The allrounder is looking forward to picking up where he left off, finishing games for India

PTI and ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2022As he got down to plot his return to the Indian team, Hardik Pandya would hit the bed at 9.30pm and wake up at 5am, dedicating the intervening period to win battles against his “own self”.The 28-year-old allrounder followed this timetable for four months, after which he guided an unfancied Gujarat Titans to a memorable title triumph in only their maiden IPL outing. Soon after that, he made his long-awaited international comeback.Hardik, who has been managing a long-standing back problem, hadn’t played for India since they dropped out in the group stages of the 2021 T20 World Cup in November. But on Thursday, reprising his usual role as finisher, he looked pretty much like his old self, hitting an unbeaten 31 off just 12 balls against South Africa.”I was happy,” Hardik told . “It was more about the battles I won against my own self and a lot of other things as well. Winning the IPL, or even qualifying [for the playoffs] was a big deal for me because a lot of people doubted us,” he said. “A lot of people frowned at us before we started. A lot of people raised a lot of questions. A lot of things were said about me even before I made a comeback.”But it was never about giving them answers. I’m just proud of the process I followed. No one knows what I went through the six months that I was off. I’ve gotten up at 5 in morning to make sure I train. I slept at 9:30 in the night for four months, so [there was] a lot of sacrifice.”It was the battle I fought before the IPL. I have always worked hard in my life, and it has always given me the result I wanted.”Hardik also said the ongoing series against South Africa was the ideal platform for him to get into the groove for the upcoming T20 World Cup, especially since India will look to him to finish an innings, not start one like he did at Titans”Every series or every game you play is as important as your last,” Hardik said. “So, for me, World Cup is the goal, this is the right platform to get into the rhythm and a lot of cricket is going to come back-to-back. Always being in the rhythm is very important.”My role will be changed here, I won’t be captain, I won’t be batting higher up the order and guiding through the innings. This will be back to being the Hardik for which I am known.”

Forties from Foakes and Hardie see visitors home to move 15 points ahead of Hampshire

David Hopps14-Jul-2022Surrey exacted satisfying revenge for their defeat against Yorkshire in the Vitality Blast quarter-final with another nerve-jangling victory, this time in the Championship, as they completed an immaculately-judged pursuit of 227 in 44 overs by four wickets with three balls to spare at North Marine Road.At 147 for 6 in the 28th over, their chase was faltering badly. But Ben Foakes’ unbeaten 42, astute from the outset, and 40 not out from the Australian all-rounder Aaron Hardie on Championship debut, a committed innings which grew in authority as it progressed, brought them home with an unbroken stand of 81 in 16 overs.Hardie was thrilled at his first experience of Championship cricket. “To come here today and win was a bit of a dream,” he said. “Everything had to go perfectly to plan, and it pretty much did. Our plan was to take it deep because we knew we’d be the ones driving the game. It worked.”Surrey needed this victory to consolidate their position at the top of the Championship after Hampshire had won earlier in the day. If Hardie had departed early, they might have settled for the draw and Foakes, dropped back down to No. 7, would have been charged with organising it. But victory leaves them 15 points ahead of Hampshire with five matches remaining, Lancashire now a distant third, their hopes fading.As for Yorkshire, they had shared in a memorable struggle despite a colossal list of absentees, but their second defeat of the season (made worse by the docking of two points for a slow overrate) sends them to Taunton next week fearing they might yet be dragged into a relegation fight. They have taken every game into the final session but have not won since their opening match against Gloucestershire.A season’s best 6 for 61 for Jamie Overton, two on the previous evening, had set up the chase as Yorkshire were dismissed for 220 in their second innings despite a maiden Championship half-century for Matthew Waite. They now must wait for the ECB to confirm which, if any, players will be released for Blast Finals Day on Saturday. The clash of fixtures between England and the climax to county cricket’s biggest week of the season is unconscionable – either greedy, cynical and deliberate or greedy incompetent and lacking in empathy: take your pick.Dom Bess, after his five wickets in the first innings, bore Yorkshire’s hopes. He struck the first blow on the brink of tea, a loopy, turning delivery which drew Rory Burns down the pitch and beat the outside edge, Johnny Tattersall completing the stumping. Yorkshire entrusted the offspinner with a decisive spell, and he did little wrong, but he never asserted the control he would have wanted and finished with 1 for 105 from 18 overs.Not that they had many options. With the West Indies quick, Shannon Gabriel off the field initially because of a hip injury sustained in the field, his presence was delayed until the 20th over. In that time, Surrey lost Ryan Patel, who paid for a wind-up at Steve Patterson, and Hashim Amla, an uppercut against Jordan Thompson which flew to third man. The catcher was James Wharton, shortly after he had passed a concussion check after being struck on the helmet at short leg by Overton. Standing at short leg when Overton is swinging is nobody’s idea of fun.Related

