The Bangladesh cricket team has emerged victorious in their first T20 international match at home against Ireland, with a comfortable 22-run victory under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in a match that was impacted by rain. The match is the first of a three-match series between the two sides.
The hosts posted a score of 207-5 in their innings, which was cut short by rain at Chittagong. Rony Talukdar was the star of the innings, contributing a career-best 67 from just 38 balls. He was well supported by Liton Das, who scored 47 off 23 balls in an opening stand of 91 runs in just seven overs.
Ireland’s bowlers Craig Young and Harry Tector claimed two wickets each, including that of Rony and Najmul Hossain, respectively. Their efforts, however, were in vain, as Bangladesh posted a formidable score before the rain came.
Ireland was set a target of 104 runs to win in eight overs after play resumed following the rain delay. Gareth Delany was the standout performer for Ireland with an unbeaten score of 21 off 14 balls, while Tector and stand-in captain Paul Stirling contributed 19 and 17 runs, respectively.
Taskin Ahmed was the standout performer with the ball for Bangladesh, claiming four wickets while conceding just 16 runs. Stirling and Mark Adair got the visitors off to a decent start with an opening wicket partnership of 32 runs. However, they lost three wickets in quick succession to leave them reeling at 40-4.
Tector and Delany then added 32 runs for the fifth wicket, but the target proved too much for Ireland as they could only manage 81-5. The two teams will meet again for the second T20I match of the series.
Bangladesh had won the preceding three-match one-day international series 2-0, and they will be looking to continue their winning momentum in the remaining T20I matches. The teams will also meet for a one-off Test match in early April.
Ireland rested their regular skipper Andrew Balbirnie for the three-match series, giving the opportunity to Paul Stirling to lead the side. The Bangladesh cricket team is looking to strengthen its position in the ICC T20 rankings, while Ireland is looking to build momentum ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.
Leon Osamor
