Soumya Sarkar takes Bangladesh to their 1st whitewash against Pakistan - The Bangladesh team is in top form as they were 2-0 up in the 3 match ODI series against Pakistan. The 3rd match of the series had given the home team a chance to complete a white wash against Pakistan. This would have been a first time for them to accomplish against a better ranked team. In this match after winning the toss Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first.
Batting first the opening pair of Azhar Ali and Sami Aslam gave the team a good start of 91 runs. These two batsmen overpowered the bowlers as they reached the score of 91 in 18 overs. Aslam lost his wicket after scoring 45 runs. Soon the Bangladesh team struck again dismissing Mohammad Hafeez after scoring only 4 runs. Haris Sohail the inform batsmen came into bat along with Ali and build a partnership of nearly 100 runs. Ali who scored 101 runs lost his wicket in the 39th over giving the team an advantage to score good runs. Sohail scored 52 runs for the team but after a good performance by Pakistan the lower order collapsed like a house of cards as the team was bowled out for 250 only. Shakib Al Hasan, Arafat Sunny, Rubel Hossain and Mashrafe Mortaza took 2 wickets each.
The Bangladesh side has chased down the total well previously and this was their chance once again. The opening pair of Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar gave the team a start of 145 runs in 25 overs. Iqbal scored 64 runs before losing his wicket. Pakistan once again struck taking the wicket of Mahmudullah who scored only 4 runs. It seemed that the gates have opened for Pakistan to make a comeback but Mushfiqur Rahim and Sarkar had other plans. They controlled the game and didn’t allow the visitors to get in the match. Sarkar scored 127 runs while Rahim score 49 and remained unbeaten throughout the innings to give the team their 1st whitewash against Pakistan. Soumya Sarkar was named as the man of the match for his outstanding innings.