Key events
10th over: England 63-4 (Curran 5, Duckett 2) Sam Curran walks out at six and gets a gift first up – it’s short from Hasan and he cuts hard for four.
WICKET! Moeen c sub b Mehidy 15 (England 57-4)
With two left-handers out in the middle, Shakib takes himself off and brings on Mehidy’s off-breaks. Interesting to see how Duckett fares here – he loves sweeping but this bouncy pitch might make that method tricky.
And just as I type that, Moeen sweeps straight into the hands of the man at deep midwicket. England are in a pickle.
9th over: England 57-4 (Duckett 1, Curran 0)
WICKET! Buttler b Hasan 4 (England 55-3)
Buttler nails a pull shot off Hasan Mahmud to pick up a couple. The England skipper then tries to scoop the ball over the keeper’s head but the extra bounce means he can’t get anything on it. And then a stunning yorker sends Buttler on his way! Full, quick and too good for one of the best batters in the world. A ripper!
8th over: England 55-3 (Moeen 14, Duckett 0)
7th over: England 51-2 (Buttler 1, Moeen 13) Buttler finally makes his way out to the middle as Shakib begins with a top over.
WICKET! Salt c&b Shakib 25 (England 50-2)
The skipper strikes! It’s short from Shakib, but Salt’s attempted cut ends up gifting a catch to the bowler. A bit of extra bounce looks to have done Salt there, ensuring that he didn’t get the required timing on the stroke.
6th over: England 50-1 (Salt 25, Moeen 13) The first bit of spin today as Nasum Ahmed gets his left-arm twirlers moving. He’s a bit too short with his second delivery and Salt cuts hard for four, courtesy of a misfield at cover. Moeen finishes the over with a staggering stroke, sweeping behind square leg for six.
5th over: England 37-1 (Moeen 6, Salt 19) Top shot from Salt – he comes down the pitch to Taskin, makes room and slaps the ball through extra cover for four. The bowler responds with a yorker that’s speared down the leg side. Another yorker follows – this one’s accurate, with Salt forced to jam the bat down and protect his poles.
4th over: England 29-1 (Salt 13, Moeen 5) Tidy start this from Bangladesh, with England trying to get to grips with the leaping bounce this wicket is offering. After three dots, Moeen gets off strike with a leg bye. Salt then eases the pressure with a pull behind square for six! Cracking shot.
3rd over: England 21-1 (Moeen 5, Salt 6) Very interesting. It’s Moeen Ali, not Jos Buttler at No.3. He gets off the mark with a bit of luck – a waft outside off results in an edge that flies over slip and runs away for four. There’s plenty of carry on this pitch. Moeen just about gets home for a single to close the over.
WICKET! Malan c Mahmud b Taskin 5 (England 16-1)
And the crowd roars! Malan swipes at a fullish delivery from Taskin but can only produce a thick edge that flies high and safely into the hands of third man.
2nd over: England 16-0 (Malan 5, Salt 6) The Fizz takes the other end and gets Salt’s outside edge – but the ball runs away to the third-man boundary for four. After a couple of dots, Salt then clips through square leg for one. Malan pokes outside off and edges one, but the ball stays low, dropping short of the man at slip.
1st over: England 10-0 (Salt 1, Malan 4) Taskin Ahmed takes the new ball and gets a bit of shape away from the right-hander. Salt clips to the leg side for a single before a yorker strikes Malan’s boot and travels down to the fine-leg boundary for four byes. Malan then plays a nice pull shot for his first proper four of the day.
Right then, it’s Malan and Salt to open up! So Buttler has put himself on the naughty step at three.
Another box ticked off:
Ollie Pope’s in the studio, chatting to Atherton and Ward about his winter. The highlight of the last few months? He picks out that incredible win at Rawalpindi, and you can’t blame him – what a game.
Bangladesh XI:
Rony Talukdar, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Towhid Hridoy, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman
England XI:
Jos Buttler is listed at three – a bit of experimentation?
Jofra Archer continues his comeback after a long, torrid spell on the sidelines. Here’s what he had to say the other day.
Bangladesh win the toss and choose to bowl first
Shakib wins it and England will bat first once again. Ahmed is in for Mark Wood, while Bangladesh have picked all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Preamble
Morning, folks, and welcome to the OBO for the second T20I between Bangladesh and England!
The hosts took the series opener, cruising to a six-wicket win with a couple of overs to spare. Najmul Hossain Shanto was the MVP, slapping 51 off just 30 balls in the successful chase of 157.
England need to bounce back, and they’ve decided to turn to the wunderkind – yep, Rehan Ahmed has received his T20I cap and will make his debut today. In the space of three months he’s become an all-format international. He’s 18. Eighteen!
I’ll be here to keep you company over the next few hours – drop me an email/slide into my DMs/fill me in on your hopes, dreams, life ambitions. Go well!
