There’s a delay with the presentation at the ground so I’m going to humanely knock this OBO on the head. Simon Burnton’s report from the game will be along very shortly and we’ll be back on Sunday for game number two of this three match series. Until then, thanks and goodbye!
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Exactly this. England paid the price for a stuttering second half to their innings, credit to Bangladesh for putting the brakes on and taking quick wickets. Shanto then played an assured knock, shots all round the ground off both pace and spin. He fell towards the end but by that stage the damage was done and Shakib was never going to let the game slip between his fingers.
Bangladesh waltz to victory in the first T20 against England in Chittagong: six wickets and two overs to spare. England paid for a limp end to their innings, then Shanto batted beautifully.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) March 9, 2023
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Bangladesh beat England by 6 wickets!
The Tigers gobble up the World Champions! Shakib slams Jordan for two fours to bring it home in style. That was a comfortable chase in the end, Bangladesh had 12 balls remaining.
Bangladesh register a win against England in only the second T20I between the sides 💥#BANvENG | https://t.co/oJUpcT6iXU pic.twitter.com/equnNysNQQ
— ICC (@ICC) March 9, 2023
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17th over: Bangladesh 147-4 (Shakib 25, Afif 13) Archer flies in but sends down a series of cutters into the surface, four singles are followed by a fantastic hold-the-pose cover drive by Afif! Shot of the day for my moolah. Ten more needed for Bangladesh, they are doing this in style.
16th over: Bangladesh 138-4 (Shakib 23, Afif 6) Shakib shows his class, trotting down the wicket to lift Moeen Ali back over his head for a comfortable boundary and following up next ball with a back-foot punch through the covers to knock four more off the target! Bangladesh need 19 runs. Buttler has called for Jofra…
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15th over: Bangladesh 128-4 (Shakib 14, Afif 5) Shakib scythes Chris Jordan’s first ball away for four runs! Pressure back on England. Jordan uses all his nouse to send down four dot balls. Five overs left. Bangladesh need 29 runs. England need wickets, particularly that of Shakib, if he’s there at the end then the home side win this game. There, I’ve said it.
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14th over: Bangladesh 123-4 (Shakib 9, Afif 5) Moeen Ali beats Shakib with the flight but the leading edge flies down to third for four more runs! Mo adds a slight squeeze, five off the over and the equation is 34 from 36 balls.
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WICKET! Najmul Hossain Shanto b Wood 51 (Bangladesh 112-4)
Huge breakthrough! Mark Wood bowls the dangerous Shanto with a skiddy rocket that clatters the stumps. Fine innings from Shanto comes to an end and Afif Hossain strides to the wicket to join his captain and he does well to get some bat on a fiery short ball, the ball evading fine-leg and bringing four more to Bangladesh. 39 runs needed from 42 balls.
13th over: Bangladesh 118-4 (Shakib 4, Afif 5)
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12th over: Bangladesh 111-3 (Shanto 51, Shakib 2) Shanto moves to an excellent fifty, he’s given his side a huge chance in this first game. Shakib is the new batter and is off the mark with a couple of singles.
That's a lovely half-century from Najmul Hossain Shanto in Chittagong - some serious shots in there.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) March 9, 2023
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WICKET! Towhid Hridoy c Curran b Ali 24 (Bangladesh 108-3)
England can breathe a little, Moeen winkles out Hridoy who gets an inside edge to spool into Curran’s safe hands.
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11th over: Bangladesh 107-2 (Shanto 49, Hridoy 24) Big SIX! Rashid after drinks, England desperate to break this partnership but no dice, Hridoy hauls the leggie over the mid-wicket fence with a powerful slog sweep!
10th over: Bangladesh 98-2 (Shanto 47, Hridoy 17) Shanto lofts over the in-field for four. He’s oozed class in this knock. Eight runs off Moeen Ali and time for a quick drink.
9th over: Bangladesh 90-2 (Shanto 40, Hridoy 16) Bangladesh need 67 from 66 balls. Curran can’t stop the bleeding, eight runs gathered off his over quite comfortably. Shanto picks off another boundary behind point.
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8th over: Bangladesh 82-2 (Shanto 34, Hridoy 14) Shanto is ticking, he rocks back to cut Rashid for another boundary. This pair work the singles and twos to make it 11 runs off the over. Bangladesh are cantering.
7th over: Bangladesh 71-2 (Shanto 27, Hridoy 10) Sensational batting from Bangladesh! Shanto greets Mark Wood with three consecutive boundaries… oh – make that FOUR! Wood bangs it in but Shanto is happy to hang back and slap him to the leg side fence repeatedly. England under the pump. A fifth ball is fuller by Wood and thuds in Shanto’s pads. A single off the last make it 17 runs off the over.
