Pakistan and Bangladesh kicked off their tri-nation tournament campaign in New Zealand, with the Men in Green comfortably winning by 21 runs at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.
As a result of the victory, the Babar Azam-led team has taken the top slot on the points table and will face the host team in the second game of the tournament on Saturday, October 8 at the same venue.
The Men in Green bounced back after losing two consecutive T20I matches in the seven-match T20 series against England, giving the visitors a 4-3 series victory last week.
Talking about the game, Pakistan posted a modest total of 167 runs on board owing to Mohammad Rizwan’s stunning half-century after Nurul Hasan won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat first.
The opening duo of Babar-Rizwan stitched yet another fifty-plus opening stand in the shortest format of the game before Babar lost his wicket to Mehidy Hasan after scoring 24 off 25 including four boundaries. Rest of the batters failed to impress yet again as Bangladesh bowlers did well to restrict the batting unit.
Right-arm pacer, Mohammad Wasim Jr. and left-arm spinner, Mohammad Nawaz bowled exceptionally, taking three and two wickets respectively. Shahnawaz Dahani, Haris Rauf, and Shadab took one wicket each as Pakistan restricted Bangladesh to 146/8 in their 20 overs.
Here is the updated point table:
| No. | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | N/R | Points |
| 1 | Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Bangladesh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | New Zealand | – | – | – | – | – |
