Losing the first match could have been an upset, but is there anything to say about today’s loss?
On Thursday (May 23) at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, Texas, Shanto’s team lost by 6 runs in the second T20 of the series.
A moderate target of 145 runs, quite achievable in modern cricket. With careful play, it should have been easily reached. However, against the mediocre bowling of the USA, the Tigers struggled to achieve this target. Bangladesh’s innings ended at 138 runs in 19.3 overs.
In pursuit of an easy target, losing the two openers early put the Tigers under pressure. Soumya Sarkar couldn’t settle, and Tanzid Tamim, despite a good start, couldn’t extend his innings. The visitors lost 2 wickets for 30 runs in 4.2 overs.
Soumya made a mistake early, returning a catch to Saurabh Netravalkar off the fourth ball of the innings for a golden duck. Tamim, however, started well but had to stop at 19 off 15 balls.
Najmul Hossain Shanto and Tawhid Hridoy tried to recover from the initial shock in the fourth wicket partnership, adding 48 runs in the next 38 balls. Just when it seemed the team was overcoming the crisis, Shanto got run out.
The Bangladesh captain was dismissed for 36 off 34 balls. One over later, Anderson dismissed Hridoy, putting the team back in trouble. Hridoy was out for 25 off 21 balls. With 43 balls remaining, Bangladesh still needed 53 runs.
Mahmudullah couldn’t meet the expectations, getting out for 3 runs off 4 balls, becoming Sedley Van’s victim. The same bowler also dismissed Zakir Ali (4) in the next over. Bangladesh was at 124 for 6 in 17 overs.
Shakib, who was still on the field, was the last hope. However, Ali Khan dismissed him for 30 off 23 balls. In the same over, Tanzim was trapped LBW.
With 12 balls remaining, Bangladesh needed 15 runs. In the 19th over, Shariful was dismissed, and the Tigers could only add 3 runs. In the final over, they needed 12 runs but could only manage 5 off the first two balls, ending the innings. Losing 5 wickets for just 14 runs!
Earlier, Bangladesh’s Shariful and Rishad kept the USA under pressure with the ball. They didn’t allow Monank Patel and Steven Taylor to play freely. Though the hosts scored 42 runs without losing any wickets in the power play, Rishad turned things around in the next over. He provided Bangladesh with something to celebrate, taking two wickets in consecutive balls and almost achieving a hat-trick.
Rishad dismissed Steven Taylor, who scored 31 off 28 balls, breaking the opening partnership. On the next ball, he dismissed Andres Gous for a golden duck, caught behind by Zakir.
With Rishad taking 2 wickets for just 1 run, the innings regained balance. However, in the third wicket partnership, Monank Patel and Aaron Jones added 60 runs off 56 balls.
Mustafizur broke this partnership, dismissing Jones for 35 off 34 balls in the 16.1 over. Shariful then struck twice in the next over, dismissing Corey Anderson for 11 and Monank for 42 off 38 balls.
In the final over’s first ball, Mustafizur dismissed Harmit Singh for a duck. The USA’s innings ended at 144 runs. Rishad took 2 wickets for 21 runs, Shariful 2 for 29, and Mustafizur 2 for 31.
