Bangladesh whitewash England as Buttler's side collapse after Malan fifty

14 March 2023 , 12:31

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Bangladesh have whitewashed England 3-0 (Image: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh wrapped up a 3-0 series whitewash over World Champions England with a 16 run victory in the final T20I of the series, thanks to a brilliant 73 from Litton Das and a game-changing over from Mustafizur Rahman.

After winning the toss for the first time this year, Jos Buttler asked Bangladesh to bat first and his bowlers fought back well to restrict the hosts to 158 after they got off to a flier. However, the total could have been much lower if England had not been so poor in the field, with former captain Nasser Hussain describing it as "one of their poorest displays in a long time".

Both Rehan Ahmed and Ben Duckett dropped catches off the bowling of Jofra Archer, who was impressive despite lacklustre figures of 0-33 and will be delighted to have featured in all three T20Is after his injury struggles. Duckett's drop was particularly costly as he shelled Das on 51, before he was ultimately dismissed by Chris Jordan for an excellent 73 off 57 balls.

It was the 28-year-old's first real contribution against England, having made a top score of just 12 in his previous five innings, and it proved to be a match winning one. Ahmed's drop was less costly as he gave Rony Talukdar a life on 17 before the opener fell to Adil Rashid for 24, but it was no less frustrating for Archer who was left with his head in his hands.

Talukdar and Das got Bangladesh off to an excellent start, putting on 55 for the first wicket before Rashid broke the partnership. However, Das then added a further 84 runs with Najmul Shanto, who continued his excellent run of form against England with an unbeaten 47 off 36 balls.

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Despite Bangladesh only losing two wickets in their entire innings, England were able to close things out expertly at the death with Bangladesh striking just two boundaries in the last six overs. Archer and Sam Curran were particularly excellent for England, bowling three of those overs and not conceding a single boundary.

Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler shared an excellent partnership worth 95 for England, but both got out in consecutive deliveries (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

In response, England got off to a horror start when Phil Salt fell in the first over for a golden duck to debutant Tanvir Islam. However, Buttler and Dawid Malan proceeded to share a brilliant 95-run partnership that put England well and truly in charge.

Malan struck an impressive 53, his first contribution of the series after two single figure scores, while Buttler was typically brilliant on his way to 40. But just like in the second T20I, England lost two wickets in two balls as both Malan and Buttler departed to offer Bangladesh a way back in.

In the 14th over, Mustafizur got Malan caught behind before Mehidy Hasan ran Buttler out with an excellent piece of fielding that turned the game on its head. And once again England's middle order collapsed as they fell from 100-1 at the end of the 13th over to 142-6.

Taskin Ahmed picked up two wickets in the same over, getting Moeen Ali caught for nine before bowling Duckett for a run a ball 11. Captain Shakib Al Hasan then got in on the act as he had Curran caught at point for four, leaving England needing 27 runs to win off the final over.

Chris Woakes did his best to haul England over the line as he smashed back-to-back boundaries off the first two balls, but he was left with too much to do as Bangladesh sealed another memorable win by 16 runs.

Matthew Cooper