50 but was out in the next delivery with his 32 ball-51, leaving his team 13 runs away from a series-leveling victory in the last over.
Ahmed Daniyal (17) hit a four in the first ball of the last over to give Pakistan another glimmer of hope before holing out to mid-wicket on the next ball off Mustafizur Rahman as Pakistan was bowled out for 125 in 19.2 overs.
Bangladesh won the first match of the series by seven wickets.
A pre-match minute's silence was held with both teams and officials wearing black armbands for victims of a plane crash in the Bangladesh capital Monday.
Asked to bat first, Bangladesh slumped to 25-4 with debutant Ahmed Danyal (2-23) and Salman Mirza (2-17), playing his second match tormenting the opponents with tight line and length.
Jaker resisted with the support from Mahedi Hasan as the duo added 53 runs for the fifth wicket, giving Bangladesh a platform.
Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz broke the partnership with the wicket of Mahedi who hit 33 off 25, leaving Bangladesh at 81-5 at 14th over.
Jaker then guided the lower order astutely and raised his third fifty from 46 balls, lofting Abbas Afridi for a six over long-on region.
He was dismissed in the last ball of the innings, top-edging a slower delivery of Afridi who ended with 2-37.
Pacers Shoriful Islam (3-17), Tanzim Hasan (2-23) and offspinner Mahedi Hasan (2-25) kept Pakistan at bay, putting a disciplined bowling.
But Pakistan batters played rash shots, much like the first T20 and found them in precarious 30-6 in 10th over with all six batters being out for single digits.
Fahim Ashraf stood tall against a spirited Bangladesh attack, raising the prospect of an unlikely victory with Khushdil Shah (13) and Abbas Afridi (19) giving him little support.
He brought up his maiden fifty from 31 deliveries, hoicking legspinner Rishad Hossain over long on for a six.
However Rishad (1-42) took the sweet revenge in the next delivery by crashing his stump as Pakistan's chance to win the game was dented.
The third and final match is on Thursday.
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Electorate in 9 states, UTs shrink by 1.70 crore after SIR
New Delhi (PTI): Voter base in nine states and Union territories has shrunk by more than 1.70 crore following the publication of final electoral rolls as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), according to official data.
The data shared by the chief electoral officers of Gujarat, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa and Kerala on Saturday showed that their combined voter base stood at over 21.45 crore before the SIR exercise began on October 27 last year.
It shrunk to 19.75 crore after publication of their final electoral rolls this week, a net change of over 1.70 crore electors.
While the exercise, which kept the Election Commission in the spotlight, has been completed in Bihar, it is currently underway in 12 states and Union territories covering nearly 60 crore electors.
The remaining 40 crore electors will be covered in 17 states and five Union territories.
In Assam, a "special revision", instead of SIR, was completed on February 10.
Due to a variety of reasons, the SIR in the nine states and three Union territories have seen frequent tweaking in schedules.
As in Bihar, political parties have approached the Supreme Court challenging the exercise in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
