In the previous match, Bangladesh had made history by defeating an associate member country like the United Arab Emirates, despite having scored more than 200 runs. This made the third and final T20 match the ‘final’ of the series. The Tigers were even more upset in batting in the series-deciding battle. Bangladesh, who lost 7 wickets for 71 runs, however, scored 162 runs on the scoreboard in the final drama.
The last over of the second T20 between Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates was also dramatic. Scenes like missed fielding and not throwing were questionable. Similarly, in today’s (Wednesday) match, the last over of the first innings can be discussed. Emirates captain Mohammad Wasim came to bowl with the regular bowlers’ over remaining. Where two no balls were bowled, another had to take the ball with one ball remaining.
Shariful-Hasan, who hit two sixes and a four in Wasim’s over, got two no balls. As a result, Bangladesh got 26 runs in the over. However, the contribution behind pulling the Tigers this far was Zaker Ali Anik. He scored 41 runs off 34 balls before being dismissed in the 19th over. He batted for a long time even with cramps and neck pain. Apart from this, only Tanjid Tamim (40 off 18 balls) scored meaningful runs for Bangladesh in the top order. And in the end, Hasan Mahmud made a big contribution by scoring 26 runs off 15 balls and Shariful Islam made 16 runs off 7 balls to cross the 150 mark.
Earlier, the visitors, having lost the toss and elected to bat first, struggled to save their wickets. They lost 5 wickets for 57 runs. After that, Bangladesh lost 7 wickets for 71 runs. In fact, except for one Tanjid Hasan Tamim, no top order batsman could score runs. Tamim scored 10 runs with two boundaries in the first over of the match. In the next over, Parvez Hossain Emon caught him on the boundary while trying to hit the first ball of spinner Dhruv Parashar. The centurion of the first match returned to the eleven today and was out for a golden duck.
Liton Das made a mistake with the first ball of the fourth over, even though he signaled to take control. He was LBW off Haider Ali’s ball for 14 runs off 10 balls. In the same over, Towhid Hridoy came forward a little and missed the ball. The umpire raised his finger as the ball hit his pads. Both outings of Liton and Hridoy could have been reviewed, but that opportunity is not there in this series. Sheikh Mehedi, who was given the responsibility of vice-captain, failed once again. He was Haider’s victim, while trying to create some space, he was bowled for 2 runs off 9 balls.
Tanjid Tamim, Shamim Patwary (9) and Rishad Hossain (0) returned in a short time. Tamim scored 40 off 18 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes each. After losing 8 wickets for 81 runs, there was a doubt whether Bangladesh would be able to play 20 overs. However, Zaker Ali and Shariful-Hasan, the tailenders, overcame that fear and left the field unbeaten. Bangladesh scored 162 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs.
Haider Ali took 3 wickets for the loss of just 7 runs in 4 overs for the UAE, including a maiden. Apart from this, Matiullah Khan and Sagir Khan took 2 wickets each.
