Tigers confirm T20 series against Ireland

Shakib 5 stun Irish

Sports Reporter: Bangladesh confirmed the T20 series with one match in hand against Ireland at home. The Tigers defeated the Irish by 77 runs in the 2nd T20I of the three-match series. Shakib Al Hasan’s team took a 2-0 lead in the series. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan took five wickets. Bangladesh collected 202 runs for three wickets in the scheduled 17 overs in the Cartel Over match. In reply, Ireland collected 125 runs after losing 9 wickets in the allotted overs. Taskin Ahmed made the hosts happy with the first ball of the innings. He gave Irish captain Paul Stirling a golden duck by making a catch off Liton Das. The next part is full of Shakib’s story.
Shakib saw his first wicket on his first ball. The Tigers captain returned Lorcan Tucker, who scored 6 runs. He took two more wickets — Ross Adair (6) and Gareth Delaney (6) — in his second over.
After that, Shakib took two more wickets. Apart from taking five wickets, he also set the record for the highest wicket-taker in international T20, leaving behind New Zealand’s Tim Southee. Hasan Mahmud also joined the list of wicket-takers in 10.2 overs of the innings. He sent back Mark Adair by palming Liton Das standing behind the wicket. The batsman scored 11 runs in 6 balls before returning to the dressing room. Fionn Hand, who scored 2 runs, was later sent back by Taskin Ahmed. After that, Graham Hume started to advance the innings with Ben White. Both of them remained eaten on 2 and 20 runs respectively. However, the Irish scored 125 runs in the scheduled 17 overs. Earlier, Irish captain Paul Stirling decided to field after winning toss. As soon as the toss was over, the rain came down. After two spells of rain, the length of the match was reduced to 17 overs. Litton Das and Rony Talukdar opened the innings for Bangladesh.
The two started playing aggressively from the start. In that sequence, the Tigers completed the team’s fifty in the fourth over of the power play. Litton Das completed his half century in just 18 balls in aggressive batting- which is the fastest in the T20 history of the country. He left Mohammad Ashraful behind who had held the record till now by scoring a 20-ball half-century. Bangladesh scored a team century on the first ball of the eighth over. The Tigers completed their century in just 43 balls — the fastest in their T20 history. The red-greens have also seen the highest opening partnership in this format by Litton-Rony. Rony Talukdar was caught by Mark Adair at long on from Ben White. The 124-run partnership between the two ended with him returning for 44 runs. Litton was running at his own pace even though Rony stopped and was on the way to the first T20 century of his career. However, Litton became Ben White’s second victim in the last ball of the 12 over. He played a tornado innings of 83 off 41 balls before being caught by Lorcan Tucker. His innings had 10 fours and three sixes. Shakib Al Hasan and Tawhid Hridoy led the end of the innings.
The duo’s 61-run partnership was broken when Hridoy returned for 24 runs in the last over. Shakib remained eaten on 38 runs.
Ben White took two wickets and Mark Adair one for the Irish. Short Scorecard: Bangladesh: 202/3, 17 overs; Litton Das 83, Rony Talukdar 44, Shakib Al Hasan 38, Tawhid Hrioy 24; Ben White 2/28, Mark Adair 1/52. Ireland: 125/9, 17 overs; Curtis Campher 50, Graham Hume 20, Harry Tucker 22, Shakib Al Hasan 5/22, Taskin Ahmed 3/27. Results: Bangladesh won by 77 runs. Player of the match: Shakib Al Hasan.