USA stun Bangladesh with back-to-back wins to clinch historic T20I series

Twice in two games, US cricket newcomers humiliated Bangladesh again as they sealed their maiden T20I series victory with a six-run victory over the Tigers. In the second of the three-match series at the Prairie View Cricket Complex, the hosts claimed a victory, a golden moment for fans to savor for generations. The match turned out to be a yorker party, with bails flying everywhere and the US players coming together in a joyous, celebratory gathering at the fall of each wicket.

Their inspired performance saw them take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-game series.

Playing against the USA on unfamiliar surfaces has resulted in the undoing of Bangladesh’s batsmen, who are naturally bred into slow bowlers from the subcontinent. It turned out to be another disappointing day for the Bangladesh batsmen as they struggled to hit the willow after a clinical effort with the ball.

Chasing an achievable target of 144 on a seemingly benign surface, Bangladesh’s batsmen struggled to maintain flow and rhythm and ended up dying trying to force pace in the face of a disciplined bowling effort.

Apart from captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and the in-form Towhid Hridoy, none of the other batsmen in Bangladesh’s dugout could rise to the occasion.

Left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar drew first blood early in the chase by sending back left-hander Soumya Sarkar for a golden duck.

Tanzid Hasan followed Sarkar back to the cage as Jessy Singh sent him away three overs later for a score of 19 (15).

Shanto and Hridoy put together a substantial 48-run stand to prevent Bangladesh’s innings from collapsing.

By mid-innings, Bangladesh looked set to chase down the target comfortably. However, a moment of brilliance from former New Zealand international Corey Anderson changed the course of the game and turned it in the USA’s favor.

In the 11th over, Corey Anderson took the ball and advanced towards the stumps after confusion between the two batsmen. A slight moment of hesitation caused Shanto to die, as he walked back to the dugout with a personal score of 36 (34).

Later, an Anderson bowler rattled the stumps of Hridoy (25) to end Bangladesh’s chase. The wicket triggered a collapse that few in the stands in Houston would have predicted.

Shakib led the fight at one end but wickets kept falling at the other at regular intervals.

The equation came down to 21 runs in the final 3 overs for Bangladesh to keep the series alive.

The pressure was on Shakib’s shoulders to finish the game for his team. He tried to take a turn on an impromptu delivery but only found an inside edge. A small miscalculation meant the balls headed straight for the stumps.

The writing was on the wall for Bangladesh after this dismissal. Still, they managed to stay close to the pursuit.

With 12 shorts off the last six deliveries, Rishad Hossain found the fence off the second ball to raise hopes of an unprecedented comeback.

But Ali Khan kept his composure and removed Hossain to bundle Bangladesh out for a score of 138.

Earlier in the innings, Bangladesh won the toss and put USA in to bat. Skipper Monank Patel led the attack from the bat and hit 42. Steven Taylor and Aaron Jones made valuable contributions with their knocks of 31 and 35 to propel USA’s score to 144/7.

Brief score: USA 144/7 in 20 overs (Monank Patel 42, Aaron Jones 35, Rishad Hossain 2/21) vs Bangladesh 138 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 36, Shakib Al Hasan 30; Ali Khan 3-25, Saurabh Netravalkar 2- 15).