Mustafizur four-for trumps Adair’s in thriller as Bangladesh take series 2-0

Bangladesh 274 (Tamim 69, Mushfiqur 45, Adair 4-40) beat Ireland 269 for 9 (Stirling 60, Balbirnie 53, Mustafizur 4-44) by five runs

Ireland lost their customary first wicket early, when Mustafizur had Stephen Doheny caught at second slip. Doheny’s misery continued in the series, lasting 16 balls to score four runs this time. But it was Ireland’s old firm – Stirling and Balbirnie – that got them out of trouble. Stirling struck Chowdhury for a six over cover, before blazing Mahmud with a pulled six.

Ireland then had their young guns in the middle. The in-form Tector and Tucker added 79 runs for the fourth wicket, in the following 10.4 overs. They timed the chase expertly, before a moment of inspiration broke the partnership. When Tamim brought on Shanto in the 42nd over, Tector holed out to long-on where Litton Das took a good diving catch. Tector, who struck 45 off 48 balls, became Shanto’s first international wicket in his 69th match for Bangladesh.

Tamim then brought Mustafizur back with eight overs remaining, knowing that he won’t have the death overs expert right at the end. Mustafizur rewarded his captain with three wickets in consecutive overs. Curtis Campher skied him to mid-off before George Dockrell smashed one straight to the substitute fielder Yasir Ali at cover, and Tucker was bowled for 50.

Tamim had started the game with a bit of luck when he was dropped on 1 by his counterpart Balbirnie at second slip in the third over. But there wasn’t much luck for Talukdar in the next over; his full-blooded drive against Adair ended up as a limp edge to the wicketkeeper.

Ireland, though, were quite sloppy in the first powerplay, that included plenty of extras and even the odd misfield. But Balbirnie made amends in the 11th over when he caught a tougher chance to his right off Shanto’s bat.

Without Shakib Al Hasan, out with a finger injury, Litton took up a temporary middle-order role. He added 70 runs for the third wicket with Tamim. Litton played mostly within himself, hitting a six and three fours in his 35 off 39 balls. His dismissal was an unusual one: backing away first, he got into a tangle trying to slog McBrine, ultimately giving mid-off an easy catch.

Dockrell got among the wickets next, when he bowled Towhid Hridoy who missed out on a cut while backing away. Between the two wickets, Tamim reached his fifty in the 27th over, working the ball around for mostly ones and twos in a a patient knock. Tamim, however, swung wildly at Dockrell in the 34th over, getting caught at short third for 69.

Despite the slightly dire situation, Mushfiqur and Mehidy held their own, rotating the strike and also finding the odd boundary. The pair added 75 runs for the sixth wicket, before Mushfiqur fell the ball after he struck his only six. McBrine had him lbw for 45, with less than five overs remaining.

Bangladesh’s last five wickets fell for just 13 runs, bringing their long tail under the spotlight. After Mehidy fell for 37, Mahmud, Mustafizur and Chowdhury couldn’t add much to the total.