Najmul Hossain Shanto-led Bangladesh cricket team avoided whitewash after beating Aaron Jones' United States by 10 wickets in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, on May 25 (Saturday). However, the USA did win the series 2-1 a big feat for them as this was their first T20I series win over a full-member nation. Star pacer Mustafizur Rahman picked up a six-wicket haul and won the Player of the Match award.
Mustafizur Rahman's heroics against USA
Bangladesh were reeling behind 2-0 before entering to play the third T20I. A loss here would have been extremely bad for their confidence ahead of the mega tournament. BAN won the toss and elected to bowL first and this turned out to be the right decision as they managed to restrict USA on the paltry score of 104/9 in 20 overs. Mustafizur Rahman played the key role in it as he took 6 wickets and never allowed the hosts to get into the match.
Then during the second innings, Tanzid Hasan and Soumya Sarkar completed the chase effortlessly by the 11.4 overs. Hasan hit a half-century. This was a crucial win for the Asian side ahead of the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup 2024 to regain some confidence.
Mustafizur Rahman on his performance
“Very happy with the way I bowled. I tried a lot of variations and mixed it up. Feeling really good for winning these awards,” said Mustafizur Rahman said in the post-match presentation.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto also expressed on their series loss and called it disappointing but were happy to finish on a high and believes their experience here will help them in the marquee event ahead. They will now be competing against Team India in their T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up game on June 1.
“Boys showed a lot of character and everyone executed their plans. It's very disappointing to lose the series, we did not play well to be honest. But to finish on a high today will help us ahead of the World Cup. We know the conditions and how it will be and we are looking forward,” said Najmul after winning the match.
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