Tigers eye T20 series win over WI

After defeating West Indies by seven runs in a nail-biting first T20I yesterday, Bangladesh now stand with a chance of winning their first T20I series over the Caribbean side in over six years when both teams face off in the second game of the three-match series on Wednesday.

The match will begin at 6:00 am Bangladesh time and will take place at the same venue as the series opener -- the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent. The Tigers last won a T20I series against the Windies in 2018, sealing it by a 2-1 margin away from home.

On Monday, Bangladesh posted 147-6 in their 20 overs after being sent to bat first. Soumya Sarkar was the standout batter, making 43 off 32 balls, while Shamim Hossain hit a handy 13-ball 27 down the order to push the total close to the 150-run mark.

In their defense, the Tigers had West Indies cornered from the start with Mahedi Hasan, who scored an unbeaten 26 off 24 balls, setting the tone with a four-over spell that cost just 13 runs and yielded four wickets.

West Indies skipper Rovman Powell, who made 60 off 35 balls, nearly snatched the match away from Bangladesh alongside Romario Shephard (22 off 17) with a 67-run stand off 33 balls.

Taskin Ahmed, who finished with 2-28, broke the stand in the 18th over by getting Shephard caught at deep mid-wicket. He conceded just two in that over and Tanzim Sakib gave away eight in the 19th to leave 10 for Hasan Mahmud to defend in the last over.

Hasan started the 20th conceding a single, followed it up with a dot against Powell, and got the batter caught behind in the third ball. A bye run came off the fourth delivery and then Hasan uprooted the stumps of Alzarri Joseph (9 off 11) to seal the victory.

With a series win in the offing, stand-in skipper Liton wants his team to play with the same approach in the final match. "I want them to play aggressive cricket. They are showing their quality and playing really good cricket at the moment… If we play good for another game, we can win the series."