USA stun Bangladesh, clinch historic win in T20I series opener ahead of World Cup

USA scripted history on Tuesday, May 21, clinching only their second win over a Test-playing nation in T20I cricket.

USA hammered a full-strength Bangladesh team by 5 wickets in the first of a 3-match T20I series in Houston. The win for Monak Patel-led USA comes days ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024, which will be co-hosted by USA, along with the West Indies, for the first time.

USA rode on an all-round bowling effort to restrict Bangladesh to 153 for 6 in 20 overs after they won the toss and opted to bowl at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston. Bangladesh’s big guns, including Litton Das (14), Soumya Sarkar (20) and former captain Shakib Al Hasan (6) failed with the bat. Towhid Hirdoyu (58 off 47) and Mahmuddullah (31 off 22) helped them recover from 68 for 4 and post a competitive total on the board.

However, USA rode on an all-round effort with the bat to chase down the target with 3 deliveries and 5 wickets to spare.

HARMEET SINGH SHINES FOR USA
Former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson, who is also part of USA’s T20 World Cup squad, kept his calm and hit a 25-ball 34 while Harmneet Singh remained unbeaten on 33 off just 13 balls. Harmeet hit 3 sixes and 2 boundaries in a spirited effort with the bat.

Notably, Harmeet Singh played for India at the U19 level and represented Mumbai in domestic cricket and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL before moving to the USA.

“Great feeling. This is our home ground and we backed ourselves to take that advantage. We came out hard to not give Bangladesh a feeling that we a walkover,” Harmeet said after winning the Player of the Match Award.

USA were in a spot of bother when they were reeling at 94 for 5 at the end of the 15th over. However, Anderson and Singh added 64 runs for the sixth wicket in just 28 balls to steer USA to a historic victory.

Steven Taylor was also a star of the show as he hit 28 while opening the batting after picking 2 wickets.

Only once before — a win against Ireland in 2021, have USA beaten a Test-playing nation in T20I cricket. USA will be pumped up when they take on Bangladesh in the remainder of the series at home — 2nd T20I on Thursday and the 3rd T20I on Saturday in Houston.