USA Clinches Historic T20I Series Victory Against Bangladesh
USA, the co-hosts, secured a historic T20I series victory over Bangladesh in a remarkable build-up to the T20 World Cup.
For Bangladesh, the series has been nothing short of disastrous.
Bangladesh 138 (Shanto 36, Shakib 30, Ali Khan 3-25, Netravalkar 2-15, van Schalkwyk 2-21) was defeated by USA 144 for 6 (Monank 42, Jones 35, Taylor 31, Rishad 2-21, Shoriful 2-29, Mustafizur 2-31) by six runs.
Ali Khan was the star of the show as the United States of America defeated Bangladesh in their T20I series at home, leading the three-match series 2-0 on Thursday. After the USA won the first game because to huge hitting from Harmeet Singh, they won the second game by a six-run margin thanks to his three wicket haul.
America bowled brilliantly in the last overs, taking three wickets from Ali Khan and one from Saurabh Netravalkar in the 19th over.
The USA defeated a top-ten T20I team for the first time on Tuesday when they won the opening match. They took it a step farther this time. The squad will benefit greatly from it in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup next month. It’s a cricketing disaster for Bangladesh.
The 145-run pursuit was off to a bad start for them. Before a run-out of wickets, they lost two wickets in the powerplay after a 48-run partnership between Towhid Hridoy and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. In an attempt to send them home, Shakib Al Hasan was removed by Ali Khan in the eighteenth over, allowing the USA to retake the lead.
Bangladesh elected to bowl first, and Rishad Hossain spearheaded their effective bowling attack. In the Twenty20 Internationals, he took 2 for 21, which was his finest and most economical stint. Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam also took 2 apiece. Although Aaron Jones, the captain of the USA, scored 35 points and Monank Patel, the captain, scored 42, the home team was unable to capitalize on a strong powerplay.
Netravalkar gave the USA the early advantage they desired in the chase while holding back a modest total. Soumya Sarkar, who weakly returned the fourth ball of the innings to the bowler, was caught and bowled by him. In the fourth over, Tanzid Hasan struck a six off Ali Khan and then a boundary off Steven Taylor. But Tanzid lost his excellent start when he was bowled while trying to draw off a delivery that Jessy Singh had not cut short enough for the hit.
Following that, 48 runs were added for the third wicket by Shanto and Hridoy, who had scored fifty in the opening game. In the tenth over, Hridoy and Shanto both smashed a six off Harmeet, hitting the ball quite straight.
However, in the eleventh over, Shanto and Hridoy miscommunicated, leaving Shanto stranded in the middle of the pitch. After that, in the 13th over, Corey Anderson bowled Hridoy for 25 off 21 balls, and in the 15th over, Shadley van Schalkwyk did the same to Mahmudullah.
At the beginning of the 16th over, as Shakib was struggling to reach the striker’s end, the point fielder attempted a run-out but was unable to hit the stumps. Later in the over, he bounced back by hitting two incredible fours off Jessy, one through point and the other just beyond third.
Also Read: T20 World Cup Winners List from 2007 to 2023
But Bangladesh’s happiness was fleeting. Before Shakib followed him back the following ball, Jaker Ali was knocked down by van Schalkwyk. As he reached number 30, Shakib cut an out-of-bounds delivery from Ali Khan to his stumps, allowing the tail to complete the stroke. Then, one ball later, Ali Khan trapped Tanzim Hasan lbw for a duck, solidifying USA’s dominance.
To keep Bangladesh in the hunt, Rishad hit Ali Khan for a one-bounce four at the end of the 18th over, but Netravalkar bowled Shoriful in the last over. Before running a bye at the beginning of the last over, Mustafizur took a single off the final ball of the over. Ali Khan took his inside edge as he attempted to ramp the fast bowler after Rishad hit him for a four through far on, setting off wild celebrations for the United States.
Taylor and Monank had a while to get going in the first half, but starting in the fourth over, the opening duo from the United States hit several boundaries. After hitting two fours off Tanzim in the fourth over, Taylor went on to hit sixes off Mustafizur and Shakib in the next two overs.
But the USA lost two significant wickets just after concluding the powerplay without any losses. Taylor was hit by a wide-arcing shot from Rishad that went straight to Tanzid Hasan’s throat. Using 28 balls, he scored 31 runs with two sixes and three fours. With a stunning legbreak on the next ball, Rishad had Andries Gous caught behind for a duck. With his best T20I stats of 2 for 21 from four overs, he concluded.
After that, Monank and Jones put up 60 runs for the third wicket, batting at a meagre 6.42 per over. Though overall there weren’t many huge hits, Jones was more fluid than he was in the previous game, hitting Rishad for a six over long off.
In the final four overs, Bangladesh finally got their reward after putting Jones and Monank on the ropes for less than ten overs. Jones was dismissed for 35 off 34 by Mustafizur, who caught at long-on. In the 19th over, Shoriful bowled Anderson and Monank. Soon afterward, Mustafizur had Harmeet for a duck. However, as things transpired, the USA had enough.
