On Thursday (May 23), USA stunned a full-strength Bangladesh side for the second successive time by winning the second and penultimate T20I, of the three-match series, in Houston. After winning the series opener, where USA chased down 154 without dropping much sweat, the hosts looked a lot more confident and defended a moderate 144/6 at the Prairie View Cricket Complex, Houston courtesy of Ali Khan’s three-fer to help his side claim an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. 

The series win is a historic achievement for USA, who will be co-hosting the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup along with West Indies in June. The mega event kicks off on June 1 and USA, who will play the tournament-opener versus Canada, would be beaming in confidence after attaining their maiden T20I series win versus Bangladesh, their first against a Test-playing nation in T20 cricket.

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Talking about the match, Bangladesh opted to bowl first. USA openers started off nicely with a 44-run opening stand. Throughout the innings, USA batters couldn’t raise the tempo but also didn’t lose wickets in clusters. Riding on captain-cum-wicketkeeper Monank Patel’s 42 and Aaron Jones’ 35 (34), the home team managed 144-6 on a sluggish surface.

In reply, the Bangla Tigers were expected to chase down the moderate score and level the series. Nonetheless, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (36) and Shakib Al Hasan (30) showed some resistance but couldn’t carry on for long as Ali (3 for 25), Shadley van Schalkwyk (2 for 21) and Saurabh Netravalkar (2 for 15) dismissed Bangladesh for 138 in 19.3 overs.

Bangladesh captain Shanto said after the loss, “Very disappointing for us. We lost wickets in the middle overs, that was the reason why we lost. We didn’t play well, but we have an opportunity to come up with a good plan in the next match. We should change our mindset, it’s not about our skills.”

This is a huge setback for Bangladesh right before the T20 WC. Their WC preparations have now gone for a toss with a shocking series loss versus a lowly-ranked USA. They will be desperate to avoid a series whitewash at the hands of USA in the third and final encounter, on May 25

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