Bangladesh delivered a breathtaking performance crushing England to complete a flawless whitewash in the three-match T20I series. In an outstanding third match in Dhaka on Tuesday, the Tigers roared to a triumphant 16-run victory, leaving the T20I world champions, England, stunned.
Despite losing the prior ODI series 2-1, the Tigers came back strong and demonstrated their ability to compete at the highest level. The loss in the ODI series at home was an unusual setback for Bangladesh, but the T20I victory made up for it.
“We are really disappointed to lose the series; congratulations to Bangladesh, they outplayed us completely,” England captain Joss Buttler said after the match. “We came back well, and we missed some opportunities in the field, which is disappointing.”
He pointed out that the match took a turn for the worse when they lost two quick wickets after reaching 100, which ultimately proved costly for them.
Batting first after losing the toss, Bangladesh scored 158 for two, with Litton Das hitting 73 off 57 balls with 10 fours and one six. Rony Talukdar scored 24 off 22 balls with three fours. The openers set a solid foundation for the hosts to aim for a big total. After Rony’s dismissal, Litton and Shanto took on the responsibility and guided the team to a challenging total.
However, the dismissal of Litton slowed down Bangladesh’s momentum, and in the last 18 balls, Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan could only add 19 runs to the board.
In reply, England started strong despite losing an early wicket and formed a big partnership of 95 runs off 76 balls with the help of Dawid Malan and Joss Buttler in the second wicket.
After the 13th over, they were cruising at 100 for one, but after the 17th over, they were at 123 for five. The tourists needed 31 runs off the last two overs to finish the series on a high note, but they failed.
In the 19th over, Bangladesh captain Shakib conceded only four runs, pushing England to its fourth defeat in the series.
In the last over, Hasan Mahmud conceded two fours off the first two balls as Chris Woakes was swinging with all his power. In the third ball, a single was scored, so England needed three sixes – 18 runs – but they failed to score that off the last three balls.
Malan hit a fifty, and the dangerous Buttler scored 40 for England, leading them to 142 for six, losing the match by 16 runs.
For Bangladesh, Taskin Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers once again, taking two wickets for 26 runs, while Tanvir, Shakib, and Mustafizur Rahman bagged one wicket each, with Mustafizur completing his 100th wicket in T20Is.
“We were really good in this series and fielded exceptionally well, and that was a major change. There’s a World Cup next year, and we can build on this victory,” Shakib, the Bangladesh captain, said after the match.
He credited Litton, Rony, and Shanto for setting up a challenging total for the tourists.
Bangladesh will now start gearing up for the next assignment- a home series against Ireland starting with the first ODI in Sylhet on March 18.
