Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s brilliant performances with both the ball and the bat led Bangladesh to a four-wicket victory over England in the second Twenty20 international.
Because of the efforts of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh upset England in the second Twenty20 international, winning by four wickets and taking the series by a 2-0 margin. Bangladesh scored 120-6 in 18.5 overs, with Mehidy contributing with 4-12 as the hosts bowled out England for 117. Mehidy also contributed with the bat, scoring 20 runs off 16 balls. At the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh won the series 2-0 behind 46 not out from Najmul Hossain. The opening game of the series was played in Chittagong, and the home team won by six wickets.
After losing their bearings in the middle of their innings on a low and sluggish pitch in Mirpur, England was never really in the game after being put into bat.
Besides Mehidy, Shakib Al Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, and Mustafizur Rahman contributed with a wicket.
Ben Duckett scored the most points (28), but Phil Salt got the most out of his opportunities (25 off 19).
Even after Taskin took out Dawid Malan for five runs, Salt and Moeen Ali showed good purpose by putting up 34 runs for the second wicket.
Their chances of posting a huge score were dashed when they lost Salt (13), their captain Jos Buttler (4), and Ali (15) in quick succession.
Mehidy then took out Sam Curran (12) and Chris Woakes (0) in the same over, effectively ending any hope of a comeback for England.
After losing their openers early in their reply, Bangladesh’s batsmen lion das (nine) and ronny talukdar (nine), but teenager Towhid Hridoy made 17 to help stabilize the batting.
The 41 runs scored by Najmul and Mehidy were the difference in Bangladesh’s victory. England thought they had a chance when Jofra Archer took a couple of wickets in the final overs and finished with 3-13.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Najmul batted unbeaten for 47 balls, including three fours.
Taskin sealed the victory in the nineteenth over by hitting Chris Jordan four consecutive times.
On Tuesday, the series will conclude with the third and deciding game at the same venue.
A score of 2-1 won the last one-day international series between England and Australia.
The One-Day International World Cup will be contested in India later this year, so England’s matches in South Asia are crucial preparation.
