Bangladesh beat England for first time in T20Is

Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan provided the finishing touches after Najmul Hossain Shanto's blistering fifty to help the Tigers beat England in a six-wicket victory for the very first time in T20Is at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Thursday.

Shakib remained unbeaten on 34 off 24 deliveries, while Shanto smashed a 30-ball 51 to help the Tigers chase down the 156-run total with 12 balls to spare.

Openers Rony Talukdar and Liton Das got the Tigers off to a flying start but both were dismissed inside the powerplay after which the Tigers managed 54 for two.

Rony, who smashed four boundaries for his 14-ball 21, was the first to go when he failed to read leg-spinner Adil Rashid's googly that castled the right-handed batter with the score on 33 in the fourth over.

The next over, it was speedster Jofra Archer, whose smart change of pace deceived Liton Das. The right-handed batter tried to play an expansive clip on the onside but ended up skying it to Chris Woakes at mid-on.

But Najmul Hossain Shanto took charge as he hit gaps and rotated the strike with ease before he reached his third T20I fifty in 27-balls. One of the major highlights of his knock was that when he reached the milestone, he had only played just six dot deliveries. He stitched a 65-run stand with debutant Towhid Hridoy before he was castled by Mark Wood.

Hridoy looked good as he hit two fours and a six for his 16-ball 24 but was held out at midwicket off the bowling of off-spinner Moeen Ali leaving his side three down for 108 in the 12th over.

Shakib took the onus upon himself and with a 46-un partnership with Afif Hossain, he ensured Bangladesh crossed the finish line to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Sent into bat, England captain and opener Jos Buttler led from the front to register 67 off 42 balls, striking four boundaries and as many maximums, but Bangladesh got back in the game in the final quarter of the innings.

Earlier, the Tigers had a glorious chance at removing Buttler in the sixth over when the hard-hitting right-hander skied Nasum Ahmed's delivery in the sixth over, only for Shakib to miss the catch at mid-on region.

The platform had already been laid for the visitors, at 80 for naught in the 10th over, before England's first wicket fell as Nasum finally got his victim.

Shakib soon returned to redeem himself, this time off his own bowling, and thanks to a well-judged catch by Najmul Hossain Shanto at long-on, in-form Dawid Malan went out for cheap.

Buttler and Ben Duckett then combined for a quick-fire 47-run stand before Mustafizur Rahman bowled the latter. The tail-up Tigers seized the momentum by removing Buttler in the next delivery, bowled by Hasan Mahmud. Shanto was again in the act and proved to be a pair of safe hands.

Boosted by consecutive dismissals, the Tigers were managed to contain the possible late onslaught as England could only tally 21 runs in the last four overs, two of which were bowled by Hasan Mahmud and right-arm quick only conceded five runs in the spell and picked two wickets, including Sam Curran's, while all other bowlers – Taskin Ahmed, Nasum, Shakib, Mustafizur – scalped one apiece.

The two nations have only played in one T20I match before which took place during the T20 World Cup in 2021, where England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.