Bangladesh complete a series sweep over T20 World cup champions England
Bangladesh stunned England for the third time as they emerged victorious by 16 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur in the third and final T20I clash. After the disastrous start to the T20I series, the World Champions were raring for a win in the final outing. However, a middle-order collapse handed them yet another defeat at the hands of the Bangla Tigers.
Upon winning the toss, Buttler decided to field first. Bangladesh openers Litton Das and Rony Talukdar handed a smooth start to their side. The duo raised a 55-run partnership before Rony Talukdar was dismissed by veteran spinner Adil Rashid for 24 runs.
However, star batter Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das comfortably got the big runs on the board. Litton got his half-century off 41 balls which included eight boundaries and further raised an innings-defining partnership with Shanto.
The two got 84 runs between them as Bangladesh concluded their innings with a score of 158 runs in 20 overs. Litton wrapped up the innings with 73 runs while Shanto got 47 runs to his name. Meanwhile, Chris Jordan and Rashid were the only two with a scalp each during the first innings.
England collapse during run chase
After losing two back-to-back games with dismal batting performances, the English side needed to up the ante to obtain a result in their favour in the final T20I. However, spinner Tanvir Islam struck the first blow in the third ball of the contest as he got the vital scalp of Phil Salt for a duck.
Despite the early fall of a wicket, Malan and Buttler took the onus of a potential win. What followed was sheer domination from the two as they clobbered their way back into the contest with a sensational 95-run partnership.
Just when England were comfortably placed, Bangladesh struck consecutive blows and tilted the game towards their end. Buttler’s run-out by Mehidy Hasan Miraz proved to be the catalyst as England lost wickets swiftly thenafter. Taskin and Shakib dismantled the middle-order in under four overs towards the death and helped seal the contest by 16 runs. With this, Bangladesh sweeped the series 3-0 against the depleted World Champions.