The visitors are under pressure.
6th over: Bangladesh 54-2 (Shanto 10, Hridoy 10) Chris Woakes is on for another over but he is struggling to look threatening. Hridoy sits deep in his crease and flicks the brummie seamer away for back to back boundaries. Buttler wants some more pace on the ball and duly summons Mark Wood.
WICKET! Litton Das c Woakes b Archer 12 (Bangladesh 43-2)
Gone! Das is hurried by an Archer short ball and he rather tamely plops a catch to Woakes at mid-on. Towhid Hridoy is the new batter as the Tigers suffer a slight wobble. He’s off the mark with a poke into the off side.
5th over: Bangladesh 44-2 (Shanto 9, Hridoy 1)
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4th over: Bangladesh 37-1 (Das 11, Shanto 4) Rashid nearly has another! A slight tickle on the glove saves Shanto on the DRS. He responds by driving a fuller ball through mid-off. A frenetic start this, I can just about keep up.
WICKET! Rony Talukdar b Rashid 21 (Bangladesh 33-1)
Rashid gets the breakthrough with a stunning googly! Talukdar’s sparkly innings is shot down
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3rd over: Bangladesh 32-0 (Das 10, Talukdar 21) More runs! Jofra Archer is summoned but Talukdar takes a liking to his pace, a short ball is clattered through the leg side for four, a single brings Das on strike and he shows his chops by scooping Archer over the slips for another four! Bangladesh are in a hurry!
2nd over: Bangladesh 21-0 (Das 5, Talukdar 16) Hold onto your hats! Chris Woakes is given some tap by Talukdar, smeared over point and handsomely driven down the ground. The home side are right in this chase already, they are going at above ten an over.
1st over: Bangladesh 10-0 (Das 5, Talukdar 5) Strong start from the home side! Das charges Curran and spanks him away through mid-wicket off the second ball. Rony Talukdar is on strike in his first international match in eight years… and he clatters Curran through the off-side for four more!
Straight down to brass tacks, here come the players. Sam Curran is going to start with the new ball.
England set Bangladesh 157 to win
Chris Jordan squirts Englands first boundary in over three overs, a glide through point. Moeen Ali comes onto strike with two balls to go. Nasser Hussain gives Mo the big build up on commentary but Ali he can’t find the boundary… or can he? A smear to long leg is incredibly hauled back in Shanto on the boundary but his teammate spills the relay catch! Shanto saved six but will be a smidge annoyed his efforts didn’t end up with a wicket.
An innings of two halves. England took the first ten overs and Bangladesh roared back in the next ten. Back soon for the Tigers’ chase!
WICKET! Chris Woakes b Taskin Ahmed 1 (England 147-6)
Bangladesh have been excellent in the last five overs here – Woakes is comprehensively cleaned up by a Taskin Ahmed slower ball!
WICKET! Sam Curran c Najmul Hossain Shanto b Hasan Mahmud 6 (England 146-5)
Moeen Ali is almost run out twice in the over! England cant find the boundary and the frustration tells! Curran clubs Mahmud to Shanto at long-on and the catch is well taken once more. Chris Woakes is the new batter and he digs out a yorker to get off the mark. One over to go, what can England muster here?
18th over: England 147-5 (Ali 2, Woakes 1)
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18th over: England 143-4 (Ali 2, Curran 5) The run rate worm has drooped significantly in the last few overs, that’s the effect of quick wickets. Moeen unfurls a beautiful drive but it is straight to the fielder. A less beautiful hack is spliced away behind point. Currant drives a full bunger for two runs. Just two overs to go. Short sentences those? Yep.
17th over: England 136-4 (Ali 0, Curran 1) Just a single off Hasan Mahmud’s over and the wicket of the silver tuna – Buttler. England were on for a mammoth score but Bangladesh have done well to put the skids on. The crowd are cheering every ball in Chattogram.
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WICKET! Jos Buttler c Najmul Hossain Shanto b Hasan Mahmud 67 (England 135-4)
Two in two! Buttler falls this time - caught in the deep and Bangladesh are cockahoop!
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WICKET! Ben Duckett b Mustafizur Rahman 20 (England 135-3)
Another scoop sir? Duckett plinks another full ball over the keeper’s head and it nearly flies for six, one bounce into the hoardings. Gone now though! Mustafizur sneaks one through his defences and disturbs the timbers. Duckett’s entertaining cameo is cut short. On a second look the ball kept low and scudded into off-stump, a tad unfortunate.
