Bangladesh lost the three-match ODI series 2-1 to England after conceding a four-wicket defeat in the keenly contested last game at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) in Chittagong on Wednesday.
This is Bangladesh’s first ODI series loss on the home soil after six consecutive series wins.
Bangladesh and England have so far played 19 ODIs since their 1st meeting at Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi, Kenya in 2000, where the English side won 15 against Bangladesh’s four.
Chasing a target of 278 runs in the final match of the series, the visitors reached the destination in 47.5 overs for loss of six wickets.
Ben Duckett scored team highest 63 runs off 68 balls featuring four 4s and one six while Sam Billings made 62 from 69 deliveries hitting four 4s and one six. Ben Stokes remained not on 47 runs off 48 balls that featured one 4 and two sixes.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shafiul Islam grabbed two wickets each conceding 51 and 61 runs respectively while Nasir Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat took one wicket each giving away 53 and 22 runs.
With this, the Tigers’ ODI skipper became the highest wicket-taker in the format overtaking Shakib Al Hasan who is on 215.
Mashrafe touched Shakib’s tally when he bowled out English skipper Jos Buttler. He became the highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in ODIs having Moeen Ali in his ninth over.
All-rounder Nasir Hossain made the first breakthrough in the England batting castle dismissing opener James Vince at 63 in 11.4 overs. Vince was out for 32 off 37 balls including five boundaries.
Nasir, who came to bowling in the 11th over, trapped Vince lbw in the fourth ball of his first over.
Ben Duckett came to pair with Sam Billings in the 2nd wicket that contributed 64 in 12.5 overs to carry the team total to 127/2 in 24.3 overs.
The 2nd pair was departed by Mosaddek Hossain’s bowling as Billings was caught by Imrul Kayes, scoring 62 off 69 balls, including four boundaries and one six.
Duckett continued with Jonny Bairstow in the 3rd wicket for another partnership score of 45 in 6.5 overs, before Bairstow bowled out by Shafiul Islam at 172/3 in 31.2 overs.
Bangladesh posted a fighting total of 277 for 6 against England in the series decider.
Sent in to bat first, Bangladesh played 50 overs to collect the figure riding on the unbeaten stand of 85 in 11.5 overs in the 7th wicket between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mosaddek Hossain.
Mushfiqur top-scored 67 off 62 balls, including four boundaries and one six while Mosaddek hammered 38 off 39 balls firing four boundaries.
The 85-run partnership is Bangladesh’s highest in the 7th wicket against England as well as at ZACS against any team. The pair started from 192/6 in 38.1 overs after Nasir Hossain’s departure.
Sabbir scored 49 off 46 balls, including five boundaries, and was caught by skipper cum keeper Jos Buttler off Adil Rashid bowling at 176/4 in 32.5 overs.
Besides his individual performance, Sabbir paired with Mushfiqur Rahim in the 4th wicket to contribute 54 in 8 overs. The 4th pair started from 122/4 in 24.5 overs after Mahmudullah’s dismissal.
The opening pair between Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal contributed 80 in 19 overs before Kayes was out for 46 off 58 balls with four boundaries and one six when he was caught by substitute LA Dawson off Ben Stokes bowling.
Tamim failed to stay with Sabbir for a solid stand as he left the ground scoring 45 off 68 balls, including five boundaries, when the Tigers were at 106/2 in 22.5 overs.
With this score, left handed batsman Tamim has become the first Bangladeshi cricketer to reach the 5000-run mark playing 158 matches to score 5007runs at an of average 32.30, making his ODI debut in 2007 against Zimbabwe in Harare.
Adil Rashid bagged four wickets for 43 runs while Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali took one wicket each for 24 and 42 runs respectively. Later, he was adjudged man of the match.
Meanwhile, Ben Stokes who scored 148 runs and took two wickets was adjudged man of the series.
In the first match played on Friday, England rode on Stokes’ 101 to put up 309 for 8, but Imrul Kayes (112) and Shakib Al Hasan (79) took Bangladesh to 271/4 before it lost the last six wickets for just 17 more runs, giving England a 21-run win and a 1-0 lead to England.
Then on Sunday, Bangladesh secured a 34-run victory over the visitors to level the series.
