It has been a fairytale experience for the Shakib Al Hasan-led side in Bangladesh vs England (BAN VS ENG) T20I series, as they won the series against the world champions. Before the series, the Bangla Tigers had not registered a single win in the 20-over format against the two-time champions.
Jos Buttler-led side faced a consecutive loss against the home side in the three matches T20I series, with a last match lost by four wickets to claim the series. On the other hand, the English side lifted the T20 World Cup (WC) 2022 trophy in Australia by beating Pakistan in the finals.
While the second T20I, All-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz delivered with bat and ball as he was awarded player of the match for his 20 runs and four wickets. The Bangla Tigers stunned the current WC-winning side by four wickets in a second successive upset to clinch the three-match Twenty20 series.
The home side was chasing 118 to win, and they got off to a disappointing start when they lost openers Litton Das and Rony Talukdar under 30 runs, before Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy stood together for a 41-run partnership to get them back on track.
A strong effort, but Bangladesh get over the line to take the game and the series.
Well played out there 🤝 #BANGvENG | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/KOnDis5OcR
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 12, 2023
England’s speedster, Jofra Archer then dismissed Mehidy and Afif Hossain in back-to-back overs in his second spell, he eventually ended with three wickets in his four overs, but left-handed batter, Najmul’s crucial 46 runs along with pacer Taskin Ahmed, together they were able to chase down the target with seven balls to spare for the host nation.
Earlier, visitors struggled with the bat from the start as opener Dawid Malan (5) departed in the third before, his partner and fellow opener Phil Salt was caught and bowled by the opposition’s skipper on 25 run mark.
In his comeback series, Ben Duckett top-scored for the visitors with a run-a-ball 28 in the second T20I, later was dismissed by the left-arm pacer, Mustafizur Rahman in the last over of the innings. The off-spinner, Mehidy (4-12) ripped through the middle order of the English side. Brendon Mccullum’s players were dismissed for 117 runs, their seventh-lowest T20I total.
Initially, in England’s tour of Bangladesh in 2023, the home side won the first T20I at Chattogram by six wickets. Prior to the 20-over format series, there was an ODI fixture, in which the English side won the three matches ODI series by 2-1. Adil Rashid was awarded player of the series for his eight wickets and 31 runs in 50 over format series.
For the final T20I, England and Bangladesh will clash against each other in the 3rd T20I on March 14 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. While the Asian side already has an unbeatable lead of 2-0 in the three-match T20I series.