16th over: England 135-4 (Buttler 67, Ali )
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15th over: England 126-2 (Buttler 64, Duckett 15) Shot! A delicious scoop over the keeper by Duckett, that’s one way to do it. Another is to get on the front foot and smite away over cover which is what Buttler does to Taskin a few balls later. England are motoring into the final five overs.
14th over: England 115-2 (Buttler 59, Duckett 9) The diminutive Ducket gets his broom out and sweeps impeccably for four to get himself moving. England get nine off the over and it all looks so easy.
13th over: England 106-2 (Buttler 56, Duckett 3) Buttler clobbers two huge sixes! He hangs back in his crease and sets himself, a solid base as they say, and both huge blows clear the fence by yards. They take Buttler to fifty too. How costly will that Shakib sitter prove to be? England’s captain looks in the mood.
Jos Buttler has 50, his 17th in 44 innings as a T20i opener.
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) March 9, 2023
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WICKET! Dawid Malan c Najmul Hossain Shanto b Shakib Al Hasan 4 (England 88-2)
Malan’s innings is short and soporific! He tries to clear the rope at long-on but the bat twists in his hands and he’s well caught just inside the rope. Ben Duckett is the new man. Mike Atherton chuckles that he was playing a Test in New Zealand last week and now he’s in Bangladesh playing a completely different format. Well, I say completely different…
12th over: England 89-2 (Buttler 41, Duckett 1)
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11th over: England 80-1 (Buttler 39, Malan 2) Dawid Malan joins his captain at the crease and things calm down a little, just singles eked off the over.
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WICKET! Phil Salt c Litton Das b Nasum Ahmed 32 (England 80-1)
Salt has to go! He rocks back to smear Nasun Ahmed into the leg side but can only manage a cue end that is well caught stood up to the stumps by Litton Das. Salt called for a review so he obviously didn’t think he hit it but the DRS betrayed him. Ten overs done and time for a drink. I’m off to make a rapid cup of Kenco.
10th over: England 80-0 (Buttler 37, Malan)
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9th over: England 68-0 (Buttler 32, Salt 31) Shakib frustrates Buttler by bowling a quick and tidy line. Buttler’s shoulder shimmy gets more pronounced the more he starts to tick and sure enough he marmalises the final ball for six high and long over mid-on!
8th over: England 60-0 (Buttler 25, Salt 30) More singles for England who have just been pegged back by the home side.
There are a few fallow weeks coming up, internationally at least, but a reminder that CRICKET NEVER STOPS.
100 days to go 🗓
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 8, 2023
Record demand for tickets 📈
Early Bird prices end tomorrow 🚨
7th over: England 55-0 (Buttler 22, Salt 28) Shakib comes on for a twirl hoping to atone immediately for that spillage. He’s darting it flat at the stumps and England can only nudge four singles.
The first SIX of the game! 😍
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 9, 2023
HUGE from Jos!
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6th over: England 51-0 (Buttler 20, Salt 26) Buttler is DROPPED by Shakib and it is an absolute goober! High and swirling off a mis-timed drive and the great all-rounder never looked comfortable under it, the ball plopping off his palms and hitting the turf. They scamper a single off it and Phil Salt smashes the next ball for four. Cruel game.
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A reminder you can watch this series FOR FREE on the ECB website:
It's T20 time! 💥
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 9, 2023
Register for free 📝
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🇧🇩 #BANvENG! 🏴
5th over: England 44-0 (Buttler 19, Salt 20) Don’t bowl there Mr Fizz! Full and wide and clattered square by Salt. Buttler loses his shape as he tries to overhit a couple of deliveries but he gets the last one just right, smoking over mid-on for SIX! England’s first maximum of the game.
4th over: England 31-0 (Buttler 12, Salt 14) Taskin is punched off the back foot powerfully by Buttler and the ball traces away along the carpet for four. The bowler is working up a decent pace here, whanging one down at 88mph that Buttler gropes at. England pick off the singles.
Doug needs some love:
“Hi James. Why are we playing 7 bowlers? There are only 20 overs to bowl. Sometimes I think I don’t understand cricket any more and I’m only 33. Doug”
We are the same age Doug which is a pointless thing to say but is true and will make you feel loads better undoubtedly. I’m 33 and don’t understand anything.
3rd over: England 23-0 (Buttler 6, Salt 12) Mustafizur ‘The Fizz’ Rahman on for the third over, he over pitches and is slapped back down the ground by Salt. A tidy-ish over though.
