With a 16-run victory in the third T20I bilateral series match in Dhaka, Bangladesh gave England only their second 3-0 loss in the format.
Despite the fact that it was a dead rubber, the home team tried to fight back admirably by arranging a batting collapse when the visitors were 100 for 1 after 13 overs and needed 159 runs to win.
Losing five wickets for 28 runs in five overs was the turning point in England’s batting collapse, increasing their necessary run rate from eight to 12 per over.
With their swift second wicket partnership, Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler had put England in control, but once Mustafizur Rahman broke it, England quickly lost the initiative.
Previously, Litton Das scored his eleventh fifty in a T20I match to enable Bangladesh to a respectable total of 158 for 2 in 20 overs.
With the second wicket, Litton and Najmul Hossain Shanto added 84 runs together, but in the final five overs, they were only able to score 27 runs, losing Litton in the process.
The fact that England’s hitters gave them a solid start in the chase was a big help to the bowlers as they successfully fought back.
Tanvir Islam, who made history by becoming the fourth spinner from Bangladesh to make his debut opening the bowling in T20Is, cost England Phil Salt in the first over.
On this tour, Salt continued to struggle against left-arm spin, losing five times in six innings in two different formats.
Malan, however, gave the tour its two biggest losses. He scored the hard-fought victory for England in the first ODI on March 1 by scoring an unbeaten 114. In his 47-ball innings, Malan scored 53 runs while hitting six fours and two sixes.
He added fours from a few well-timed flicks and cuts, as well as the cover drive, to his sixes while ticking over long-on and sweeping over fine leg.
He was helped by Buttler’s quick scoring. Except from two fours around midwicket, he smashed all of his shots straight, including a six and two fours down the ground. With the second-wicket duo together, England was cruising until the 13th over, and an easy chase was thought to be in store.
But all changed when Mustafizur successfully got Malan caught behind for his 100th T20I wicket. After Shakib Al Hasan, he is the second Bangladeshi to attain this milestone.
The home team sensed a comeback when Buttler was run out after the next ball. Mehidy Hasan Miraz hit the stumps from point and celebrated by running in the direction of long-off.
The last recognised batting pair for England, Moeen Ali and Ben Duckett, were removed by Taskin Ahmed in his final over, the 17th of the innings.
Mehidy grabbed a straightforward catch after Moeen holed out to the deep midwicket boundary. When Taskin hit Duckett’s off-stump, England was out for 5 runs in 31 balls.
Litton finally achieved his expected large score in white-ball cricket. His brilliant 60 against India in the T20 World Cup was his last meaningful T20I knock.
After his outstanding 2022, it was particularly unfortunate that he didn’t contribute much in the ODIs against India and England. But over the past five years, Litton has constantly seemed ready to score big. And that’s what happened in the previous game in Dhaka.
During the 55-run opening stand with Rony Talukdar, Litton firmly established his dominance. A startling catch by Rehan Ahmed at short third man was shockingly dropped by his senior partner, Rony, who raced away to score 24 off 22 balls.
He was dropped by Ben Duckett at deep midwicket when he was 51. Jofra Archer then bowled two boundaries to him, one of which was a top edge and the other a pulled six.
His inside-out lift against Adil Rashid in the 15th over was the best of the best. Bangladesh was advancing quickly at this point and appeared to have a 175-plus total.
Although Litton Das and Shanto put up 84 runs for the second wicket, England had already slowed down scoring for roughly two and a half overs by the time Litton was bowled.
While Shakib struggled to time the ball, Shanto and the others started to look for more percentage shots as opposed to using the entire bat’s surface.
The English fast bowlers deserve credit for their excellent racing through their variations. By allowing just 27 runs in the final five overs, Jordan, Archer, and Sam Curran allowed the visitors to return.
The only boundary during this phase was hit by Shanto, who had been in commanding form prior to Litton’s dismissal with a couple of sixes, but he failed to locate any more boundaries in the following overs.
Despite a strong foundation, Shakib was unable to continue. The England fast bowlers really brought it in the final overs, perhaps because the ground slowed down. But their batters were unable to perform.