Parvez Hossain Emon smashed a 53-ball hundred to lead Bangladesh to 191 for 7 and set up a 27-run win for a 1-0 lead in the two-T20I series against UAE in Sharjah on Saturday. Big hits from Muhammad Waseem, Rahul Chopra and Asif Khan meant that UAE make a good fist of the chase, but clever death bowling from Mustafizur Rahman, who is headed for IPL 2025, gave Bangladesh victory.
Parvez’s century was only the second by a Bangladeshi in T20Is after Tamim Iqbal had scored an unbeaten 103 against Oman in the 2016 T20 World Cup. Parvez also set the Bangladesh record for most sixes in a T20I innings, hitting nine, beating Rishabh Hossain’s seven against Sri Lanka last year.
UAE had Muhammad Jawadullah to thank for keeping Bangladesh under 200 as the left-arm quick took four wickets. He became only the second Associate bowler to take a four-wicket haul against Bangladesh. The first was Hong Kong’s Nadeem Ahmed in the T20 World Cup in 2014.
UAE’s batters put pressure on Bangladesh’s attack, but a late collapse damaged their cause.
After Waseem’s fall in the 12th over with UAE at 103, Asif hit some massive sixes, giving Bangladesh a scare during his 21-ball 42. He took a liking to Mahedi Hasan, pasting him for three sixes down the ground in the 13th over. In all, Asif took the spinner for 23 off five balls at a strike rate of 460.
Wickets, though, kept falling at the other end. Chopra and Dhruv Parashar fell in successive overs, but Asif continued to go big, hitting Hasan Mahmud for a straight six and four in the 17th over.Sanchit Sharma and Muhammad Zuhaib fell in quick succession as well before Asif was the eighth UAE batter to be dismissed in the penultimate over. That meant game over.
In a surprising move, Bangladesh had offspinner Mahedi operating with the new ball against the right-handed Waseem, who launched him for six first ball. In that second over of the innings, Mahedi conceded 19 runs.
Waseem then tore into Tanzim Hassan, hammering him for a six and two fours in the third over, before UAE lost two wickets in the space of four balls. Waseem then attacked Tanvir Islam with sweeps, taking 14 off another over, and then reached his fifty off just 32 balls in the tenth over.
Chopra was also similarly aggressive and had an answer for everything that Mahmud threw at him, including a scooped six. Chopra also struck Mustafizur for a superb boundary. The fall of Waseem and Chopra, though, hurt the chase.
Parvez offset the early dismissal of his opening partner Tanzid Hasan with a four and a six off Parashar in the third over. His second six, a belt over long-on against Matiullah Khan, went out of the stadium. Parvez also lined up Sanchit, hitting him for three straight sixes in an 18-run over.
The left-hand batter reached his fifty in the ninth over, with a straight four against the legspinner Haider Ali, before Parashar removed Towhid Hridoy to break a 58-run third-wicket stand. There was a short break from boundaries after that, but Parvez resumed the big-hitting the 14th over. The only one of his nine sixes that wasn’t hit down the ground came then as Parvez struck Zuhaib over square leg.
Jaker Ali also struck Zuhaib for a six but he fell off the next ball, caught at long-on, for 13. Parvez, though, kept swinging at the other end, hitting Zuhaib for his eighth six, breaking the Bangladesh record for most sixes in a T20I innings.
He got a life on 84 when he was caught down the ground but the bowler Matiullah had overstepped. Parvez struck his ninth six to move into 96 and went on to bring up his century in the penultimate over of the innings, with a quick single, before falling next ball.
The six-hitting mayhem, however, stopped whenever Jawadullah came into the attack. He conceded just one boundary in his four overs, picking up wickets at every opportunity.
Jawadullah removed the Bangladesh captain Litton Das, yorking him with his first delivery. He then removed Mahedi, Bangladesh’s new vice-captain, in the 12th over. Mahedi was late to Jawadullah’s hard length, falling caught behind for two. The dangerous Shamim Hossain was his next victim, given lbw swinging across the line, before Jawadullah signed off with Parvez’s wicket in the last over.
Impressively, Jawadullah only gave away six runs in the 20th over of Bangladesh’s innings, but his spell was not enough for UAE to topple Bangladesh.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 191 for 7 in 20 overs (Tanzid Hassan 10, Parvez Hosain Emon 100, Litton Das 11, Jaker Ali 13, Towhid Hridoy 20, Muhammad Jawadullah 4-21) beat UAE 164 in 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 54, Rahul Chopra 35, Asif Khan 42; Hasan Mahmud 3-33, Mustafizur Rahman 2-17, Tanzim Khan 2-22, Mahedi Hassan 2-55) by 27 runs
[Cricinfo]
