Ireland thrash Bangladesh by 39 runs in T20I opener

Ireland cruised to a commanding 39-run victory over Bangladesh in the opening T20I at the Bir Shrestha Shahid Flight Lieutenant Motiur Rahman Cricket Stadium on Thursday, leaving the hosts struggling to chase a steep target.

Chasing 182, Bangladesh stumbled from the outset. The innings got off to a disastrous start as the visitors struck early in the powerplay. Bangladesh lost four wickets inside the first six overs, including captain Litton Das, opener Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain, and Saif Hassan, leaving the hosts reeling at 20 for 4.

Amid the top-order collapse, Towhid Hridoy held one end together, producing a career-best 83 off 50 balls with seven boundaries and three sixes — his fifth T20I fifty.

Hridoy anchored the innings with patience and controlled aggression, but wickets continued to tumble at the other end, preventing Bangladesh from building meaningful partnerships.

A notable highlight came in the final overs when Towhid Hridoy and Shoriful Islam added an unbeaten 48-run partnership for the ninth wicket, setting a new Bangladesh record for the highest ninth-wicket stand in T20Is.

Their effort brought some respectability to the total, though the deficit proved too steep to overcome.

The middle overs brought further misery. Spinner Matthew Humphreys produced a devastating spell, removing Tanzim Hasan, Rishad Hossain, and Nasum Ahmed in quick succession, reducing Bangladesh to 74 for 8.

Humphreys finished with remarkable figures of 4 for 13 in four overs, completely turning the game in Ireland’s favour.

Earlier, Ireland had laid the foundation for a challenging total with aggressive batting. After being put in to bat, the visitors raced to 33 without loss in the first three overs through fluent strokeplay from openers Paul Stirling and Tim Tector. Tanzim Hasan Sakib removed Stirling in the fifth over, but Tector continued his fluent innings, scoring 32 before falling to Rishad Hossain’s leg-spin, which slightly slowed the run flow.

Mid-innings, a promising cameo from Curtis Campher (24 off 17) seemed to offer Ireland’s middle order some consolidation, but a superb diving catch by Parvez Hossain Emon cut short a 44-run partnership and kept Bangladesh in the hunt.

The innings’ decisive moment came in the final over when Harry Tector, unbeaten on 69 from 45 balls with five sixes and a four, smashed back-to-back sixes off Tanzim to push Ireland’s total into the 180s, putting Bangladesh firmly on the back foot before their chase began.

Bangladesh’s bowlers picked up some wickets — Shoriful Islam 1/42, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 2/41, Rishad Hossain 1/34 — but Mustafizur Rahman was the only one to deliver a disciplined spell, conceding just 23 runs from four overs, as Ireland’s batting depth proved decisive.