Mahmud, Najmul deliver 1-0 lead for Bangladesh

A fine job in the death overs, led by Hasan Mahmud, was followed by a brisk half-century by Najmul Hossain as Bangladesh secured a comfortable six-wicket win in the opening T20I against England in Chattogram on Thursday (March 9). Jos Buttler struck a 42-ball 67 but Bangladesh pulled it back in the end overs to restrict England to 156/6. Najmul guided Bangladesh in the chase before Shakib Al Hasan finished it off with an unbeaten 34 off 24 to help the hosts seal the win in 18 overs.

A positive start and butter fingers

At least one boundary was scored in each of the six powerplay overs as the England openers raised a half-century stand in quick time to power their team to a good start. While Phil Salt collected four boundaries inside the first six overs, Jos Buttler struck two fours and also the first six of the game when he cleared his front leg and went over long on for a maximum off Mustafizur Rahman in the fifth over. Bangladesh, meanwhile, had themselves to blame for allowing the England openers to continue batting after the powerplay. Nasum Ahmed put down a catch off his own bowling in the sixth over to give Salt a reprieve while Shakib failed to hold on to a top edge off Buttler's bat in the same over, as England moved to 51/0.

Bangladesh strike but Buttler powers England's progress

A couple of quiet overs from Shakib and Nasum did not hamper England's momentum as Buttler and Salt quickly made up for it with sixes off the two spinners. Nasum managed to end the opening stand worth 80 as Litton Das took a sharp catch off an under edge to send Salt back for 38, with the opener also burning a review. Dawid Malan had a short outing, handing a catch to long on trying to hit Shakib for a six. Buttler, meanwhile, brought up a 32-ball fifty with a six off Mahmud in the 13th over and followed it up with another six. Duckett got going with a sweep and a ramp for two fours while Buttler added to his boundary tally to take England to 126/2 after 15 overs.

A fine comeback from Bangladesh in the death

Having been struck for a boundary by Duckett, Mustafizur hit back by having the left-hander bowled for 20 to end a partnership worth 47. Mahmud picked up the big wicket of Buttler as the England captain found long on trying to go over the top, and he also bagged the wicket of Sam Curran in the 19th over. It was an excellent finish for Mahmud who gave away only five runs off his last two overs while Mustafizur and Taskin Ahmed also did a decent job in the death, with England managing only 30 runs in the last five overs for the loss of four wickets.

How did Bangladesh start in the chase?

Quite well. Rony Talukdar, who was playing his first game for Bangladesh since July 2015, struck four boundaries inside the first three overs to help Bangladesh off to a quick start. But he didn't pick a googly from Adil Rashid and was bowled in the fourth over. In the same over, Najmul Hossain managed to overturn an onfield call of leg-before and then struck a boundary off the legspinner. Litton had started well but he fell in the fifth over, top-edging a catch to mid on to give Jofra Archer a wicket. Debutant Towhid Hridoy ended the sixth with two fours off Chris Woakes as Bangladesh finished the powerplay at 54/2.

Najmul fifty puts Bangladesh in control

The post-powerplay period was when the Bangladesh spinners slowed things down a bit in the first innings. But England were unable to do that as Najmul drove and pulled Mark Wood for four successive boundaries in the seventh over, and followed it up with a boundary off Rashid in an over which yielded 11 runs. The half-century stand was brought up as both Najmul and Hridoy continued positively, with a six for the latter off Rashid helping Bangladesh past 100 in the 11th over. Najmul went on to bring up a 27-ball fifty as the second wicket pair brought the required rate below six an over to put Bangladesh in control.

Shakib guides Bangladesh over the line

The visitors fought back with quick wickets as Hridoy was caught in the deep off Moeen Ali while the half-centurion Najmul inside-edged a Wood delivery onto the stumps, leaving Bangladesh at 112/4 in the 13th over. But the hosts did not hit the panic button as Shakib struck a flurry of boundaries to take Bangladesh closer. The equation came down to 19 off the last four overs but Bangladesh needed only two overs as Afif Hossain and Shakib finished it off with three fours between them.

Brief scores: England 156/6 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 67, Phil Salt 38; Hasan Mahmud 2-26) lost to Bangladesh 158/4 in 18 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 51, Shakib Al Hasan 34*; Moeen Ali 1-27) by 6 wickets.