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CHATTOGRAM – Bangladesh powered to victory over Ireland in the first T20I of the series, scoring 207 before Taskin Ahmed starred in a rain-affected chase.
Rony Talukdar notched his maiden T20I half-century score as Bangladesh hit their third-highest score in men’s T20Is, as he and Litton Das wreaked havoc in the powerplay. The openers put on 82 runs in the first six overs as Bangladesh looked set to break yet another record in Ireland’s white-ball tour.

Some good bowling work through the middle and a prolonged shower but paid to Bangladesh’s hopes of a truly mammoth score, with Ireland’s chase reduced to an eight-over 104-run sprint. Taskin took three wickets in his first over to derail a promising start from Paul Stirling and Ross Adair. Bangladesh eventually sealed a comfortable win by 22 runs.

After stand-in captain Stirling won the toss and elected to bowl, Das wasted no time in capitalising during the powerplay. He picked up his first six in Harry Tector’s first over, going on to hit three more in his innings.

But it was in the final over of the powerplay that the openers were able to really pick up the pace. Talukdar blasted four consecutive boundaries off Mark Adair, starting with a flat six back past the bowler’s head, 20 runs coming off the over.

With Ireland under the pump, Craig Young, playing his first T20I since July last year, found a much-needed breakthrough. He ended Das’s innings three runs short of a half-century, Stirling an ever-safe pair of hands at mid-off. While Young kept the scoring under control at one end, Taludkar continued to race ahead at the other. He hit two consecutive boundaries from Ben White’s second over to bring up his first T20I fifty off just 24 balls.

The middle overs brought some relief for the Ireland bowlers. They slowed the run rate from 13.5 at the end of the powerplay to 11 going into the final six overs. Tector picked up Najmul Hossain Shanto’s wicket thanks to a sharp bit of work from Lorcan Tucker whipping the bails off from behind the stumps, and Graham Hume cleaned up Tadulkar for 67 off the final ball of the 14th.

Ireland’s bowlers continued to peg Bangladesh back at the death. Adair snared Shamim Hossain with a clever slower ball and Towhid Hidroy sliced Young’s final delivery into the hands of Gareth Delany in the deep. Nevertheless, Bangladesh passed the 200 mark with an over to spare before the rain started to fall.

When the covers finally came off, Ireland were set 104 to chase in eight overs.

With the powerplay reduced to two overs in the shortened chase, Stirling set about taking full advantage of the fielding restrictions. He hit a straight drive down the ground for four off Nasum Ahmed’s first delivery and powered two more in the over. Ross Adair joined in at the other end, hitting Mustafizur for another three fours in the second over to take Ireland to 32-0.

With the run rate above what was required, Hasan Mahmud struck, bowling three consecutive dot balls before cleaning up Adair in his first over.

But it was Taskin coming on to bowl that vanquished Ireland’s chances of victory. He bowled Lorcan Tucker with his first delivery of the game before taking two in two balls with his fourth and fifth deliveries. He castled Stirling’s middle stump before snaring George Dockrell for a golden duck, leaving Ireland 40-4 at the end of the fourth having lost 3-3.

Delany dealt well with the hat-trick ball from Taskin, lofting a drive through the covers for four and, along with Tector, set about trying to power Ireland back into the chase. However, after Taskin’s over Ireland were unable to regain a winning position.

Tector fell for 19 in the final over to a brilliant diving catch in the deep by Mehidy Hasan Miraz, before Bangladesh secured victory by 22 runs on DLS.

MATCH SUMMARY

Bangladesh v Ireland, 1st T20I, Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram, 27 March 2023

Bangladesh 207-5 (19.3 overs; Rony Talukdar 67, Litton Das 47, Craig Young 2-45)
Ireland 81-5 (8 overs; Harry Tector 19, Paul Stirling 17, Taskin Ahmed 4-16)

Bangladesh won by 183 runs

See full scorecard

Wisden
Bangladesh go 1-0 up in the three-match series
No
Connaught