Najmul Hossain Shanto’s 27-ball fifty lighted the path for Bangladesh to down world champions England by six wickets in the first T20 international in Chattogram.
Opener Najmul Hossain Shanto struck an impressive 51 from 30 balls as the Tigers reached their target of 157 with two overs to spare.
As the hosts improved their acclimatisation to a slow, sluggish ground, Shanto and debutant Towhid Hridoy contributed 65 runs for the third wicket. Hridoy scored 24.
On Sunday, Mirpur will host the second of three T20 games.
Shanto made his third fifty in his last four innings, before falling for 51. Captain Shakib Al Hasan and Afif Hossain then scored the remaining runs, an unbroken 46-run stand in 5.4 overs to complete the chase. Shakib remained unbeaten on 34, clattering six fours in his 24-ball stay. Afif made 15 with two fours, one of them a classic cover drive.
It is Bangladesh’s first win over England in a T20 match, though it is only the second time the teams have met in the format.
England was on course for a huge total as captain Jos Buttler and Phil Salt raced to 80 after 10 overs, but Bangladesh’s seamers fought back at the end, conceding just 21 runs from the final four overs.
Buttler made a dynamic 67 from 42 balls after being dropped by Shakib Al Hasan on 19, but when he and Ben Duckett fell in consecutive balls, England struggled to make the most of their aggressive start.
Seamer Hasan Mahmud led the attack with 2-26 from his four overs, including the key scalp of Buttler.
In reply, Bangladesh also made the most of the six-over powerplay to attack England’s seamers, reaching 54-2.
England’s seamers struggled to adapt to the slow pitch and Shanto capitalised, striking four consecutive boundaries from Mark Wood’s first over.
