Last Updated: March 15, 2023, 10:13 AM IST
A dominating show from Bangladesh. (AP Photo)
Bangladesh completed a memorable 3-0 clean sweep of world champion England in a T20I series on Tuesday
Bangladesh completed one of their most memorable performances in T20I history as they clean swept world champions England 3-0 on Tuesday. Having already pocketed the three-match series by winning the opening two match, Bangladesh produced a superb show as they fought back to beat England by 16 runs in the third T20I.
In the chase of 159, England were 100/1 in 13 overs and firm favourites to record a console win before heading home. And then a stunning collapse followed that saw the well-set pair of Dawid Malan (53) and captain Jos Buttler (40) heading back in successive deliveries with the score static at 100.
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England didn’t recover from the twin blows and finished with 142/6 in 20 overs.
Bangladesh captain Shakif Al Hasan was chuffed to bits with the result but he pointed out one aspect of his team’s performance: their fielding and added how the aim is to become the best fielding team in Asia.
“Everyone noticed our fielding in these three matches. We out-fielded England, who are themselves a good fielding side. It is a big tick mark. Our biggest improvement is in our fielding, when I consider every aspect,” Shakib said after the match.
“We should always field well, but we have targeted to become the best fielding side in Asia. After this performance, I don’t think we are too far behind,” he added.
Bangladesh were put in to bat first as they made a steady start thanks to a solid partnership between openers Litton Das (73) and Rony Talukdar followed. Najmul Shanto then made a brisk 47 not out to push the final total to 158/2.
“We didn’t know how much runs were enough on this pitch. So we were very open-minded,” Shakib said. “We first thought 140 was a good score. Then we got to a stage when we thought 170-180 would be our total. We didn’t get many runs in the last five overs, but we batted well in the powerplay and middle overs.”
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“They have seven or eight proper bowlers so we had to struggle at least once in the innings. The way Rony and Litton started, and then Shanto and Litton build the innings, especially their running between the wickets, it was outstanding. The way they turned ones into twos and twos into threes, it put England under pressure,” he added.
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