Opener Sahibzada Farhan notched his maiden half century and spinner Abrar Ahmed grabbed three wickets to guide Pakistan to another convincing 57-run win over Bangladesh in Lahore on Friday.
Farhan smashed a 41-ball 74 and Hasan Nawaz unbeaten 51 off 26 balls to help the home team post 201-6 before Abrar grabbed 3-19 to keep Bangladesh to 144-9 in 19 overs, with the last man Shoriful Islama unabale to bat due to injury.
Pakistan, who won the first match by 37 runs at the same venue, take an unassailable 2-0 lead with the final match on Sunday, also in Lahore.
The win also gives a kickstart to Pakistan's new white-ball head coach Mike Hesson appointed earlier this month to stem a slide which saw them win just three of their last 13 T20Is before this series.
Bangladesh raced to 32 in the first two overs but openers Parvez Hossain (eight) and Tanzid Hasan (19-ball 33 with five boundaries and a six) fell within two runs of each other.
From 46-2, Bangladesh slumped to 56-5 with Abrar dismissing Tohid Hridoy (five) and Jaker Ali (nought) off successive deliveries while pacer Hasan Ali had skipper Litton Das for six.
Tanzim Hasan, who topscored with a career best 31-ball 50, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 23 off 17 balls, added 33 for the eighth wicket but it was too late, too little.
Abrar magic taking centre stage 💫#PAKvBAN | #ClashOfGreen pic.twitter.com/sKMCXCO0Qb
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) May 30, 2025
FARHAN DELIVERS
Earlier, Pakistan posted a consecutive 200-plus total with Farhan and Nawaz ably supported by Mohammad Haris whose 41 came off 25 balls after the home team won the toss and batted.
After losing fellow opener Saim Ayub to a run out for four, Farhan put the innings on a solid footing with a 103-run second wicket stand of 54 balls with Haris.
The Farhan-Haris duo smashed Bangladesh bowlers to all corners, with Farhan hitting six sixes and four boundaries while Haris's knock had two sixes and four boundaries.
Farhan was finally caught by Litton Das off legspinner Rishad Hossain in the 12th over. His previous best of 39 was against Australia in Dubai in 2018.
𝐾𝐹𝐶 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝐴𝑙𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑎ℎ 𝑃𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑣𝑠 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠ℎ 𝑇20𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 2025🏏
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) May 30, 2025
🌟 2nd T20I - Man of the Match 🌟
Sahibzada Farhan — for his maiden T20I fifty! A superb 74 off 41 balls🙌#PAKvBAN | #ClashOfGreen pic.twitter.com/XT0Rya41FX
Nawaz gave a final polish to the innings by hitting three sixes and two boundaries as Pakistan added 40 in the last five overs.
Skipper Salman Agha fell for 19 and Shadab Khan made seven.
For Bangladesh Tanzim finished with 2-36 and Hasan Mahmud took 2-47.
PAKISTAN: Salman Agha (capt), Mohammad Haris (wkt), Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Hasan Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed
BANGLADESH: Litton Das (capt/wkt), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam
Umpires: Faisal Afridi (PAK) and Rashid Riaz (PAK)
TV umpire: Ahsan Raza (PAK)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)