Bangladesh clinched the T20I series against Ireland with one game to go, beating the visitors by 77 runs in the rain-curtailed 17-over match. Litton Das was the standout performer once again in the rubber as he struck a brilliant 83 off 41 balls and put up a record-breaking opening stand of 124 runs with Rony Talukdar (44 off 23 balls) to help the hosts post a gigantic 202-3 in 17 overs. The pair bettered the previous highest opening stand record for Bangladesh in the format, between Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Naim – 102 runs against Zimbabwe.
In response, the bowling department was clinical, as Shakib Al Hasan picked up his second five-wicket haul in T20Is to restrict Ireland to 125-9.
Bangladesh swatted the visitors away in the three-match ODI series, and continued to assert their dominance in the shortest format with their newfound attacking brand of cricket. Litton, who broke Mohammad Ashraful’s 16-year-old record of the quickest T20I fifty, lamented missing out on a century due to some unnecessary haste in the middle overs. “If I had taken more time to play the pacers, I guess it would have been 100 instead of 83. Yes, it feels good, but it would feel better if it was 10o,” Das said.