A wake-up call for Bangladesh ahead of the T20 World Cup in India & Sri Lanka. They were whitewashed by West Indies last month, and now, are trailing in this three-match series. Ireland completely outplayed the Bangla Tigers in Chattogram and have taken a 1-0 lead. The second game will take place at the same venue on Saturday. Towhid Hridoy's 83* has been a real positive for the hosts. He will look to continue the same thing. Can Bangladesh fight back to level the series on Saturday?
For now, this is me, AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my colleagues, Deepak Prakash, Ajay Pal Singh, Zeeshan Naiyer and Aman. We will meet again. Until then, it is cheers!
Best Bowling Figures for Ireland in T20Is:
4/11 β Alex Cusack vs West Indies, Kingston, 2014
4/13 β Craig Young vs Nigeria, Abu Dhabi, 2019
4/13 β Mark Adair vs Austria, Edinburgh, 2023
4/13 β Matthew Humphreys vs Bangladesh, Chattogram, 2025, Tonight*
4/16 β Jacob Mulder vs Scotland, Dubai, 2017
Highest 9th Wicket Partnerships for Bangladesh in T20Is:
48 β Shoriful Islam & Towhid Hridoy vs Ireland, Chattogram, 2025, Tonight*
44 β Hasan Mahmud & Jaker Ali vs UAE, Sharjah, 2025
34 β Hasan Mahmud & Tanzim Hasan Sakib vs Pakistan, Lahore, 2025
Paul Stirling (Ireland Captain): "Yeah, look, we turned up really well tonight. The team was close to a full-strength one in the T20s we had for a long time. Welcomed back some senior figures. A good show tonight. We came on top.
Obviously, there won't be a perfect game. The first 35 overs of the game, I think we were excellent. I don't think there is much platter to pick up a hole. You are right. We were a little bit sloppy in the end. That is something which we will improve on. We have 2 more games coming up, and we hope to win this series.
Hope so! We won our last game of the last tour here as well. That means we have won two on the bounce. We will now take the momentum to the next game and make it three in three."
Matthew Humphreys (POTM): "Yeah, I mean, I was definitely struggling with my grip, so I ended up relying on the arm ball quite a lot. Under the lights and with the dew around, it actually worked in my favour β I was getting a bit of swing as well. Itβs something Iβve been working on for a while, especially with the new ball, and in conditions like this, with the wet surface under lights, it really helps with the reaction off the pitch."
Player of the Match: Matthew Humphreys
Litton Das (Bangladesh Captain): "I thought the bowlers did a great job, especially Fizz. Still, we could have bowled a bit better and could have restricted them to 20 or 25 less or something like that. The pitch something in it for the bowlers. The wicket was helping the bowlers. I know the Chattogram wicket helps the batters. The dew also came in. But we lost a couple of early wickets in the powerplay. It is very difficult for the lower-order batters to come and score.
I am happy with Hridoy. Good to see Hridoy back and score some runs. He came in and delivered. He is an important batter in our line-up. We need him.
Yeah, definitely. I still believe in my team. If we play well and our game, we can beat them. For that, we have to bring out our 'A' game. I am happy with Hridoy. I want him to continue the same way. We will come back strongly in the next game."
9:19 PM IST and 9:49 PM Local Time: Shamim Chowdhury is ready with the post-match ceremony...
Highest Individual Score for Towhid Hridoy in T20Is:
83* vs Ireland, Chattogram, 2025, TONIGHT*
63* vs India, Hyderabad, 2024
58 vs USA, Prairie View, 2024
Highest Individual Score for Bangladesh vs Ireland in T20Is: