Bangladesh stun world champions England for the first time in T20 | Sports News

Bangladesh beat England by six wickets to register their first ever T20 victory against the world champions.

Bangladesh recorded a six-wicket win over England to stun the world champions in the opening Twenty20 International match in the southern coastal town of Chattogram.

Najmul Hossain Shanto’s half-century and captain Shakib Al Hasan’s 34 points from 24 balls guided the hosts to their first ever T20 international victory against England on Thursday.

At bat, England looked in control as fly-half Jos Buttler (67) and Phil Salt set up an 80-run partnership, but Buttler received little support after Salt was fired on 38 and the visitors were were limited to 156-6 at the end of their 20 overs.

Hasan Mahmud was the bowlers’ choice for Bangladesh as he took two wickets, while four of his teammates took one wicket each.

After a brief opening position between Litton Das and Rony Talukdar, Shanto (51) combined with debutant Towhid Hridoy for 65 carries to give Bangladesh some momentum but the pair were then fired in back-to-back overs as the pursuit was in danger of being derailed.

Shakib, who was the hero of Bangladesh’s one-day international victory over England earlier this week, came to their rescue once again on slow ground and played a calm shot under pressure to get his camp on the line.

“The way we approached the game was fantastic, pumped up in the first 10 overs but nobody panicked. Sticking to the plans,” Shakib said after the game.

“In T20, when you don’t think too much, you tend to play well. Hopefully we can keep that in the locker room. It’s a good start for the World Cup in 2024 in the West Indies.

The second T20I will be played at Mirpur on Sunday, followed by the third game on Tuesday at the same venue.