I like this James Quigley:
“Hi Jim, my entry for: There ought to be a word for the sensations of satisfaction lying in following England’s cricket in the sub-continent while the snow is building outside. Any ideas":
Hoverbyovernating
2nd over: England 18-0 (Buttler 6, Salt 8) Taskin comes on with his skiddy pacers. Phil Salt climbs into him straight away, a textbook cover drive to the fence. There’s a strangled shout for a leg-side looking lbw but there’s nowt doing. England have started perkily.
1st over: England 9-0 (Buttler 5, Salt 2) Salt is nearly bowled by an arm ball that slides just past the stumps but runs away for a coupe of leg-byes. England look busy and rotate the strike before Buttler bunts for four off the final ball.
Hello to John Starbuck!
“Hi Jim. There ought to be a word for the sensations of satisfaction lying in following England’s cricket in the sub-continent while the snow is building outside. Any ideas?”
Over to you OBO hivemind. I’ll get me thinking cap on.
In the Sky Studio Steve Finn and Nasser Hussain are doing a nice bit comparing Rehan Ahmed to Adil Rashid. I was going to post some nuggets but my two year old daughter bundles into the room and she’s painted herself blue. Two things: 1) She’s incredibly pleased with herself and 2) I’m not on duty.
The players are coming out onto the field. Buttler and Salt are up top for England. Nasun Ahmed has the ball in hand. Play!
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Why thanks for asking Kevin. I had a huge bowl of rigatoni and fell asleep on the sofa in front of ‘Severance’.
Just returned home from dinner at a friends place. On the way home, we saw 2 leopards, elephant, buffalo and had to do 2 u-turns as we couldn’t get past a pride of lion & a dam was flooded.
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) March 8, 2023
How was your evening?
Pre-match reading:
*This message contains an apology for the personal nature of this plug*
Some of the finest players the game has seen were forged by their immediate childhood environment; cricket is embellished by these home-spun techniques and idiosyncrasies.
Jasprit Bumrah honed his lethal bull-whip yorker as a child by repeatedly bowling at the skirting board in the corridor of his apartment block in Ahmedabad. If the ball hit the skirting on the full it would make only one muffled thud, all the better for not waking his mother from her afternoon nap.
Lasith Malinga’s side-armed, slingshot action is a direct response to learning cricket on the beaches of Sri Lanka’s south-west coast. Bowling with a shaved and burnt tennis ball, Malinga soon worked out that the most effective delivery in beach cricket was a yorker that took the sand out of the equation and zeroed in on the driftwood stumps and his opponents’ bare feet.
Please do regale me with tales of your own backyard cricket games. Yes, you can be out first ball!
Here are the teams in full:
Bangladesh: Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Towhid Hridoy, Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood
Bangladesh win the toss and will bowl
A load of old toss… Joss Buttler loses seven on the bounce and ‘Our man in Chattogram’ – Simon Burnton – pings me a quick email to say it is 1 out of 15 called correctly by England’s skipper.
England’s seventh white-ball of the year. Jos Buttler has lost all seven tosses. Bangladesh bowling first.
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) March 9, 2023
England leave out Rehan Ahmed and Reece Topley. pic.twitter.com/4rnklpoVca
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the final furlong, the last dance, the spluttering encore of England’s (men’s) white ball winter schedule. I make this T20 series against Bangladesh their ninth series in seven months, dating back to last October’s historic return to Pakistan.
They’ve taken in five countries on their six tours, Christopher Columbus’ would likely wince at their globe traversing efforts and he didn’t have to worry about his strike rate or securing a spot in upcoming white ball World Cups/ lucrative franchise tournaments.
The first of this three match series gets underway at 9am GMT and I’ll be here to OBO the action. I’ll bring the news of the toss and teams from Chattogram shortly (from my sofa in South London) but in the meantime Simon Burnton is our man on the ground and here’s one he prepared earlier:
Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball coach, said of this series that “you can’t waste these opportunities on the subcontinent and the majority of players are pushing for ODI selection … so it’s probably more geared towards the ODI World Cup.” They go into it with a slightly changed squad, Jason Roy and James Vince having left the group while Ben Duckett and Chris Jordan have joined, the former jetting in from the Test tour of New Zealand to press his case as a white-ball batter in the subcontinent, one he made so impressively in averaging 46.6, with a strike rate of 158.2, during the T20 series in Pakistan last year.
With Will Jacks back home recovering from a thigh injury the squad is light on batters, all of whom can expect to play every game while the bowlers rotate. Jofra Archer was the only player who missed Tuesday’s training session, having been told to rest after his exertions in Monday’s final ODI. This does not rule him out of the opening match, but does illustrate how cautious England are being about his return from multiple injuries.”
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