Ireland produced an excellent performance to defeat Bangladesh by 39 runs in the first T20 International of this three-match series in Chattogram on Thursday.
After losing the toss, Ireland were sent into bat first with Tim Tector named as Paul Stirling's opening partner.
The pair made a good start, scoring at a rate of 10 an over for the first four overs, with Stirling playing several cover drives and punched shots through the off-side, while Tector looked to score freely.
When Stirling fell for 21, that brought the Tector brothers (Harry joining Tim) together at the crease for the first time in senior international cricket. The pair continued the momentum, scoring 31 from four overs, before Tim, on 32, skied a ball to long on and was out caught.
Harry Tector continued to score, taking quick singles when the ball wasn’t there to hit, but powering over the boundary rope when it was in the slot. He brought up his seventh T20I half-century from 37 balls – going on to score 69 off 45 balls.
His knock featured five sixes, all of which were well-struck between mid-wicket and long on. The tall right-hander surged past his previous best in T20Is of 64, taking 16 of the 17 runs that came off the last over of the innings.
Curtis Campher (24 off 17 balls) and George Dockrell (12 off seven balls) supported Tector towards the back end of the innings, and Ireland finished with a highly competitive 181-4 from their 20 overs.
Seeking a positive start with the ball, spinner Matthew Humphreys claimed the scalp of Tanzid Hasan for two in the first over; then in the next over Mark Adair (on his return from injury) removed Litton Das for one with his second ball.
Bangladesh looked in disarray when Adair struck again in his next over to leave the home side reeling at 8-3. The Bangladeshi prospects sank further into the mire when Barry McCarthy was thrown the ball and immediately struck, bowling Saif Hassan for six.
Towhid Hridoy (83) and Jaker Ali (20) put on a 48-run stand for the fifth wicket, the pair attempting to wrestle back some control despite the required run rate climbing above 2 runs per ball.
But the Irish bowlers – battling with a wet ball from the nighttime dew – began to wrest the momentum back, removing Ali at 66-5 in the 12th over.
By the end of the 13th over, bowled by Humphreys, Bangladesh fell from 71-5 to 74-8. The Belfast-born left-arm tweaker achieved his career-best 4-13 from his four overs. His control and variation of pace was backed by exceptional fielding as well as a remarkable stumping by Tucker.
Humphreys bowled full down the legside, the batter missed it, but Tucker thrust a hand out low, gloved the ball and whipped the bails off in one move. The batter’s foot had lifted slightly off the ground, and after a television review, Nasum Ahmed was walking back to the pavilion.
While Hridoy’s late runs closed the run gap between the two sides, the win for Ireland was one of their best in this format given the opponent, the venue and the fact they bowled in the difficult time of day when heavy dew had settled on the outfield making it harder for bowlers to grip the ball.
The second match in the series is on Saturday, starting at 12pm Irish time.
