Bangladesh lost the first Twenty20 International (T20I) against the United States by 5 wickets on Tuesday at the Prairie View Cricket Complex, with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto blaming home grounds. The contest went right down to the wire, and the Tigers dropped the first game of the three-match series, 0-1.
Harmeet Singh, an IPL player for RR earlier, blasted Mahmudullah for a six and a four with nine runs needed off the final over, getting the hosts beyond the finish line with three balls remaining.
Following his wicket, the USA managed to chase down a difficult goal of 154 in 19.3 overs. Bangladesh scored 153 for 6 after being asked to bat first. Mahmudullah scored 47 and Towhid Hridoy scored 58, respectively. However, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, skipper Shanto, and others were unable to get going.
Shanto claimed that because Bangladesh’s T20I series against Zimbabwe was played on subpar wickets, their hitters had trouble. He acknowledged that the visitors fell short of the Americans by 20 runs.
We were not very good at batting. At the post-match presentation ceremony, Shanto stated, “We started well in the beginning but lost a couple of wickets in the middle, so I think if we can score more than 20 runs, then it would be a decent total.”
“I don’t believe that the instincts are incorrect. Even during the Zimbabwe series, we did not play on a great wicket, so the hitters are having a lot of difficulty. However, these are all mental issues; therefore, Shanto expressed his sincere optimism that the batsman would regain his form.
While praising the spinners for their performance, Shanto claimed that Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam, the fast bowling duo, were unable to find their intended areas.
The second T20I is scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 23.
