In the first T20I of the series at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on May 17, a 22-year-old Parvez Hossain Emon scripted history for Bangladesh against UAE. Emon became the second Bangladesh batter in the history of T20Is to score a century. The young left-handed batter hit nine sixes and five fours in his 54-ball 100 as Bangladesh beat Muhammad Waseem-led UAE by 27 runs.
The only other Bangladesh batter to hit a T20I century is Tamim Iqbal. In the T20 World Cup 2016, he scored an unbeaten 103 off 63 balls against Oman in Dharamsala. Emon ended the nine-year-long wait. No other Bangladesh batter had even reached 90s since Iqbal's ton.
All Emon show in Sharjah
Earlier, UAE won the toss and opted to bowl first. Tanzid Hasan hit a four and a six before falling to Matiullah Khan in the second over. Emon and captain Litton Das did not let the tempo go down. But Das fell for an eight-ball 11 to Muhammad Jawadullah. Bangladesh were 55/2 after powerplay overs. In the eighth over, Emon took on Sanchit Sharma and whacked him for three sixes. He reached his fifty from 28 deliveries in the ninth over.
Towhid Hridoy tried to accelerate too but Dhruv Parashar came back into the attack to dismiss him. Hridoy scored 20 runs from 15 balls. Mahedi hasan could not make an impact either and was dismissed by Jawadullah for a single-digit score. Emon continued to attack and clear the fence. Jaker Ali tried to do the same after a sluggish start. He returned to the pavillion in the 16th over. Emon continued to strike but another batter fell cheaply on the other end. In the penultimate over, Emon reached his maiden T20I century from 53 balls. The youngster fell to Jawadullah in the last over. Bangladesh managed to post 191/7 on the board.
UAE stun Bangladesh in first half
UAE's run chase got off to a good start. Zohaib and Waseem scored 19 runs from the over bowled by Mahedi. Waseem hit Tanzim Hasan Sakib for two fours and a six. In the fourth over, Hasan Mahmud was introduced and he dismissed Zohaib. Then, left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman came into the attack and got rid of Alishan Sharafu. UAE were 52/2 after powerplay overs. In the seventh over, Rahul Chopra hit Mahmud for three fours and a six. The attack continued as UAE were 98/2 at the halfway stage. Waseem reached his fifty from just 32 balls.
Asif's cameo in vain
In the 12th over, Sakib got the prized wicket of Waseem. He scored 54 runs from 39 balls. In the 13th over, Asif Khan went berserk and hit Mahedi for a four and three consecutive sixes. Sakib struck again as he got the btter of Chopra who scored 35 runs from 22 balls. Parashar could not do much with the bat and was dismissed in Islam's last over. Asif kept UAE on track but Sanchit Sharma was dismissed by Mahmud. Mustafizur in his last over conceded just three runs and got the wicket of Zuhaib. Asif could not carry the run chase alone and got out to Mahmud for a 21-ball 42 in the penultimate over. Mahedi struck twice in the final over as UAE were bowled out for 164. Bangladesh won the game by 27 runs and took a 1-0 lead in two-T20I series.