'We know this wicket well': Litton after convincing win against Pakistan in Mirpur

Bangladesh captain Litton Das admitted that his side's knowledge and familiarity with the wicket at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur played a key factor in their commanding seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the first T20I of the three-match series on Sunday.

Playing on a sluggish pitch that offered grip, Bangladesh's bowlers capitalised on the conditions to bundle out Pakistan for just 110 -- their lowest-ever T20I total against Bangladesh. The previous lowest was 127 for five, also at the same venue, in 2021. This was also the first time in 23 T20I meetings that Bangladesh managed to bowl Pakistan out.

"The wicket was something we know well because we've played a lot of cricket in Mirpur," Litton said during the post-match presentation. "It's not an easy wicket to bat on, but the way we batted, it looked good. In the second innings, the ball came nicely because of the dew, probably."

Bangladesh chased down the target with ease, thanks to a composed unbeaten 56 off 39 balls from opener Parvez Emon, reaching the target with 27 balls to spare.

Pakistan skipper Salman Agha admitted that they were 'not up to the mark' but also pointed out that they were expecting a typical Mirpur surface that is not always suited for free-flowing stroke-making.

"Whenever you come to Bangladesh, you expect this kind of pitch," Salman said. "You hardly get an improved wicket. So we were expecting this, but we were obviously not up to the mark. And you can say that we have to rotate the strike a bit more. We will sit down and talk about it."

Despite the anticipation, it seemed that Pakistan erred in assessing the surface and the magnitude of the total they were aiming for. Batters looked rushed and tried to force shots through often succumbing to untimely dismissals. Three runouts, including the dismissals of Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza in the end, also derailed Pakistan's innings.

Opener Fakhar put away six fours and a solitary six, top-scoring with a 34-ball 44; Khushdil Shah (17 off 23 balls) and Abbas Afridi (22 runs off 24 balls) were the only other batters to reach double digits and amongst the three, only Fakhar batted at a strike-rate of above 100 [129.41].

The second T20I of the series will be played at the same venue on Tuesday.