USA stun Bangladesh to historic win

|| CF DESK ||

The underdog USA delivered a harsh reality check to Bangladesh just ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup, securing a five-wicket victory in the first T20I of a three-match series at the Prairie View Cricket Complex on Tuesday. This historic win marked the USA's first-ever triumph over a Test-playing nation and also this match was the first-ever T20I between the two sides.

Harmeet Singh played a scintillating knock, scoring 33 runs off just 13 balls, while former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson remained unbeaten with a composed 34 off 25 balls. Their efforts guided the USA to chase down 156 runs with three balls to spare, finishing at 156-5 in 19.3 overs.

Bangladesh appeared to have the match under control until the 16th over of the USA's innings. The Tigers' bowlers had reduced the USA to 99-5, leaving them needing 55 runs from the remaining 24 balls.

However, Harmeet launched a fierce counter-attack, first taking 17 runs off Mustafizur Rahman in the 17th over with back-to-back sixes. He continued his onslaught in the 18th over, hitting Shoriful for a six and a four, bringing the equation down to 24 runs required from 12 balls.

Corey Anderson joined the fireworks in the penultimate over, smashing a six off Mustafizur, which left Mahmudullah with only nine runs to defend in the final over.

Anderson promptly hit a maximum off the first ball of the 20th over, effectively sealing the victory. Harmeet fittingly struck the winning runs with a four through extra cover.

Earlier, Towhid Hridoy made a fighting fifty as Bangladesh posted 153.

In the second over of the innings, Litton Das edged a ball from Ali Khan to captain and wicketkeeper Monank Patel when he was on only 2.

However, the American skipper couldn't take the simple catch, giving Litton a lifeline. Despite this, Litton (14 off 15) couldn't capitalize the opportunity as he was later dismissed LBW by Jasdeep Singh.

In the next over, Soumya Sarkar was also dismissed after scoring 20 runs. Attempting a sweep off Steven Taylor's delivery, he was caught at deep square leg.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto couldn't stay long either. Advancing down the pitch to hit Taylor over the long-on, he missed the ball completely and was stumped by Monank.

Shakib Al Hasan was run out after scoring 6 runs off 12 balls. Following his dismissal, Mahmudullah Riyad joined Towhid Hridoy at the crease.

The duo made 67 runs partnership before Mahmudullah trapped by a slower delivery outside off, tried to clear the mid-wicket fence but miscued to long on, caught by Nitish Kumar off Saurabh Netravalkar for 31.

Hridoy batted for the last over of the innings as he was out for 58 and helped to set 154 target for the host.

The second game of the series is scheduled to take place at the same venue on May 23.