Tigers breeze past Ireland to go 1-0 up

It ended up being an easy 22-run win for Bangladesh as they went 1-0 up in the three-match Twenty20 International series against Ireland in Chattogram on Monday.

However, when the Ireland innings started, that was not the case.

After Bangladesh had piled up 207-5 in 19.2 overs, rain interrupted the match and after a long break, the target for the Irish was set at 104 off eight overs.

And the visitors went off to a fiery start as they put on 32 runs in just two overs, meaning they were well over the required rate.

However, Hasan Mahmud and Taskin Ahmed, in the following two overs, turned the tide back in Bangladesh’s favour.

Hasan bowled three dot balls and then bowled Ross Adair (13) with a perfect yorker. In the next over, Taskin got rid of Lorcan Tucker (1), Paul Stirling (17), and George Dockrell (0) to put Ireland’s back against the wall.

However, 16 runs from the next over saw Ireland back in the tie again but Shakib Al Hasan gave away only five runs in the sixth over, and Mustafizur Rahman gave seven in the next, meaning the tie was pretty much settled.

Taskin, defending 32 in the final over, gave away 10 runs but picked up a wicket to ensure their win and his career-best T20I bowling figures (4-16).

“It is difficult for one or two guys to always contribute, want this kind of all-round performance. The new guys coming in are not panicking, they want to come out and perform. The way they are bowling is fantastic, we have a couple more guys who are not getting opportunities because of such performances from our pacers,” a content Bangladesh skipper Shakib said after the match.

Before that, the Bangladesh batters were in blitzkrieg mode from the start as Rony Talukdar (67) and Liton Das (47) added 81 runs in the powerplay, the highest in Bangladesh history, and overall added 91 runs in 7.1 overs before the latter departed.

Rony picked up his fifty off 24 balls, the fourth-quickest for Bangladesh, continuing on the form he had been showing since his return.

Quickfire knocks from Shamim Hossain (30), Towhid Hridoy (13), and Shakib (20*) then took Bangladesh to 207-5 before rain came down.