Bangladesh beat England by six wickets in the first T20 match

Najmul Hossain Shanto’s half-century and captain Shakib Al Hasan’s all-round game helped Bangladesh beat England by six wickets with 12 balls to spare in the first T20 International cricket match here on Thursday. Bangladesh were set a target of 157 and scored 158 for four in 18 overs to take an early lead in the three-match series. Najmul Hasan played an innings of 51 runs from 30 balls which included eight fours.

Shakib scored an unbeaten 34 with the help of eight fours. Apart from him, Tahid Hriday contributed 24 and Ronnie Talukdar contributed 21 runs. England were 156 for six after being invited to bat first. Only three of his batters reached double digits. Captain Jos Buttler scored 67 off 42 balls which included four fours and as many sixes. Opener Phil Salt contributed 38 and Ben Duckett contributed 20 runs. For Bangladesh, Hasan Mahmood took two wickets for 26 runs while Shakib took one wicket for 26 runs. The second match will be played in Mirpur on Sunday.