Bangladesh secure series with win over Poms
DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 12, (AP): Bangladesh wrapped up the three-match T20 series against England with a game to spare as Mehidy Hasan claimed a career-best 4-12 and added a crucial 20-run knock to secure a four-wicket victory over the tourists on Sunday.
Bangladesh held England to a lowly 117 in 20 overs, before knocking off the target with seven balls to spare, reaching 120-6.
Najmul Hossain, who was instrumental in the six-wicket victory in the first match with a 30-ball 51, was not out on 46, helping the home side stay in the contest despite England bowlers making inroads at regular intervals.
Fast bowler Jofra Archer gave England a flicker of hope, claiming 3-13 but Najmul held his nerve.
Bangladesh lost both openers Liton Das and Rony Talukdar - while chasing the moderate target for just 27 runs.
Later, Najmul held one end with confidence but the chase didn’t get going in earnest until Mehidy struck two sixes as part of his 16- ball 20.
Archer removed him with a slower delivery and then delivered a ball that clocked 92 mph to rattle the stump of Afif Hossain.
In between, Moeen Ali claimed the wicket of skipper Shakib Al Hasan as Bangladesh was left at 100-6 in the 18th over.
CRICKET
England appeared to be on course to save the game, sensing an unlikely victory, but Najmul and Taskin Ahmed hit three boundaries off Chris Jordan’s first over of the day to close out the contest.
Taskin who hit the winning boundary was not out on 8.
Earlier, Taskin got the Bangladesh attack off the mark, removing Dawid Malan after England was put into bat first.
Shakib got the better of Phil Salt who started well before his progress was halted, having reached a 19-ball 25.
But the crucial breakthrough came when pacer Hasan Mahmud bowled Buttler (4) with a searing delivery.
Mehidy got into the act to end Ben Duckett’s resistance. Duckett reached a team-high 28 as Mehidy ripped through England’s middle order.
The third and final T20 is on Tuesday.
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HYDERABAD: Virat Kohli reached triple figures for the first time in 41 innings and a wait of more than three years to nudge India ahead of Australia on day four of the fourth test Sunday.
Kohli scored 186 runs, his 28th test hundred and his highest test score against Australia, as India finished with 571 (178.5 overs) runs in its first
innings to take a lead of 91 runs over Australia’s first-innings total of 480 runs.
At stumps, Matthew Kuhnemann and Travis Head (3 not out) negotiated six overs with Australia at 3-0 in its second innings, trailing by 88 runs.
First innings centurion Usman Khawaja did not open the innings after suffering
a suspected knee injury while fielding with Kuhnemann a surprising choice to replace him. The nightwatchman survived as Srikar Bharat missed a sharp catching chance in the penultimate over.
Kohli’s last test hundred came against Bangladesh in November 2019.