The U. S. defeated Bangladesh through six runs to win its second Twenty20 in form and pull off a surprise win in the three-in-form series in Houston, Texas.
Chasing a modest 145 to win on Thursday, Bangladesh moved to 78-2 before squandering their last 8 wickets in 60 runs to crash two days after squandering the opening game on five wickets.
Fast pitcher Ali Khan won 3-25 for the home team, while Bangladeshi captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (36) and former captain Shakib Al Hasan (30) were the main point creators for their team out of a total of 138.
“A lot of the credit goes to bowlers. They pushed hard and gave their best game to contain the Bangladeshi hitters,” said the man from Khan.
“We took windows in stages, and that put pressure on Bangladesh again. “
– USA Cricket (@usacricket) May 23, 2024
The series is played from the build-up to the Twenty20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean, which begins on June 1.
The final game of the series will also be played in Houston on Saturday.
“I think it’s very disappointing for us. I think we’ve lost ground in almost every single game halfway through,” Shanto said.
“I hope we can play some smart cricket in the next game. I think it’s not a skills challenge. We replace our mindset and our way of thinking.
After holding the USA to 144-6 in 20 overs, Bangladesh was shaken after just 4 balls when fly-half Soumya Sarkar got stuck and set up through Saurabh Netravalkar scoreless.
They were 30-2 in the fifth when compatriot Tanzid Hasan, who had been called up to the team to upgrade veteran Liton Das, was eliminated by Jasdeep Singh for 19.
At 78-2, Bangladesh appeared but lost their captain Shanto, who was eliminated in an embarrassing confusion with Towhid Hridoy.
Their departure caused a fall for the Asian side, which is ranked ninth in the world compared to the Americans who are ranked 19th.
Hridoy played with former New Zealand star Corey Anderson for 25 years before Mahmudullah (3), 38, a veteran of 130 T20s, also cleaned through the Shadley van Schalkwyk left-arm curling iron.
The same bowler also sent back Jaker Ali, and when Shakib, in his 121st overseas T20 match, saw his stumps strewn across Khan, the Bangladeshis were 124-7 and threatened with defeat.
Weight of the Tanzim Hasan Sakib frame for Khan. Shoriful Islam fell to Netravalkar before Khan hit the last man, Rishad Hossain, to end the match.
Earlier, U. S. captain Monank Patel had scored 42 of 38 balls and was well supported by his compatriot Steven Taylor (31) and Aaron Jones’ 35.
Shoriful, Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad took two windows for Bangladesh.