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Overton clubs sixes even when his bat is barely in the same postcode and Bess suffered more than once, but Thompson befuddled him with a back-of-the-hand slower ball, leaving Surrey 106 short with 20 overs remaining.Gabriel’s contribution caused a tremor, but only a short one: 2 for 18 from three overs. Jacks pulled him for six, but then fell lbw – unfortunately so as the ball struck him outside the line. There was no doubt about Jamie Smith’s dismissal as Gabriel plucked out his off stump. Short-term overseas signings face quite a task to hit the ground running, and injury problems in the second innings and 16 no balls in the match told its own story.Surrey’s assault on Bess with 43 needed from six overs shifted the match their way. Both Hardie and Foakes swept him for six. With 35 overs behind him in the first innings, and the need to pull off several goalkeeping dives off his own bowling, he was a weary, sweat-soiled figure by the time he was withdrawn from the attack with four overs remaining, but days that will hurt in the here and now will bring long-term benefit.Yorkshire had a 71-run lead banked overnight with eight second-innings wickets left. The loss of two wickets in the penultimate over the previous evening had left them vulnerable and a dank morning suggested that an inexperienced batting line-up were even more up against it. For Yorkshire supporters, it was a folded-arms sort of morning as they sat back, demanding the best but fearing the worst. They were proved right – but had to wait til after half-past six to say they’d always known as much.Only 18 overs into the day, they were 123 for 6. Surrey sensed the game was theirs – and some of their supporters wondered if they would even see it before they had to catch the 5.30 back to London. Those first four wickets fell to lbws, to four different bowlers, as Surrey bowled at the stumps, seeking a bit of seam and indifferent bounce. George Hill, dropped at cover, limped off as Overton had him lbw on the boot. There was a brief interruption for bad light but Will Fraine fell to Dan Worrall immediately on the resumption. James Wharton and Will Luxton were then caught on the crease as Tom Lawes and Hardie maintained the approach.Surrey could not be reliant on a second new ball to finish off the Yorkshire innings – by then there would have been fewer than 30 overs and a successful chase would probably have been beyond them. As Waite assembled a stand of 52 with Tattersall, the imperative for a further breakthrough was clear. Jacks had bowled only five overs of offspin in the first 58 – lightly used compared to Bess, his Yorkshire opposite number, but his first ball brought dividends as he turned one to end Tattersall’s vigil. Another lbw, this one bringing grumbles, but it seemed fair enough.Thompson unsuccessfully tried to shift the equation away from Surrey with a quick salvo, but Overton was hitting his straps for the first time in the match and he claimed Thompson and Patterson in successive balls.With the lead 193, some sort of last-wicket resistance was essential for Yorkshire and Gabriel, for all his hulking presence, came to the crease at No. 11 with a first-class average of 5.17 and a top score of 20. Waite attacked in selective fashion. He was put on his backside as he dug out an Overton yorker, but he hooked him resoundingly to reach a maiden Championship 50. They added 32, and were beginning to scent safety, when Overton had Gabriel caught at the wicket for his sixth wicket. Surrey had time – but only just.

