Abu Dhabi: A clinical bowling performance by Tymal Mills (3/27), Liam Livingstone (2/15) and Moeen Ali (2/18) helped England restrict Bangladesh to 124/9 in a Super 12 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, here Wednesday.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Bangladesh were off to a terrible start as they lost their top three batters inside the powerplay. Just like their previous game, Eoin Morgan’s decision to throw the new ball to Moeen Ali worked well as he dismissed Liton Das (9) and Mohammad Naim (5) in successive deliveries of the 3rd over.
Chrish Woakes then sent the in-form Shakib Al Hasan (4) back courtesy an excellent one-handed catch by Adil Rashid, leaving Bangladesh in deep trouble at 26-3 after 5.2 overs.
From there, Mushfiqur Rahim (29) and skipper Mahamudullah (19) batted sensibly and revived Bangladesh fortunes, taking them to 60/3 at the halfway point of the innings.
Just when it looked like things were going well for Bangladesh, Liam Livingstone trapped Mushfiqur leg before to break the 37 runs partnership. Horror show continued for Bangladesh as Afif Hossain, who came to bat next, got run out on a misfield in the 13th over.
Soon, skipper Mahmudullah, who looked in good touch, also went back to the pavilion. In order to score, he tried to go big but the leg break bowled by Livingstone turned enough to find the edge.
Thereafter, Bangladesh never got the momentum and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. In the end, some late fireworks by Nasum Ahmed (19 off 9 balls) steered Bangladesh to a respectable score of 124-9 in 20 overs.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh: 124/9 in 20 Overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 29; Tymal Mills 3/27, Liam Livingstone 2/15) against England
