Mortaza starred with both the bat and ball
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza smashed an entertaining 44 and took four wickets as his side stunned England by 34 runs in the second ODI in Mirpur.
Being put in to bat first, Bangladesh found themselves in trouble early on as they lost Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal and Sabbir Rahman in quick succession.
Despite a slight recovery in the form of a 50-run partnership between Mahmudullah and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.
Mahmudullah, though, fought valiantly as he tried to keep the scoreboard ticking while losing partner after partner at the other end. He eventually ended up scoring 75 off 88 balls, which included six boundaries, before he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Adil Rashid.
Mahmudullah made his 16th ODI fifty
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Mosaddek Hossain continued the upward trend for Bangladesh with a solid knock of 29 before Mortaza and Nasir Hossain took over.
Mortaza hammered a brilliant 44, which came off 29 balls and included two boundaries and three sixes, while Nasir remained unbeaten on 27 as Bangladesh finished on 238/8 off their 50 overs.
Rashid, Chris Woakes and Jake Ball picked up two wickets apiece, while Ben Stokes chipped in with one.
Chasing 239 to win, England were in trouble right from the get-go as Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan sliced through their top order with ease to leave them struggling at 26/4 in the 10th over.
England stabilised their innings through Jonny Bairstow and stand-in captain Jos Buttler’s 79-run partnership before Taskin Ahmed got the breakthrough for Bangladesh as he had Bairstow caught behind for 35.
Moeen Ali could only make four runs, while Buttler went on to score 57 off 57 balls, which included seven boundaries, before he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Taskin.
Buttler scored a valiant 57
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Buttler was initially given not out, but the decision was overturned after Bangladesh asked for a review. This sparked a huge celebration from the hosts, to which Buttler took exception to as he began to confront the Bangladesh players. The umpires swiftly intervened and Buttler subsequently proceeded to walk back to the pavilion.
Woakes and David Willey didn’t last long at the crease either, but despite a gutsy last-gasp 45-run partnership between Rashid and Ball, it wasn’t enough to lead England across the finish line as Ball was dismissed by Mortaza for 28, leaving Rashid stranded on 33 not out.
Mortaza was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Taskin took three and Al Hasan, Nasir and Mosaddek claimed one wicket each.
Buttler was less than impressed to have lost, and said: “I don’t know what disappoints me the most, I think we were a bit tentative about it as a side, we wanted to come out on the front foot and take it on. We thought that was chaseable, we bowled well up front but it was a good wicket and 240 was attainable. It wasn’t easy batting early on, we bowled fantastically, a really good bowling performance.
“[Reaction to dismissal?] I was just disappointed in the way they celebrated, it’s an emotional game. We backed up the bowling today, with only one day in between. It’s been tough, we had high hopes of winning and going 2-0. [Conditions?] The guys stuck at it and there have been no complaints.”
Mortaza, who was named Man of the Match, was over the moon to have levelled the series, and said: “Congratulations to the boys, it wasn’t much of a total but we could defend. If you look at the the other match, to come back was really professional. [Batting?] I just slog but it helps the team. I’m more happy that I got some wickets. The wicket was not gripping much and I just tried to play my natural shots and it came off the right areas of the bat. If you can take early wickets, it’s always going to be tough [to chase]. Mahmudullah has played really well over the last year and a half, Nasir came back in and did well today. [Series level] Sets it up nicely for us, let’s see what happens.”