An all-round display by Nasir Hossain gave Bangladesh A an unassailable 2-0 lead against the Bangladesh national team in the three-match Twenty20 Challenge Series at Mirpur on Thursday.
Bangladesh A skipper Nasir hit an unbeaten 58 from 30 balls and scalped two wickets with the leather to lead his side to a six-wicket win over the national team in the second T20 match.
Chasing Bangladesh’s 167-9, Bangladesh A reached their target with six wickets intact and 10 balls to spare. Nasir and Sabbir Rahman (15 not out) took their side to the series victory with the third T20 still to be played.
An unbroken fourth-wicket stand between Nasir and Sabbir yielded 79 runs with the Bangladesh A captain contributing most of the runs. Sabbir scored only 15.
They were in early trouble though as Rubel Hossain made a couple of early breakthroughs for Bangladesh when he removed both openers Imrul Kayes (16) and Jahirul Islam (6).
One-down Mithun Ali (37 from 33 balls) and in-form batsman Mominul Haque (24 off 18 balls) rebuilt the Bangladesh A innings, adding 55 runs for the third wicket.
The match was delicately poised in the 15th over with Bangladesh A requiring 51 runs from 30 balls. However, Sohag Gazi gave away 22 runs in the 16th over which made the chase easy for Bangladesh A.
Only 29 runs were then needed from 24 deliveries and with six wickets in hand it was hardly a tough proposition in a T20 game as Nasir, who smashed seven fours and three sixes, and Sabbir took their side through.
Earlier, Bangladesh, in the pursuit of levelling the series, posted 167-9 in their 20 overs thanks to quickfire knocks from Anamul Haque, captain Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. Opening the innings with Soumya Sarker (13), Anamul made sure Bangladesh were off to a flying start.
Anamul struck 39 runs from only 18 balls as the right-handed batsman hit half a dozen fours and a six. He smashed 20 runs in the fourth over bowled by Alauddin Babu to add momentum to the Bangladesh’s innings.
Bangladesh were soon on the ascendency as 17 runs came in the fifth over bowled by left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny. Due to the two good overs, Bangladesh moved from 24-1 in the third over to 61-1 at the end of the fifth over.
Mushfiq (36 from 24 balls) and Mahmudullah (38 off 30 balls) continued from where Anamul had left off. However, Bangladesh could not quite capitalise on their position of strength. After the halfway stage, Bangladesh were 97-3 but they could add only 70 more runs losing six wickets in the last 10 overs.
Nasir was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2-21 from three overs while Farhad Reza was economical, giving away only 19 runs in his four overs whilst picking up a wicket.
BRIEF SCORES
Bangladesh 167-9 in 20 overs (A Haque 39, Mahmudullah 38 not out, M Rahim 36, Z Rahman 21; N Hossain 2-21, A Sunny 2-42) v Bangladesh A 171-4 in 18.3 overs (N Hossain 62 not out, M Ali 37, M Haque 24; R Hossain 2-30).
Result: Bangladesh A won by 6 wickets.
Toss: Bangladesh A.
-With New Age input
