Nahid’s Maiden Five-For Powers Bangladesh Past Pakistan

A brilliant maiden five-wicket haul by Nahid Rana guided Bangladesh national cricket team to a commanding eight-wicket victory over Pakistan national cricket team in the opening match of the series at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Chasing a modest target of 115, Bangladesh reached 115 for 2 in just 15.1 overs. Tanzid Hasan Tamim led the charge with an aggressive 67 off 42 balls, while Najmul Hossain Shanto contributed 27. Saif Hassan departed early for 4, and Litton Das remained unbeaten on 3 as the hosts completed the chase comfortably to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

The foundation for the win was laid by Nahid Rana’s outstanding bowling spell that dismantled Pakistan for just 114 runs — their lowest ODI total against Bangladesh. The previous lowest was 161 during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

Nahid tore through the top order by dismissing Pakistan’s first five batters — a first in Bangladesh’s ODI history. His victims included Sahibzada Farhan (27), Shamyl Hussain (4), Maaz Sadaqat (18), Mohammad Rizwan (10) and Salman Agha (5), reducing Pakistan to 69 for 5 and triggering a collapse.

The right-arm pacer finished with impressive figures of 5 for 24 in seven overs. He received support from captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who claimed three wickets, while Taskin Ahmed took one. A late effort from Faheem Ashraf, who scored 37, failed to prevent Pakistan’s downfall.

The five-wicket haul marked a breakthrough moment for Nahid in ODIs. Before this match, he had taken only five wickets in his first five games, but in his sixth appearance he struck five times within his first five overs.

He also became only the second Bangladeshi bowler to take a five-wicket haul against Pakistan in ODIs after Mustafizur Rahman, who claimed 5 for 75 in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

It was the first five-wicket haul by a Bangladeshi pacer at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in nearly 11 years. The last came when Mustafizur took back-to-back five-wicket hauls against India national cricket team in 2015. On home soil, the most recent five-for by a Bangladeshi pacer was recorded in 2023 when Hasan Mahmud claimed 5 for 32 against Ireland national cricket team at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.