By In a stunning result, USA toppled Bangladesh in the first T20I in Houston. They picked up a famous win, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Harmeet Singh and former New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson starred in the memorable run chase for the home side.
Bangladesh’s top order, under pressure, made a poor start again. Soumya Sarkar looked in decent touch, racing to 20 off just 12 balls. Litton Das continued to struggle, making a run-a-ball 14 before getting trapped leg-before-wicket in the powerplay. Soumya fell soon after. Skipper Najmul Shanto couldn’t get going, getting dismissed for an 11-ball 3. The visitors relied on their middle order to recover once again.
Unfortunately for Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan struggled to make an impact. The star allrounder was run out for a 12-ball 6. Desperately needing a partnership, Towhid Hridoy joined forces with Mahmudullah to revive Bangladesh. They added 67 crucial runs before Mahmudullah fell in the penultimate over. Hridoy, falling off the final ball of the innings, made a well-compiled half-century, ensuring Bangladesh posted a fighting total.
USA takes early lead, leaving Bangladesh stunned
That total looked competitive for most of the chase. Despite not losing many wickets, USA remained cautious. Steven Taylor made a 29-ball 28 after Monank Patel’s run out. USA found themselves in a decent state. However, a flurry of wickets turned the tide in the middle overs.
Mustafizur Rahman struck twice as USA went from 65/1 to 78/4 quickly. In their quest for recovery, the home side also lost Nitish Reddy. At that stage, USA needed 60 more runs from just 31 balls. That came down to 50 from 20 in a few deliveries. USA looked out of their depth to chase it down.
However, back-to-back sixes by Harmeet in the 17th over changed the game. He also hit Shoriful Islam for a six and a four in the next over, bringing the equation down to a very gettable 24 off 12. Anderson, who hadn’t found the boundary until then, stepped up when it mattered most. He hit one cleanly off Mustafizur beyond the ropes before smashing Mahmudullah over the ropes in the final over, easing the nerves. Harmeet, the star of the chase, finished the game with another boundary. USA picked up a historic win.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 153/6 in 20 overs (Towhid Hridoy 58; Steven Taylor 2/9) lost to USA 156/5 in 19.3 overs (Corey Anderson 34, Harmeet Singh 33) by 5 wickets.
