On Tuesday, the Bangladesh Cricket Team made history when they beat the world champion England 3-0 in a T20I series. Bangladesh won the third and final T20I of the three-match contest by 16 runs to whitewash England for the first time across formats. This was the first time England traveled to Bangladesh for a bilateral T20I series. Litton Das hit 73 runs from 57 balls in Tuesday’s third T20I, which helped Bangladesh win.
Litton stars as Bangladesh clinch 3-0 sweep of T20 series against world champions England
With a 16-run win in the third game in Mirpur, Bangladesh beat the world champions England for the third time in a row. Litton Das’s brilliant batting and tough bowling helped Bangladesh win by 3-0.
When Bangladesh was asked to bat first, the first two batters, Litton (73) and Rony Talukdar (24) got things off to a good start. Then, on Tuesday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Nazmul Hossain Shanto brought the score to 158 for 2 for the hosts.
In England’s reply, Dawid Malan (53) and captain Jos Buttler (40) worked hard and got them to 100-1. But the Tigers bowlers turned things around by bowling well and keeping their heads on the field.
England lost 5 wickets for 28 runs in five overs in a spectacular batting collapse, triggered by Malan’s departure off Mustafizur Rahman (1-14), as the required rate soared from 8 to 12 runs per over.
After reining back the Tigers batters at the death overs, England lost Phil Salt for a duck in the first over off debutant spinner Tanvir Islam (1-17). (1-17). It was the opener’s fifth dismissal across six games in the series off-spinners.
But Malan came through with another great knock. His unbeaten 114 at the ground in the first ODI, which won the game, was still fresh in his mind. During his 47-ball knock, he timed the ball well for 6 boundaries and swung the bat hard for 2 sixes.
Buttler aided him well during his 31-ball stay at the crease, lacing it with 4 boundaries and a sixes. The pair’s 95-run stand threatened to take the game away from Bangladesh as England appeared to be cruising in the 13th over.
But Mustafizur had other plans, and he got Malan caught behind for his 100th wicket in T20Is. He was the second person from Bangladesh to reach the point. Buttler left the game because the Tigers could smell blood in the water.
Taskin Ahmed (2-26) grabbed both his wickets in his last over to send Moeen Ali (9) and Ben Duckett (11) packing. After England’s last known pair of batters left, they needed 36 runs in the last three overs while the home crowd cheered for the Tigers.
When Hasan Mahmud finished things off with two dot balls and England on 142 for 6, the roof came off the stadium as the limited-overs champions registered only their second 0-3 series defeat in their T20I bilateral series history after England whitewashed them in 2014.
Litton made his mark on the series late but just in time in the match. He had missed out on good starts throughout the series. In the T20 World Cup, he hit a blistering 60 against India. This was his last big T20 game.
His opening stand with Rony included some ordinary catching by England as Rehan Ahmed and Duckett dropped straightforward opportunities. Litton got into the groove by smashing Chris Jordan for two fours, pulled and lofted over mid-off.
After Adil Rashid (1-23) got rid of Rony with a soft return catch; Litton and Shanto put together another 84 runs. The opener’s 57-ball innings had 10 fours and a six; and it looked like they would get close to 200 runs.
But the England bowlers slowed down the run rate in the last five overs and got Litton’s wicket with three overs left.
Shanto was named Player of the Series because he scored 144 runs. He showed versatility by running hard between the wickets and hitting only one six and two fours in his 36-ball innings.
BAN vs. ENG: The England cricket team was made fun of after losing 0-3
Reactions from the cricket world are pouring in, with everyone lauding Bangladesh for the historic win. Bangladesh won the first T20I by 6 wickets and the second by 4. Here are how people on the internet feel about Bangladesh beating England.
The last time England suffered a whitewash in the T20I series was in 2014, when they lost by 3-0 against Australia on their home turf. Bangladesh, led by Shakib Al Hasan, has been in great shape at home. In December 2022, they beat India 2-1 in an ODI series and beat Australia and New Zealand before the T20I World Cup 2022.
England vs. Bangladesh, 3rd T20I
After winning the toss and deciding to field first, the Jos Buttler-led England side restricted Bangladesh to a total of 158/2, with opener Litton Das scoring a half-century and Najmul Hussain Shanto adding 47 runs. England’s only wicket-takers were Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid, who each took one.
The World T20 champions, on the other hand, were 100/1 at one point; even though captain Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan were batting very well. Buttler was out when Mehidy Hasan ran him out in the 14th over. England then suffered a bizarre batting collapse and was restricted by Bangladesh to 142/6 in 20 overs. Bangladesh bowlers bowled well to take six wickets between them.
Man of the Match Litton said:
“I’m really happy and my family is really happy. When the bowler had the new ball it was challenging, the wicket was tricky. The way Rony batted in the powerplay, and afterwards Shanto, all the pressure on me is relieved.”
After the match, skipper Shakib Al Hasan said:
“We were really good in this T20 series, fielded well, bowlers were good, batters contributed. Build on from here for the (T20) World Cup next year.
“We batted really well on a tricky wicket; full credit to Litton and Rony, we were happy with the total, and had to stick to our plan.”
Jos Buttler said:
“It’s really disappointing to lose but congrats to Bangladesh, they outplayed us and deserve their victory. We came back well; after missing some opportunities in the field.” “The wicket played better and it was a good score to restrict them to. Losing two wickets in two balls is really poor. I am very disappointed in myself for not diving and it potentially cost us the game.”
