On 9th March 2023, Bangladesh and England faced off in the first T20 of the five-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Both teams were looking to get off to a good start in the series and set the tone for the rest of the matches.
THURSDAY, 09 MARCH 2023
TIME: 4:00 AM ET
TIME: 9:00 AM GMT
England won the toss and elected to bat first. The English openers, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow, got off to a great start, scoring 53 runs in the first six overs. However, Bangladesh managed to pick up the wicket of Roy in the seventh over, with Taskin Ahmed getting the breakthrough.
Bairstow continued to bat well and brought up his half-century off just 29 balls. He was well supported by Dawid Malan, who was playing his first T20 for England. The duo put on a 97-run partnership for the second wicket, and at the end of 10 overs, England was 118 for 1.
Bangladesh managed to pick up wickets at regular intervals in the middle overs, with Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman doing most of the damage. Malan was dismissed for 49, and Bairstow soon followed, scoring 71 runs. England lost their last five wickets for just 40 runs and were bowled out for 189 in 19.4 overs. For Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan were the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets each.
Chasing a target of 190, Bangladesh got off to a good start, with Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das putting on a 39-run partnership for the first wicket. However, both were dismissed in quick succession, leaving Bangladesh at 43 for 2 in the fifth over.
Shakib Al Hasan and Soumya Sarkar then put on a 63-run partnership for the third wicket, with Shakib looking in great touch. However, he was dismissed for 44, and Bangladesh lost a couple of wickets in quick succession, leaving them at 121 for 5 in the 14th over.
Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim then tried to steady the ship for Bangladesh, putting on a 38-run partnership for the sixth wicket. However, England managed to pick up the wicket of Mahmudullah, who was looking dangerous, for 21 runs.
Mushfiqur Rahim continued to bat well and brought up his half-century off just 31 balls. He was well supported by Nurul Hasan, who was playing his first T20 for Bangladesh. The duo put on a 43-run partnership for the seventh wicket, and at the end of 19 overs, Bangladesh was 186 for 6.
With Bangladesh needing just four runs to win off the last over, the game was evenly poised. Adil Rashid was given the responsibility of bowling the last over for England. In the end, Bangladesh managed to win the match by 4 wickets with two balls to spare. Nurul Hasan hit the winning runs, scoring an unbeaten 18 off 8 balls. For England, Adil Rashid and Tom Curran were the pick of the bowlers, picking up two wickets each.
Overall, it was a thrilling encounter between two evenly matched teams. Bangladesh would be pleased with their batting performance, especially the partnership between Mushfiqur Rahim and Nurul Hasan, which took them to victory. England, on the other hand, would be disappointed with their bowling performance and will look to bounce back in the second T20 of the series.