UNITED STATES 144 for 6 (Monank 42, Jones 35, Taylor 31, Rishad 2-21, Shoriful 2-29, Mustafizur 2-31) beaten Bangladesh 138 (Shanto 36, Shakib 30, Ali Khan 3-25, Netravalkar 2-15, van Schalkwyk 2-21) by six points
For Bangladesh, it is a disaster for cricket.
The United States is making progress
After that, Shanto and Hridoy, who made fifty runs in the first match, added 48 runs for the third wicket. Hridoy and Shanto hit Harmeet for a six each in the tenth over, both hitting the ball relatively straight.
Ali Khan sides with the United States
Shakib survived a run-out attempt early in the 16th over when the edge fielder was unable to hit the stumps even as Shakib struggled to reach the striker’s side. He got rid of it by timing two superb fours on Jessy later in the race, first to the point, then tickled the third.
Bangladesh’s joy, however, was short-lived. Jaker Ali fell to van Schalkwyk before Shakib followed him to the next ball. Batting on 30, Shakib clipped a forward delivery from Ali Khan onto his stumps, leaving the tail to finish the job. Ali Khan then trapped Tanzim Hasan lbw for a duck just a ball later to put the United States well and truly in the lead.
Ali Khan, the last hero
Rishad criticized Ali Khan for a four with a bounce late in the 18th over to keep Bangladesh in the hunt, but Netravalkar beat Shoriful in the penultimate over. Mustafizur took a single off the last ball of the over, before taking a pass at the start of the last over. Rishad hit Ali Khan for a four through, but the next ball, Ali Khan took his inside edge as he tried to bring the fast bowler up, sparking huge celebrations for the United States.
Rishad strikes after good start in USA
In the first half, Taylor and Monank took a little time to get going, but starting in the fourth period, the first two Americans took a few boundaries. Taylor hit Tanzim for two fours in the fourth over before cracking Mustafizur and Shakib for a six each in the following overs.
But soon after finishing the powerplay unbeaten, USA lost two big wickets. Rishad floated one to Taylor, who hit it wide on Tanzid Hasan’s throat. He made 31 off 28 balls with two sixes and three fours. On the next ball, Rishad had Andries Gous caught for a duck with a nice leg break. He finished with his best T20I figures of 2 for 21 from four overs.
Shoriful and Mustafizur join the party
Monank and Jones then added 60 runs for the third wicket, but they struck just 6.42 per over. Jones was smoother than in the previous match, however, hitting Rishad for a six over long-on, but big hits were rare in general.
After keeping Jones and Monank on a tight leash for just under ten overs, Bangladesh got their reward in the final four overs. Mustafizur removed Jones for 35 off 34, caught at long on. Shoriful beat Anderson and Monank in the 19th. And Mustafizur had Harmeet soon after as his duck. But it turned out that the United States had enough on the board.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
