Shanto, bowlers help Tigers script memorable win against England in 1st T20I

Bangladesh scripted a memorable T20I win over England in the first of three T20Is at Chattogram on Thursday.

After a good bowling performance, the Tigers batted with lots of spirit and guts to chase down a target of 157 with six wickets and 12 balls to spare.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was the top scorer for the hosts with a well-constructed 51 from just 30 balls.

While the left-hander continued his good from from the recently concluded T20 tournament Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Rony Talukar and Towhid Hridoy also impressed after getting a chance in the national team due to their good performances in the BPL too.

Rony scored 21 from 14 balls while Hridoy scored 24 from 17 deliveries.

In the end, the finishing touches were provided by captain Shakib Al Hasan (34 runs from 24 balls) and Afif Hossain (15 runs from 13 balls) in a 46-run partnership from 34 balls to take the Tigers home. 

Earlier, England were 135 for two after 15.5 overs and were eyeing something beyond 180 at that point. They lost their two set batters - Ben Duckett and Jos Buttler - who had already bagged a 47-run partnership in two consecutive deliveries, and the Tigers fought back brilliantly to restrict the world champions to 156 runs at Chattogram.

England bagged only 21 runs in the last four overs after losing Duckett and Buttler. 

England started off strongly. Apart from two missed chances in the same Nasum Ahmed over, they didn't give much to the Bangladeshi bowlers. 

Shakib was one active captain on the field.

In the fifth over, Mustafizur Rahman conceded a boundary to Phil Salt through covers, Shakib ran from point to mid-on to talk with Mustafiz. Changed the field and stayed there. But that didn't help. The Fizz conceded a six in the last ball to ruin the over.

Shakib was actively changing the field setup every now and then as he thought necessary.

The sixth over by Nasum saw two dropped catches, including a sitter dropped by Shakib. Captain put down captain! Shakib made a complete mess of wrapping his fingers around the chance, and it went straight down. Buttler was 19 off 12 at that point.

Salt was caught behind in the 10th over, he reviewed only to lose it as Nasum drew the first blood. He bagged 38 off 34 balls before departing.

Shakib was economical with the ball and he soon picked up Dawid Malan in the 12th over. He ended his spell with one wicket to his name giving away 26 runs.

Buttler reached his fifty in 32 balls in a grand style hitting a six down the wicket of Hasan Mahmud. He was eventually dismissed for 67 off 41 balls off Hasan Mahmud in the first ball of the 17th over giving Shakib a breath of relief. It was visible as he ran towards Hasan Mahmud to celebrate the wicket of England skipper.

After that, it was all Bangladeshi pacers. Mustafiz, Hasan Mahmud, and Taskin Ahmed bowled brilliantly at the death to give Bangladesh some sort of chances in the match.

For Bangladesh, Hasan Mahmud bagged a brace giving away only 26 runs while each of Shakib, Nasum, Mustafiz, Taskin picked up a wicket.