Bangladesh claimed victory over England by 50 runs to avoid a whitewash at home in the third and final match of the three-match ODI series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Monday.
Premier all rounder Shakib Al Hasan hit a breezy 75 to guide the Tigers’ innings and then scalped four wickets to help the hosts recover some morale after losing the first two matches and the series. With his fourth wicket, Shakib became the first Bangladeshi bowler to take 300 or more wickets in ODIs.
Winning the toss, Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal elected to bat first. However, his decision backfired as Litton Das was dismissed for a duck in the very first over. Tamim himself couldn’t last long as he was caught by James Vince off Sam Curran after scoring just 11 runs off 6 balls. But Najmul Hossain Shanto steadied the ship with a patient knock of 53 off 71 balls.
In the third wicket stand, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shanto added 98 runs, helping the hosts recover from the early damage. However, Shanto lost his wicket while running late for a single.
Mushfiqur ended up on 70, while Shakib made 75 runs off 71 balls with seven fours. Bangladesh posted a total of 246 for all wickets in 48.5 overs, riding on their batting effort.
Mahmudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, and Mehdiy Hasan Miraz failed to do well in this match. For England, Jofra Archer scalped three wickets while Sam Curran and Adil Rashid took two wickets each.
In reply, England’s openers, Jason Roy and Phil Salt, got off to a good start, adding 54 runs for the first wicket. But Shakib struck thrice in quick succession, removing both openers and James Vince, reducing England to 55 for 3. Sam Curran and Jos Buttler then put up a fight with a partnership of 47 runs. However, Mehidy Hasan Miraz ended Curran’s resistance as he was caught for 23 runs.
Buttler then fell lbw to Taijul Islam for 26, and England’s hopes of a victory were all but over. Chris Woakes was the only batsman who showed some resistance in the late order with a fighting knock of 34 runs off 46 balls. However, he was dismissed by Mustafizur Rahman in the 44th over, and England were eventually bowled out for 196 runs in 43.1 overs.
Shakib was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh, finishing with figures of 4 for 35 in his 10 overs. Ebadot Hossain and Taijul Islam also picked up two wickets each.
The teams will now face each other in a three-match T20I series. The first match will be played in Chattogram on March 9, while the last two matches will take place in Dhaka on March 12 and 14.
