Bangladesh High Performance (HP) unit bounced back from early trouble to beat Malaysia by 89 runs in the first T20 of the two-match series in Dhaka on Saturday.
Put into bat after Malaysia captain Syed Aziz won the toss and elected to field, Bangladesh struggled from the start. Jishan Alam was dismissed for a duck after facing seven balls, while Zawad Abrar also failed to make a significant contribution.
Bangladesh soon slipped to 73 for five, raising concerns of another batting collapse. However, HP captain SM Meherob Hasan steadied the innings alongside Abdul Gaffar Saqlain. The pair added 52 runs to rebuild the innings before Saqlain departed for 32.
Meherob then accelerated the scoring, making 40 from 22 balls before he was dismissed. Contributions from the lower order helped Bangladesh reach 158 before being bowled out.
Vijay Unni was Malaysia’s most successful bowler with three wickets. Syed Junaid Khan and Sharvin Muniandy claimed two wickets each.
Malaysia’s chase suffered an immediate setback when Nazmus Sakib was dismissed with the first ball. Aslam Khan Bin Malik, another of Malaysia’s openers, also fell for a duck.
Bangladesh’s bowlers kept the pressure on throughout the innings. Ahmed Aqeel Wahid top-scored for Malaysia with 29, but there was little support from the rest of the batting order.
Five Malaysian batters finished without scoring as the visitors were bowled out for just 69. Bangladesh therefore sealed an 89-run victory and took a 1-0 lead in the two-match T20 series. All the six Bangladeshi bowlers at least got one wicket.
