Last Update: March 10, 2023, 08:47 AM IST
England captain Jos Buttler, right, walks to greet Bangladesh captains Shakib Al Hasan, left, and Afif Hossain after Bangladesh won the first T20I (AP)
Bangladesh’s Najmul Hossain Shanto’s half-century helped all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan seal a six-wicket win against Twenty20 World champions England.
Bangladesh thrashed world champions England by six wickets with two overs to spare in a Twenty20 match on Thursday, riding on Nazmul Hossain’s 30-ball 51.
Nazmul batted from the fourth to the 13th and captain Shakib Al Hasan scored an unbeaten 34 off 24 balls to complete the victory with the winning boundary from deep backward point.
Bangladesh reached 158-4 after England were reduced to 156-6 in the first three T20s.
Chasing the target, the hosts got off to a brisk start. Ronnie Talukdar returned after eight years to play only his second game and scored 21 off 14 balls.
He brought in Najmul and he replied with four straight boundaries against fast bowler Mark Wood. Najmul brought up his third T20 half-century with an off-spinner off Moeen Ali and Wood came back rattling his stumps.
Nazmul said, ‘I was not too worried about losing wickets.’
Shakib took charge of the team on a slow pitch and handled it well in Bangladesh’s first T20 win over England.
“The way we took the game forward was brilliant, under the pump in the first ten overs but nobody panicked. Stuck to plans,” Shakib said.
He said, ‘When you don’t think much in T20, you play well. Hopefully we can keep it in the dressing room. This is a great start to the 2024 World Cup in the West Indies.”
Captain Jos Buttler and Phil Salt got off to a bad start for England. Butler scored 67 runs in 42 balls with the help of four fours and as many sixes while Salt scored 38 runs.
They shared an 80-run partnership before left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed got the breakthrough by removing Salt.
Butler survived by scoring 19 runs and was dismissed for 12 runs in the middle of four wickets. England took just 26 runs in the last powerplay.
Butler said, ‘We were in a position to start but were 20 runs short.’ “Low bounce and a bit slow but (the pitch) was consistent throughout the game. Bangladesh took the game forward and put us under pressure.
Hasan Mahmood led the way with 2-26 from his four overs.
The second T20 will be played at Mirpur on Sunday and the third match will be played at the same ground on Tuesday.
(with inputs from agencies)
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