Being part of CWG 2022 “can only leave us in a good position as we look for ambitions moving forward,” says Geoff Allardice

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2022Being a “star attraction” at the 2022 Commonwealth Games will give a fillip to the ICC’s ambitions of being included in “all other types of multi-sport games”, mainly the Olympic Games, Geoff Allardice, the ICC chief executive, said in Birmingham on Wednesday.”The idea of being here in Birmingham for the annual [ICC] conference is to celebrate cricket’s involvement in the Commonwealth Games for the first time in 24 years [when a men’s 50-over event was held, in Kuala Lumpur] with the women’s T20 event,” Allardice said. “Judging on the reaction of the players, they all are very excited and enjoying the experience of being around the top athletes from other sports.”We have declared our ambition to be involved in the Olympic Games. We are assisting the LA 2028 organisers and providing any information will help their assessment of different sports with regards to addition to the Olympic programme. But, at this stage, a decision is due next year.”Related

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Women’s T20 cricket, between eight teams, including Barbados as the West Indies representatives, is being played in this edition of the Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham. In fact, all matches will be played at Edgbaston. This, after the ICC and the ECB lobbied successfully for its inclusion.Supporters of the ICC’s stated objective of having cricket included in the Olympics – possibly in Los Angeles in 2028, though the sport hasn’t made the provisional list – are likely to keep their eyes peeled on how things go in Birmingham. A good show can only help the big plans.”Being in multi-sport games, whether it is the Commonwealth Games or the Asian Games or the African Games, putting cricket into these multisport events is good for the growth of our game,” Allardice said. “One, it gives a lot of our member countries a seat at the top table for sporting organisations within their country. Two, the coverage of these games reaches new audiences that may not be traditional cricket audiences.”And that is one of opportunities with the Commonwealth Games, that we can reach new audiences. I’m sure you have seen in the last five years or so, the quality of our women’s events is outstanding. The players are great ambassadors for our sport. We heard from a number of the [women’s team] captains last night at a panel session, and they are very excited and I’m sure, cricket a star attraction at the Commonwealth Games, which can only leave us in a good position as we look for ambitions moving forward in all other types of multi-sport games.”At the time of announcing cricket’s inclusion for Birmingham 2022, the Commonwealth Games Federation had said that it was “likely to be popular not only with spectators locally in Birmingham, but also for fans across competing nations, with 90% of the sport’s one billion fans worldwide thought to reside in the Commonwealth”.That is different from the Olympic Games, of course, where most of the participating nations are not traditional cricket-playing, or cricket-watching centres. Still, good competition, especially in the format perceived to be the most useful for reaching new audiences, could only help cricket’s ambitions of being a truly global sport.

“Taking a short break feels like a sensible precaution to avoid injury and the risk of a longer lay-off.”

Matt Roller23-Aug-2022Reece Topley has pulled out of the final two weeks of the Hundred in order to ensure he is fit to play in the T20 World Cup.Topley was England’s standout bowler in white-ball cricket this summer, taking 17 wickets across 10 limited-overs appearances against India and South Africa, and said in a statement that he had been “feeling the effects of a busy summer more and more over the last few weeks”.Related

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“Taking a short break feels like a sensible precaution to avoid injury and the risk of a longer lay-off,” he said in a statement released by his Hundred team, Oval Invincibles. “Nonetheless, I’m disappointed not to be contributing as the team enters a crucial period in the competition.”Tom Moody, Invincibles’ head coach, said he was “obviously disappointed to be losing a player of Reece’s calibre” but that the team “respect[s] his decision”. Invincibles are expected to sign a replacement player in the coming days.Topley took five wickets – three of them in a crucial opening burst against Southern Brave – in his four appearances in the Hundred this season but his departure is a major blow to Invincibles’ chances of play-off qualification.He previously missed their win against Welsh Fire in order to manage his body, and told ESPNcricinfo that he was “having to box smart” ahead of the World Cup. “Obviously there’s a lot of chat about the schedule and to be honest, for me to play as much as I have this summer and try to get to October fully fit probably isn’t sustainable,” he said.”I’m having to box smart with where I play and not necessarily go for broke at this point in the season. My priority is to be available for selection for the World Cup and I’m doing everything in my power to be available. If that means missing games here and there, so be it.”Invincibles will also lose two overseas players after Tuesday night’s game against Birmingham Phoenix: Sunil Narine will return to the Caribbean to play in the CPL, while Mohammad Hasnain has been called up to Pakistan’s Asia Cup squad. Peter Hatzoglou, the Australian spinner, will replace Narine, with Hasnain’s replacement unconfirmed.Meanwhile, Jos Buttler has revealed he is not certain to play all seven of England’s T20 internationals in Pakistan next month after being ruled out of the rest of the Hundred with a calf strain. “Whether I’ll be available for all those games, I’m not quite sure yet,” he said while working for Sky Sports as a pundit.

