Who would have taken the USA vs Bangladesh T20I series seriously? Not players, not fans, and not even experts. Even the BCB would have scheduled the series for its players, so that Najmul Hossain Shanto & Co. would have just acclimatized to the conditions there. After all, the world’s best teams are soon to play in the T20 World Cup in the USA.
The fans called it an utter waste of time, for a team that has players of the caliber of Shakib al Hasan, often touted as the best all-rounder in the world. But two back-to-back losses against USA have perhaps pushed the Bangladeshis in the 90s era, where winning for them was a far-fetched dream.
USA vs Bangladesh, As it Happened
In the first match in Houston, the World No.9 team Bangladesh were in for a rude shock, when WR-19 USA beat them by five wickets. After being set a target of 154, USA got to the finish line with three balls to spare. It was a collective effort from the USA bowlers, with Saurabh Netravalkar giving away only 27 runs in his quota, and same with Harmeet Singh. Then Corey Anderson and Harmeet wrapped up the proceedings with 25-ball 34 and 13-ball 33.
In the second, the hosts emerged victorious by six runs. Chasing 145, Bangladesh batters made a mess of the small target as Saurabh Netravalkar bagged two wickets. Steven Taylor too did his bit, with three wicket. And that’s how USA won their first ever series win against a full-time Test playing nation, where all the players are professionals.
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Trouble Mounting for Bangladesh
With series already lost, Bangladeshi confidence would be at an all-time low. While the bowlers have been largely good, it is their batting that has disappointed them the most. Towhid Hridoy has been their best batter with 89 runs, and the next best in the list is Shanto with 39 runs. Opener Soumya Sarkar has 20 runs to his name in 2 matches, that reveal the true picture.
If the Bangladeshis want to salvage some pride, then it is the batsmen who would have to take some responsibility. After the twin losses, even Shakib couldn’t believe what had happened with the team, and said, it was a wake-up call for them.
“Certainly it is disappointing and we didn’t expect it but we must give credit to the US team for the way they have played,” Shakib was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. I think no one expected that we will lose two games. Any match you lose as a team is disappointing and you don’t want to lose a game and obviously it is very disappointing. But having said that we have to play the World Cup and this series might be a wake-up call for us as we haven’t played the way we want to play.”
Didn’t Take USA Lightly
Even though the results suggest otherwise, Shakib went on to maintain that they did not take their opponents lightly. “I don’t think we took them lightly. In the first game maybe we couldn’t do what we wanted to do and in the second game exactly the same thing happened – we couldn’t execute the plans that we were supposed to do on the ground.”
USA & Bangladesh Squads
United States Squad: Steven Taylor, Monank Patel(w/c), Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Corey Anderson, Harmeet Singh, Nitish Kumar, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Jasdeep Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Shayan Jahangir, Nosthush Kenjige.
Bangladesh Squad: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali(w), Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Das, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Tanvir Islam.
