On Tuesday, Bangladesh registered a historic 3-0 clean sweep victory over England in the T20I series. The Shakib Al Hasan-led side stunned the world champions, registering a 16-run win in the final game of the series as England failed to chase down a 159-run target in Dhaka.
This was England’s first T20I clean-sweep series defeat in nine years after a George Bailey-led side had registered a 3-0 win over the English team in 2014. For Bangladesh, this was the first time when they registered a whitewash against a full-member nation in the shortest format of the game.
Following their thumping win, Bangladesh U19 side’s batting consultant Wasim Jaffer posted a savage tweet targeting former England captain Michael Vaughan. Jaffer and Vaughan had been engaging in Twitter banter over the past few years, and continuing on the same, Jaffer posted a picture of him wearing a Bangladesh training jersey, writing, “Hello @MichaelVaughan, long time no see #BANvENG.”
Bangladesh have, thus, continued on their strong performances at home in the limited-overs formats. The side had defeated Australia (4-1) and New Zealand (3-2) in T20I series ahead of the T20 World Cup last year, and also beat India 2-1 in the ODI series in December last year.
“We talked about showing character ahead of the series and that’s what we showed,” Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said after their win over England.
“We were put into a tough position but won the game. That’s the thing that will give us the confidence as we are build a team for the 2024 T20 World Cup.”
Opener Liton Das hit a career-best 73 and Najmul Hossain Shanto’s unbeaten 47 help Bangladesh put up 158-2 on a slow Mirpur pitch. Dawid Malan and skipper Jos Buttler had England on track to avoid being swept until their dismissals in consecutive deliveries triggered a batting collapse. England eventually slumped to 142-6 in 20 overs.
The English team did win the ODI series against Bangladesh last month (2-1) but the hosts secured a 50-run victory in the final match of the series. The Shakib-led side will return to action in the shortest format of the game on March 18 when it takes on Ireland at home.