Not all their team-mates agree – “I like ODI cricket, it is just enough time to do enough,” says Ashton Agar

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2022Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch feel that for ODI cricket to remain interesting, the number of overs should be brought down to 40 for each innings.”I think I’d like one-day cricket more if it was 40 overs,” Khawaja told . “I played Pro40 in England a few years ago when they were playing 40-over cricket. I really enjoyed it.Related

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“I just think 50 overs is just that little bit too long now. T20 cricket is awesome. Test cricket is the pinnacle. I just feel like one-day cricket, if it could be 40 overs, I reckon that would just take out that little middle bit.”Finch – who recently retired from ODI cricket – agreed with Khawaja on 40 overs being the sweet spot, but expected the format to become popular around the time of the next World Cup, 50 overs or not.”The same debate keeps coming up every few years,” he said on the same programme. “When you’re 12 months away from a World Cup, people try and find relevance. But then the World Cup rolls around, and it’ll be bigger than again, and then another format will be on the chopping block.”But it’s that middle period Khawaja mentioned, that Adam Zampa suggested needs a close look. “There’s about ten overs in the middle that needs to be scrapped or something needs to be done with them, something a bit more exciting” he said. “Or, in between overs 20 and 30, there could be bonuses or extra free-hits, or something like that… make it a bit more interesting.”However, not all their team-mates agree with them. Ashton Agar, for example, said he liked the 50-overs-a-side format the way it has been.”I like ODI cricket, it is just enough time to do enough,” Agar said. “You know, ten overs [per bowler] is a lovely amount of bowling time. Fifty overs is a good time to bat, like it gives the guys lower down the order a bit of time if there’s a few wickets that have fallen.”Yes I think people get frustrated at, maybe it gets a bit too long, but I think that’s just because of the advent of T20 cricket. So I like ODI cricket.”Alex Carey, meanwhile, said that “there’s still lots of room in the game for one-day cricket for sure”, and cited the example of the 2019 ODI World Cup, where “the atmosphere was incredible”, for proof of the format’s popularity.In terms of solutions, Nathan Lyon had one: “One ball from one end, or both ends… stop giving the batters a new ball to hit,” he said. “It’s only 25 overs old, it’s still hard, I’d like to see… bring reverse swing back, bring spin back into it.”

Back-to-back no-results keep Afghanistan at the bottom of the Group 1 table, while Ireland rise to No. 2

Himanshu Agrawal28-Oct-2022Afghanistan and Ireland shared the points on offer after persistent rain prevented any action – or even the toss – from taking place in their men’s T20 World Cup match at the MCG on Friday.For Afghanistan, the result came just two days after their game against New Zealand, at the same venue, had also been abandoned.With the point they earned today, Ireland, who had beaten England earlier, climbed up two steps to No. 2 in the group, behind New Zealand, who are on three points from two games.Afghanistan have two points, the same as Sri Lanka, England and Australia. But all those teams have played one game fewer and also have a “W” against their names, unlike Afghanistan, who had lost to England in their first match of the tournament before the successive washouts.It was a frustrating afternoon for all concerned. Although it wasn’t raining an hour before the scheduled start of the match, it started pouring just minutes before the scheduled toss, at 2.30pm local time. The toss was delayed as a result, and at 3pm – the scheduled start of play – the umpires announced an inspection for an hour later, by when losing overs was inevitable.Rain remained on the radar, and while it abated for periods, raising hopes of , another downpour around 3.30pm brought the covers back on. Then, at around 4.15pm, it was decided that an inspection would be conducted only after the rain stopped, but the abandonment was announced just 18 minutes later.A point against Afghanistan might have boosted Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, but they do have games against Australia and New Zealand lined up. They will back themselves, though, after having pulled off a tight five-run win [DLS method] against England.Australia play England in the evening match at the MCG, with rain set to play a part there too.

