Riding high on Corey Anderson and Harmeet Singh’s valiant effort, cricketing upstarts US pulled off a major upset, defeating Bangladesh by 5 wickets in the first T20I of the three-match series here at the Prairie View Cricket Complex. At a time the giants and recognised cricketing nations are gearing up for the highly-anticipated T20 World Cup, which is less than ten days away, the co-hosts of the marquee event pulled off an unprecedented victory over a decidedly stronger and much-fancied Bangladesh side.
After managing to keep Bangladesh to 153/6 in the first innings, the USA gave themselves a platform to bolster their chances of pulling off an upset. The opening pair of Steven Taylor and captain Monank Patel raced to 27 runs in the first three overs.
But Monank (12) got run out at the non-striker’s end. Andries Gous (23) arrived at the crease and scored runs at a brisk pace before losing his wicket to Rishad Hossain. Taylor (28) looked well set for an extended stay on the crease but Mustafizur Rahman got better of the batter.
As the promising-looking chase started to go astray in the middle overs, Anderson and Harmeet raised hopes of a win. Harmeet changed the complexion of the game with back-to-back sixes off Mustafizur in the 17th over.
In the 18th over, Shoriful Islam fell at the receiving end as Harmeet put on a boundary fest. A towering six on the second ball was followed by a boundary on the final delivery. With 14 runs in the over, the equation came down to 24 runs in the final two. Anderson took the mantle of finishing off the game with two sixes and a boundary in the next nine balls. His finishing touches sealed a 5-wicket win for the USA over Bangladesh.
Earlier in the innings, after winning the toss and putting Bangladesh to bat, it was a moderate performance from the visitors. A conservative approach in the powerplay, saw Bangladesh put 37/2 on board. Shakib Al Hasan struggled before getting run out.
Towhid Hridoy (58) starred with the bat on the back of his performance in the recently concluded Zimbabwe series. Mahmudullah led the attack in the death overs. But USA bowlers kept their line and length tight to restrict Bangladesh to 153/6.