USA defeated Bangladesh for a second game in a row to claim a historic series victory against the Full Member nation, a first in their history.
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Having registered an unexpected win in the first T20I of the series two days back at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, USA repeated the feart today (May 23) in the second game to claim an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
A thrilling defence of a low total
Having been put in to bat, USA struggled their way to 144-6 from their 20 overs on a sluggish pitch. Three of their top four crossed 30, but none did so at a strike rate above 110. Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, and Rishad Hossain took two wickets each.
In response, Bangladesh lost two early wickets, but a third-wicket partnership of 48 between Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy put them in a comfortable position.
At 124-5 from 16.5 overs, Bangladesh needed another 21 runs in 19 deliveries with five wickets in hand. What followed was a collapse of epic proportions, as they lost three wickets in the next four balls to slip to 125-8 at the 17.3 over mark.
Shadley van Schalkwyk started the collapse for the hosts, as he dismissed Jaker Ali off the last ball of the 17th over before Ali Khan removed Shakib Al Hasan and Tanzim Hasan Sakib in the first three balls of the 18th over.
Saurabh Netravalkar then castled Shoriful Islam on the fourth ball of the 19th over with a deadly yorker – a delivery which the USA seamers attempted and nailed consistently in the death overs – leaving Bangladesh needing another 13 runs off eight balls.
Ali Khan started the final over with 12 runs to defend. Mustafizur ran a bye off the first ball to bring Rishad on strike, who pulled a short ball for four to bring the equation down to seven off four.
The next ball, Ali bowled full outside off, to which Rishad backed away to the off side and attempted to scoop over fine leg, only to edge it behind to the wicketkeeper and hand USA a historic victory by six runs as the fielders wheeled away in celebration.
USA WIN THE SERIES 2-0! WHAT A HISTORIC MOMENT! 🇺🇸🔥
Stay tuned for the final match of the series on May 25th! 🏏#USAvBAN pic.twitter.com/CuRACXwd21
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) May 23, 2024
Ali was awarded the Player of the Match for his figures of 3-25.
This is the first series victory for USA against a Full Member nation. The closest they have come before is a 1-1 draw against Ireland in December 2021.
The third and final T20I of the series will be played on May 25, where Bangladesh will look to salvage some pride and get their bearings right before they embark on their T20 World Cup campaign.
Image credit: USA Cricket