Head coach pays price for run of losses

Matt Roller22-Nov-2022Gary Kirsten has left his role as Welsh Fire’s head coach in the men’s Hundred after overseeing a winless 2022 season.Kirsten, 54, spent both of the Hundred’s first two seasons with the Cardiff-based team but, after winning their first two games, their results nosedived: they won one of their final six fixtures in 2021 and despite a squad overhaul at the draft, lost all eight matches in 2022.Kirsten had initially planned to build his side around Jonny Bairstow as captain, but he has only played for them twice since his Test recall last year. Unlike most of their rivals, Fire have struggled to foster a team culture or a sense of identity.His exit was long expected but only ratified recently. The decision was made by Fire’s board, which is run by the chief executives of Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset, the Welsh businesswoman Aileen Richards (who acts as an independent director) and Glamorgan head of operations Dan Cherry, with Mark Wallace serving as general manager.Kirsten confirmed his departure to ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday following a report in the .Candidates to replace Kirsten could include Paul Farbrace, the former England assistant coach, who revealed earlier this month that he is open to working in the Hundred after leaving his job as Warwickshire’s director of cricket.

Dates and venues announced for home series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2022India’s home international season is scheduled to begin on January 3 with a T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka, a week after their ongoing tour of Bangladesh ends on December 26. That will be followed by another ODI and T20I series in January, against New Zealand, followed by four Tests and three ODIs against Australia in February and March before the IPL.India host Sri Lanka for three T20Is in Mumbai (January 3), Pune (January 5) and Rajkot (January 7), and three ODIs in Guwahati (January 10), Kolkata (January 12) and Thiruvananthapuram (January 15).New Zealand’s tour of India begins three days later, on January 18, with an ODI in Hyderabad before the teams travel to Raipur for the second game on January 21, and Indore for the third match on January 24. The Shaheed Veer Narayan Stadium in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, will become India’s latest international venue when it hosts the second ODI against New Zealand. The city had previously staged home games of Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2013 and 2015.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

India also play three T20Is against New Zealand in Ranchi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad on January 27 and 29 and February 1. This will be India’s second limited-overs series at home against New Zealand in the last 14 months; they had visited immediately after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in the UAE in November 2021. India had also toured New Zealand for T20Is and ODIs in November this year, immediately after the end of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.A week after the end of the home series against New Zealand, India will take on Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy – the marquee event of India’s home season. Nagpur will host the first Test from February 9; Delhi is the venue for the second Test starting on February 17; Dharamsala will stage the third match from March 1; and Ahmedabad will host the series finale from March 9. India are the current holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after winning the 2020-21 series 2-1 in Australia. The series is also crucial for India’s qualification for the World Test Championship final.The four Tests against Australia will be followed by three ODIs in Mumbai (March 17), Visakhapatnam (March 19) and Chennai (March 22). It will mean that India play nine ODIs at home before the IPL, a crucial part of their build up towards the ODI World Cup at home in October and November next year.

