Skipper Litton Das starred with a fluent 59 off 39 balls as Bangladesh registered their first-ever T20I win over Hong Kong by cruising to a seven-wicket victory in their Asia Cup Group B game at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Chasing 144, Litton’s partnership of 95 off 69 balls for the third wicket with Towhid Hridoy (35 not out) helped them reach the target with 14 balls to spare. Litton’s composed fifty and right time of shift in gears, after being 26 off 24 balls at one point, ensured Bangladesh were in control of the chase.
After managing just 94/9 in their previous outing against Afghanistan, Hong Kong posted a more competitive 143/7, thanks to Nizakat Khan and Zeeshan Ali hitting 42 and 30 respectively while captain Yasim Murtaza injected momentum with a brisk 28 off 19 balls. But a flurry of wickets in the death overs curtailed Hong Kong’s push for a big finishing flourish.
Electing to bowl first, Taskin Ahmed got the first wicket for Bangladesh when his fullish ball on off stump shaped away to take Anshuman Rath’s edge on an attempted drive. The appeal was initially turned down, but Bangladesh got the decision in their favour on review, as UltraEdge confirmed a nick, as Rath was caught behind for the second consecutive time.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib was next to strike as he castled Babar Hayat with a cracking yorker, as Hong Kong ended power-play at 34/2. Zeeshan Ali struggled to get going – amassing only eight runs in 22 balls, before hitting two fours and a six off Mahedi and Rishad.
But after drinks break, Tanzim struck when he got a back of the length ball to rush onto Zeeshan and the thick outside edge was caught by a backtracking Mustafizur Rahman to fall for a 34-ball 30.
Murtaza injected some momentum into Hong Kong’s innings by hammering Rishad Hossain down the ground for four, before pulling and smacking Tanzim and Mahedi for six each. He and Nizakat Khan took a four each off Taskin, before a mix-up saw Murtaza being run-out for a 19-ball 28.
Nizakat continued to push Hong Kong’s charge by slicing Mustafizur for four, before launching Rishad over long-off for six. But in a bid to get another maximum off Rishad, Nizakat holed out to long-on for a 40-ball 42. From there, Kinchit Shah and Aizaz Khan were out in quick succession, as Hong Kong fell short of reaching 150-mark.
Bangladesh’s chase began with Parvez Hossain Emon taking two fours and a six off Ayush Shukla in his first 13 balls. But the young pacer eventually had the last laugh as Emon was early into the shot and top-edged to deep mid-wicket.
Tanzid Hasan was next to fall, as he tried to loft pacer Ateeq Iqbal over mid-off, but was caught by mid-on running back. But Hong Kong giving 11 extras meant Bangladesh ended power-play at 51/2.
Though Litton and Hridoy kept the scoreboard ticking with some hard running between the wickets and bring up Bangladesh’s hundred in the 13th over, Hong Kong managed to keep themselves in contention by taking the pace off the deliveries and were backed by some energetic outfield fielding.
But Litton upped the ante in the 14th over, by getting a top-edge off Shukla for four, before shuffling across to scoop over the keeper for another boundary, as 12 runs came off the over. After driving Ehsan Khan through extra cover for four, Litton powerfully slog-swept Yasim Murtaza for six and brought up his fifty off 33 balls with a brace.
When Murtaza gave too much width, Litton quickly sliced him for four. Though Litton couldn’t finish the chase for Bangladesh after being castled for 59 by Ateeq, Hridoy eventually got Bangladesh over the line to start their campaign on a winning note.
Brief Scores: Hong Kong 143/7 (Nizakat Khan 42, Zeeshan Ali 30; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 2-21, Rishad Hossain 2-31) lost to Bangladesh 144/3 in 17.4 overs (Litton Das 59, Towhid Hridoy 35 not out; Ateeq Iqbal 1-13, Ayush Shukla 1-32) by seven wickets
