Najmul powers BD to T20 upset over England

CHITTAGONG: Najmul Hossain hit 51 off 30 balls as Bangladesh held their nerve to beat world champions England by six wickets in the first Twenty20 international in Chittagong on Thursday.

Najmul’s third T20I fifty guided Bangladesh to 158-4 in 18 overs after the hosts held England to 156-6, despite skipper Jos Buttler making 67 off 42 balls.

“Bangladesh finished the innings really well. We were in a position to really kick on and launch at the end, but we couldn’t manage to get away,” said Buttler.

“We were probably 20 short with our score and we had to chase a little bit in the field.”

Buttler put on 80 runs with Phil Salt in their opening partnership after the hosts put England in to bat first.

But England crumbled after Buttler’s fourth-wicket dismissal and managed just 21 runs in the last five overs.

Pace bowler Hasan Mahmud, who forced Buttler to give a catch at long-on in the 16th over, finished with 2-26.

Bangladesh got off to a positive start as Rony Talukdar (21) and Liton Das (12) put on 33 in their opening partnership.

Adil Rashid bowled Talukdar to break the stand and Jofra Archer soon removed Liton.

But Najmul and debutant Towhid Hridoy added 65 runs for the third wicket to put Bangladesh in control.

Moeen Ali ended their partnership by getting rid of Hridoy for 24 after Najmul raced to his fifty off 27 balls.

Mark Wood bowled Najmul for some small revenge after conceding fours to the left-hander off each of his first four balls.

Shakib Al Hasan denied England further momentum and drove home the win with a boundary off Chris Jordan to stay 34 not out.

Afif Hossain was not out for 15 at the other end as the duo added 46 runs in their unbroken fifth wicket stand.

“The way we approached the game was fantastic, can’t ask more from our team,” Bangladesh skipper Shakib said.

Score Board

Bangladesh won the toss

England innings

Salt c Litton b Nasum 38

Buttler (c) Ü c Hasan 67

Malan c Najmul b Shakib 4

Duckett b Mustafizur 20

Ali not out 8

Curran c Najmul b Hasan 6

Woakes b Taskin 1

Jordan not out 5

Total: (RR: 7.80, 93 Mins) 156/6

Did not bat: Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood

Fall: 1-80, 2-88, 3-135, 4-135, 5-146, 6-147

Bowling: Nasum 4-0-31-1; Taskin 4-0-35-1; Mustafizr 4-0-34-1; Shakib 4-0-26-1; Hasan 4-0-26-2;

Bangladesh innings

Litton c Woakes b Archer 12

Rony b Rashid 21

Najmul b Wood 51

Towhid c Curran b Ali 24

Shakib (c) not out 34

Afif not out 15

Total: (18 Ov, RR: 8.77) 158/4

Fall: 1-33, 2-43, 3-108, 4-112

Bowling: Sam Curran 2-0-18-0; Woakes 2-0-21-0; Archer 3-0-27-1; Rashid 3-0-25-1; Wood 2-0-24-1; Moeen Ali 4-0-27-1; Jordan 2-0-16-0

Result: Bangladesh won by 6 wickets

Player of the match: Najmul Hossain Shanto

Umpires: Masudur Rahman, Tanvir Ahmed