For Strikers, Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto’s half-centuries went in vain, as 175 proved short in the end

Mohammad Isam16-Feb-2023Comilla Victorians aced a tricky 176-run chase to claim their fourth BPL title, and second in a row. Victorians were turbo-powered by fifties from Johnson Charles, who smashed 79* from 52 balls, and Litton Das, who hit 55 off 39, as they beat Sylhet Strikers by seven wickets with four balls to spare. It was the icing on the cake after an 11-match winning streak for Victorians, who had lost three matches to start the tournament.It was the fourth BPL title for Victorians coach Mohammad Salahuddin, who is rapidly acquiring legendary status in Bangladesh. Victorians were woeful in the field, but their superstar batting line-up took them over the line.Strikers were worthwhile finalists too after they came through the second qualifier by beating Rangpur Riders. They made 175, with Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto hitting attractive fifties.Related

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A manic start

Shanto and Towhid Hridoy ran four off the first ball of the match after an overthrow from Mukidul Islam, who tried to run the non-striker Hridoy out. Two balls later, Shanto struck back-to-back fours before Tanvir Islam’s overthrow off the final delivery of the over gave Strikers five runs. If all this was not enough, Tanvir then removed Hridoy first ball of the second over.Strikers’ captain Mashrafe Mortaza promoted himself to No. 3 for the third game in a row, with the move now appearing less surprising. But he fell cheaply to Andre Russell, as Strikers couldn’t quite capitalise on an otherwise good start. Victorians further contributed to the mess when Sunil Narine let the ball through his legs at short third in the fourth over to allow four to Shanto.

Shanto, Mushfiqur propel Strikers

Only three of Strikers batters got into double figures. Those included knocks of 74* and 64 from Mushfiqur and Shanto, respectively. In the process, Shanto became the first Bangladesh player to reach 500 runs in a BPL season.Shanto provided the initial thrust despite the mayhem at the other end, hitting the ball cleanly over the 30-yard circle in the powerplay against both pace and spin. He added 79 for the third wicket with Mushfiqur before being bowled by Moeen Ali. But Mushfiqur soldiered on with an unbeaten 74, hitting Russell for a fine six – his third of the innings – in the final over.Johnson Charles and Litton Das shared a 70-run stand•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Dropped catches and brain fades

Apart from overthrows and misfields, the Victorians fielders dropped as many as six catches. Mustafizur Rahman dropped two of those, the first a tough one at short fine leg when Shanto was on 29. But his second, that of Ryan Burl when the batter was on 1, was a howler. He misjudged a simple skier so poorly that the ball nearly hit his head.Imrul Kayes also dropped Shanto on 37, a simple catch at midwicket, which the Victorians captain made a mess of. Moeen and Litton then dropped George Linde in successive balls at long-on and long-off, respectively; but eventually, it was Litton who took the catch to dismiss Linde for 9 in the 18th over. What followed on the final delivery of the innings was another brain fade: Litton caught Mushfiqur and under-armed the ball back towards the pitch, only to suddenly realise that the ball was actually a free hit.

Litton makes up for fielding errors

Opening the batting in the run chase, Litton provided Victorians with the quick start which they needed, particularly when their pinch-hitter Narine fell in the third over. Litton mixed aggression on the leg side with deft touches through gaps on the off side.Litton’s innings included seven fours and a six, and he got out to a great catch by Shanto, who ran and dived forward from deep backward square leg after Litton had mistimed a pull. That was his third fifty this season, which he finished with 379 runs – the most by a Victorians batter – thus warming up in style ahead of a first IPL stint, having been picked by Kolkata Knight Riders.

Charles turns the screw

Victorians required another 72 from 44 deliveries when Litton departed, a tricky stage of the match where Charles was on 33 off 29 balls. He scored only another six runs from his next ten deliveries, with Victorians’ required rate up to 13 an over for the last four overs. Rubel Hossain started the 17th over, the first ball of which Moeen slammed for six.A dot ball and a single followed, which brought Charles on strike with victory another 45 runs away. The remaining three balls of the over went for 6, 6, and 4, all deposited with severe power. As a result, the requirement was down to a very manageable 29 needed from the last three overs.Strikers were still in the game when Victorians managed only eight runs in the 18th over – that left them with 21 more required from 12 balls – as Charles crashed Luke Wood for consecutive sixes to start the over. A four followed three balls later, leaving the last over – from which they had to get only three – a mere formality.

