Mosaddek Hossain played a key role with both bat and ball as Bangladesh beat United Arab Emirates by 32 runs in Dubai yesterday to sweep the two-match T20 series.
Bangladesh made 169-5 after opener Mehidy Hasan’s 46 off 37 balls provided a solid platform before Mosaddek (27) and Liton Das (25) kept the runs flowing.
Yasir Ali and Nurul Hasan gave the innings some late impetus in an unbroken stand of 32 over the course of the final three overs. Sixteen-year-old Aayan Afzal Khan, a left-arm spinner, took 2-33 with Aryan Lakra sending down three tidy overs to return figures of 1-14.
UAE slumped to 29-4 in response after losing three wickets for just two runs, with Mosaddek removing Aryan Lakra and Vriitya Aravind with successive deliveries.
Captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan and Basil Hameed battled gamely in a partnership of 90 but the required run rate was too much for UAE. Hameed fell for 42 in the penultimate over while Rizwan finished unbeaten on 51 from 36 balls, recording his first international T20 half-century as UAE ended on 137-5.
UAE face the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Namibia in the first round of next month’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
Bangladesh will enter the competition in the Super 12 stage. They play India, Pakistan, South Africa and two qualifiers from the opening round.
BRIEF SCORES
Bangladesh 169-5 in 20 overs (Mehidy Hasan 46; Aayan Afzal Khan 2-33) beat
UAE 137-5 in 20 overs (Chundangapoyil Rizwan 51 not out, Basil Hameed 42; Mosaddek Hossain 2-8) by 32 runs
England, Pakistan set for fifth T20 in Lahore today
The hour has arrived – England are in the city to play their first match in Lahore since December 2005, an ODI affair they lost by seven wickets, and they play Pakistan today in the fifth of the seven T20Is.
Pakistan and England arrived in the city yesterday afternoon after four riveting T20Is in Karachi. After what will go down as the comeback for the ages by Pakistan, the series stands level at 2-2 and it is upon Lahore, fondly referred to as the ‘heart of the country’ in the subcontinent literature, to decide the winners.
Heavy afternoon showers deprived the two sides of a first look at the ground, so they enter match five with a few unknowns, something that promises to add spice to tomorrow’s face-off.
The four Karachi matches were played in front of full houses, and the Gaddafi Stadium, Pakistan’s home of cricket, promises the same electric atmosphere.
Pakistan enter the Lahore leg with momentum behind them after they pulled off a miraculous three-run victory in the final over, courtesy extraordinary death over bowling from Haris Rauf and an acrobatic Shan Masood run out.
Babar Azam and Mohamed Rizwan – the most successful opening pair in the history of T20Is – were phenomenal in Karachi, accumulating 50 runs inside powerplay in three of the four matches.
Babar brought an end to a string of low scores in the second T20I with an incredible century in what was the highest run chase without losing a wicket and Rizwan – who has scored the most runs in the format since the start of 2021 – comes to Lahore after smashing three half-centuries in four matches.
The wicketkeeper is the leading run-getter in the series with 252 at 84 runs per dismissal and a strike rate of over 142.
Babar will hope that Haris continues to do what he had done in the last four matches. The fast bowler took six wickets – the most in the series to date - at a staggering economy of 7.75, considering he bowls in the powerplay and death.
It is England’s youngsters who have been one of the talking points in this series. Twenty-three-year-old Harry Brook rose to the occasion in the first T20I and helped England chase down a whirlwind 25-ball 42 not out, and he partnered with Ben Duckett in the third to set the largest total to be scored at the venue and script England’s eventual 63-run win.
The fact that the series is playing the build-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup adds more flavour as the two teams finalise their combinations ahead of the all-important tournament.
Mosaddek Hossain
