3rd T20I washed out as Pakistan retain No 1 status

Pakistan retained No. 1 status in Twenty20 International ranking after the third and last T20I between Pakistan and Bangladesh was abandoned due to persistent rain here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday.

The third T20I was scheduled to start at 2:00 PM but the showers were intense enough that the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled. After the day’s ill-fated match, Pakistan won the series 2-0 to maintain their top slot in the ICC T20 Ranking.

Pakistan’s No 1 status, which they earned in January 2018, was under threat after the team lost eight of its nine T20s in 2019, but the recall of veteran batsmen Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez strengthened the batting line-up as Malik’s unbeaten 58 in the first match and Hafeez’s unbeaten 67 in the second T20I helped the hosts registered easy victories and series win, which helped Pakistan hang on to their No 1 ranking in T20I with 270 points, leading Australia by just one point.

The last T20I could have been an opportunity for some youngsters including Ammad Butt and Khushdil Shah, but the rain deprived the youngsters of their due right. This was the second home fixture of Pakistan team to fall prey to precipitation in recent months. During Sri Lanka’s visit of Pakistan, the opening match of the ODI series in Karachi had also suffered the same fate. Pakistan had already wrapped up the three-match series 2-0. In the first game, Shoaib Malik’s unbeaten halfcentury set up a five-wicket win for Pakistan.