Bangladesh Loses to United Arab Emirates

Sports Desk

Bangladesh, struggling in international cricket for quite some time, had hoped for a major success by organizing a series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But even that plan of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) backfired. The minnows UAE defeated Bangladesh in the T20 match. BCB President Nazmul Hassan Papon and Director Najmul Abedin Fahim flew to the UAE at the board’s expense to watch the series. Sitting in the VIP box, they had to digest an embarrassing defeat.

On Monday in Sharjah, UAE created history by defeating Bangladesh by 2 wickets in the second T20 match of the series. This was the first time Bangladesh lost to UAE in international cricket.

Batting first, Bangladesh posted a total of 205 runs. In reply, UAE chased down the target with one ball to spare.

UAE needed 12 runs in the final over to win. Tanjim Hasan Sakib, who had conceded 43 runs in his previous three overs, was given the ball. The first delivery was a wide, followed by a single. On the third ball, Dhruv Parashar hit a six. Though Tanjim took a wicket on the fourth ball, the fifth delivery sealed the match. Tanjim, who gave away 55 runs in just 3.5 overs, became the main villain in Bangladesh’s defeat.

The hero of UAE’s victory was their captain, Muhammad Waseem, who scored 82 runs off 42 balls. For Bangladesh, Tanzid Hasan Tamim scored 59 off 33, Towhid Hridoy made 45 off 24, and Liton Das contributed 40 off 32.

Despite posting a 200-plus total, Bangladesh failed to win due to poor bowling. Fielders also dropped several catches.

Bangladesh will play the third and final match against UAE on May 21.