Dhaka: Bangladesh has registered a landmark series victory over England in any format, beating the reigning Men’s T20 World Cup champions by four wickets in the second T20 of the three-match series at Shere Bangla National Stadium, here.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s impressive all-round show set up the stirring victory with 4/12 from four overs that helped dismiss England for 117, then added 20 valuable runs in the chase in Sunday’s win.
Najmul Hossain Shanto scored an unbeaten 46* and Taskin Ahmed hit the winning runs with two fours in the penultimate over to steer Bangladesh to their target with four wickets and seven balls in hand, ending England’s long run of success in this format, having won the T20 World Cup, and bilateral series against Australia and Pakistan last year.
The T20I series in Bangladesh is the first between the teams, with England coming out on top in their only other meeting in the format by eight wickets at the T20 World Cup 2021.
England have triumphed in all five ODI series against Bangladesh, including with two wins from the three 50-over clashes between the teams earlier this month.
Bangladesh won their fifth-ever ODI against England in 25 attempts in their most recent meeting after half-centuries to Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan.
England have been even more dominant in red-ball matches, with victories in their first eight Tests against Bangladesh to open with a streak of four 2-0 series victories.
But Bangladesh broke through for a first Test win over England in Mirpur in 2016 to draw that two-match series, when Mehidy Hasan Miraz (6/77) and Shakib Al Hasan (4/49) skittled the visitors for 164 to secure a rousing 108-run victory.
Bangladesh won the first T20I in the series by six wickets and will be aiming for a clean sweep in the third and final clash in Mirpur on March 14.
Miraz and Shanto were two of five players in the Bangladesh team to have played fewer than 20 T20Is, as they look to build a new group to compete at the highest level.
–IANS