Bangladesh clinch a thrilling 4-wicket win against Ireland

Bangladesh kept their series hopes alive with a nail-biting 4-wicket victory over Ireland in the final over. With this win in the second T20I, Liton Das’s side have leveled the series 1-1.

Chasing a challenging target of 171 runs set by Ireland, Bangladesh made a solid start. The first breakthrough for Ireland came when Tanzid Tamim was run out with the team score on 25. Parvez Hossain Emon and skipper Liton Das then took charge, building a strong partnership for the third wicket.

Bangladesh scored 66 runs in the Powerplay. Emon played an explosive innings of 43 off 28 balls before getting dismissed. Saif Hassan joined Liton at the crease afterward, and their composed batting ensured Bangladesh stayed clear of pressure in the middle overs.

Liton reached his half-century off 34 balls with a six. He was trapped LBW by Mark Adair after scoring 57. His innings included 3 fours and 3 sixes. Saif Hassan scored 22 before being caught by Matthew Humphreys.

Losing two set batters put Bangladesh under pressure. They still needed 31 runs from 27 balls with 6 wickets in hand. The pressure increased when Towhid Hridoy was run out for 6. Though Saifullah came in and hit a boundary, Nurul Hasan Sohan’s dismissal left Bangladesh on the brink.

With the Tigers needing 14 runs from 10 balls and 4 wickets remaining, new batters Sheikh Mahedi and Saifuddin were at the crease. Saifuddin’s superb hitting sealed the victory with 2 balls to spare. He remained unbeaten on 17 off 7 balls.

Earlier, Ireland elected to bat first after winning the toss in Chattogram. Openers Paul Stirling and Tim Tector made a blazing start, scoring 13 runs off Mahedi’s first over, followed by 14 runs from Nasum Ahmed’s over.

Stirling was dismissed for 29 when Tanzim Hasan Sakib took the catch. The opening duo had put on 57 runs off 28 balls. The Irish batters kept scoring at a rapid pace, reaching 75 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay.

With Ireland looking set for 200+, Mahedi returned for his second spell and changed the momentum. In one over, he dismissed Tim Tector and Harry Tector. Tim scored 38 off 25 balls. In his next over, Mahedi removed Benjamin Colliz through a stumping.

Ireland reached 103/4 after 10 overs. Although they didn’t lose any wickets in the middle overs, their scoring slowed down slightly. They were 156 at the end of 18 overs and eventually finished on 170/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Lorcan Tucker played a crucial knock of 41 off 32 balls.

For Bangladesh, Sheikh Mahedi was the most successful bowler with 3 wickets for 25 runs. Tanzim Sakib and Saifuddin picked up one wicket each.