USA Makes History With First T20 Series Win Over ICC Full Member Bangladesh

The T20 World Cup 2024 co-hosts, the United States, secured a decisive 2-0 lead in their ongoing three-match series against Bangladesh with a 6-run victory in the second T20I at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston on Thursday, May 23.

Following Thursday's win, the USA, who had defeated Bangladesh by 5 wickets in the series opener, clinched their first-ever series against a full member nation of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

While there have been several instances of lower-ranked teams surprising top-ranked sides in T20 cricket, this marks the first time an associate member has beaten an ICC full member nation in a T20I bilateral series.

Chasing a target of 145, Bangladesh's batting line-up struggled apart from captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, and the in-form Towhid Hridoy. The rest of the batters failed to make significant contributions.

Bangladesh seemed on track to reach the target at the halfway mark. However, Corey Anderson turned the match in favour of the Americans in the 11th over by executing a crucial run-out of Bangladesh's skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto.

Anderson gathered the ball and charged towards the stumps following a mix-up between Shanto and Towhid Hridoy. A slight moment of hesitation saw Shanto dismissed for 36 off 34 balls.

An over later, Anderson bowled an in-swinger that rattled Hridoy's stumps (25 off 21 balls), delivering a significant blow to Bangladesh's chase and triggering an unexpected collapse.

Shakib Al Hasan led the fight from one end but wickets kept falling at regular intervals. The equation came down to needing 21 runs off the final three overs for Bangladesh to keep the series alive.

Pressure mounted as Shakib fell on the first delivery of the 18th over bowled by Ali Khan. Khan also removed Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Rishad Hossain to seal both the match and the series for the USA.

Bowlers' Performance

Ali Khan was the standout bowler for the USA with figures of 3 for 25 in 3.3 overs. Left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar and medium pacer Shadley van Schalkwyk claimed two wickets each. Anderson and Jasdeep Singh also took one wicket apiece.

USA's Batting Contributions

Earlier, after being put into bat, skipper Monank Patel led with a score of 42. Steven Taylor and Aaron Jones made valuable contributions with knocks of 31 and 35 respectively, propelling USA's total to 144/7.

Looking Ahead

Bangladesh will aim to bounce back and secure a consolation win in the final match of the series at the same venue in Houston on Saturday, May 25, before facing India in a T20 World Cup warm-up match on June 1.