England stutter at the death before Bangladesh batters showcase newfound aggression

Mohammad Isam09-Mar-2023″New Bangladesh” took down England in the first T20I in Chattogram, gunning down the 157-run chase in impressive fashion. The new-look side that had one player returning after eight years, one after two years and a debutant, beat the world champions by six wickets, with two overs in hand. It is very rare to see such a performance in T20Is from Bangladesh.After Hasan Mahmud led with stingy death overs – England scored only 21 runs in the last four overs – the batters did what they are expected to do in a T20 chase: bat with purpose. But this was missing for so long in the Bangladeshi batting approach. Litton Das and Rony Talukdar, the player returning to the side after eight years, struck early boundaries, before Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy kept up the pressure with a fast partnership.Shanto made his third fifty in his last four innings, before falling for 51. Captain Shakib Al Hasan and Afif Hossain then scored the remaining runs, an unbroken 46-run stand in 5.4 overs to complete the chase. Shakib remained unbeaten on 34, clattering six fours in his 24-ball stay. Afif made 15 with two fours, one of them a classic cover drive.But it was not all plain-sailing for Bangladesh. England got off to a great start, reaching 80 in the first ten overs.

Buttler leads powerful start

England fired off 51 for no loss in the Powerplay. Phil Salt struck five boundaries including a six in his 35-ball 38 but it was Buttler who was more punishing. He brought out all his T20 specials including the splayed-leg hoick over long-on and the slightly more open cover drive. Buttler also got his boundaries with the reverse-sweep and the back-foot punch, underlining his authority and quality as a T20 star. He finished with eight boundaries, half of them sixes, in his 42-ball stay.Both Buttler and Salt were dropped in the sixth over. First, Nasum Ahmed dropped a return chance off Salt on 20, before Shakib dropped a sitter at mid-on with Buttler on 19. Salt though wasn’t too happy with his dismissal when UltraEdge picked up an under-edge in the tenth over. Dawid Malan fell shortly afterward, when he holed out in the deep off Shakib.

Hasan triggers collapse

Buttler still was going great guns, adding 47 runs with Ben Duckett for the third wicket. But when Mustafizur Rahman removed the left-handed Duckett for 20 off 13 balls, England still had four overs in hand to put up a big total. Instead, Hasan bowled two mean overs at the death to bring Bangladesh back into the contest.Hasan removed Buttler the ball after Duckett got out, before he dismssed Sam Curran for 6 in his next over, both to catches in the deep. Taskin bowled a strong final over, giving away just nine runs as England finished on 156 for 6. A tally of 21 runs in the last four overs was England’s second-lowest in this phase of a T20I innings.

A rare Powerplay boost

It is quite unusual for Bangladesh to outscore the opposition in the powerplay, but that’s exactly what happened in Chattogram. The home side raced to 54 for 2, to beat England’s powerplay by three runs. The visitors didn’t lose a wicket but T20 sides often don’t bother about losing two wickets in the fielding restrictions.Litton and Talukdar combined six boundaries in the first three overs before the latter missed Adil Rashid’s googly in the fourth over. Shanto survived a lbw appeal in his second ball, before hitting Rashid for a boundary. Litton fell in the next over, but debutant Hridoy ensured Bangladesh finished big in the Powerplay with two more fours.Shanto, Hridoy bring their Strikers’ game
Shanto and Hridoy added 65 runs in just 6.3 overs, reminiscent of their recent exploits in the BPL, playing for Sylhet Strikers. Shanto was the tournament’s highest run-getter, while Hridoy got his senior call-ups for his BPL performance. They played aggressively during this fourth wicket stand against England, something that Bangladesh has missed in the middle-overs from their middle-order for a very long time.Hridoy slog-swept Rashid for a six, before falling for a 17-ball 24, but the innings aided Shanto at the other end. The left-hander drove the ball gleefully, particularly against Mark Wood, taking him for four consecutive boundaries in the seventh over. Shanto steadied himself in the next six overs, before Wood burst one through him. But Shanto’s 51 off 30 balls, and his stand with Hridoy, left an easier equation for the home side.