The 2023 Bangladesh vs Ireland T20 series finished with a 2-1 win for the Tigers. After the ODI series, Ireland played a three-match T20 series in Chittagong from March 27-29, 2023. Through their performance on the field, the Bangladesh team wanted to prove their skill by adopting aggressive cricket. And apparently, the cricketers played some quality games while embracing several records.
Analysis of Bangladesh vs Ireland T20I Series 2023
The hosts, Bangladesh, started the three-match T20 series with a win against Ireland thanks to opener Rony Talukder's batting and pacer Taskin Ahmed's bowling. In the first T20I of the series, Bangladesh beat Ireland by 22 runs under Duckworth–Lewis method. Rony scored 67 runs off 38 balls. Taskin bowled a career-best with 4 wickets for 16 runs. Ireland got 104 runs target in 8 overs due to rain.
The two Irish openers, captain Paul Stirling and Ross Adair, scored 32 runs off 16 balls at a stormy pace with the bat. Pacer Hasan Mahmud broke the pair by bowling Adair for 13 runs. Ireland failed to win as their inning stopped at 81 runs for 5 wickets in 8 overs. Taskin took 4 wickets with 16 runs in 2 overs. This is Taskin's career-best bowling.
Read More: Dhaka League: Mohammedan get first win of season in 6th match
Later Bangladesh won by 77 runs in the second T20 of the series against Ireland. Through this, the Tigers confirmed the series win. Liton's career-best batting and Shakib's brilliant bowling helped Bangladesh win the series with one match in hand. Ireland won the toss and sent Bangladesh to bat first. The two openers, Litton Das and Rony Talukder, started playing aggressively, and they scored a fifty in just 3.3 overs, the fastest team fifty in Bangladesh's history.
Other batters also played an extraordinary game. The Tigers collected 202 runs for 3 wickets in the scheduled 17 overs in the rain-affected match. Ireland lost captain Paul Stirling on the first ball of the innings. He returned with a catch behind the wicket in Taskin’s ball. Then Shakib's attack began. Shakib hunted Lorcan Tucker (6) on his first ball of the match and took four more wickets. Ireland lost 6 wickets for just 43 runs. But in the end, the margin was narrowed by Curtis Campher’s 50 off 30 balls and contributions from Harry Tector’s 22 runs and Graham Hume’s 20 runs.
Bangladesh started the third match with an aim to whitewash Ireland, and the game didn’t go well in favor of the tigers. Ireland tasted victory for the first time after coming to Bangladesh after losing five matches in a row. They could not be stopped in the last match and defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets. As a result, Bangladesh could not whitewash the Irish, and Shakib’s team had to leave the field with the achievement of winning the series.
Read More: Bangladesh Announce Squad for Ireland Test
However, it was the bowlers who started the foundation for the victory in Friday's match, stopping the Tigers to just 124 runs. Then Irish passed the small target easily. Bangladesh lost seven wickets for 61 runs before the end of half of the innings. Only Shamim Hossain scored a fifty. Rony Talukder scored 14, Towhid Hridoy scored 12, and 13 runs came from Nasum Ahmed’s bat. Mark Adair took three for 25, and Matthew Humphreys took two for 10.
Records and Achievements for Bangladesh
Bangladesh won the second T20 match of the series against Ireland by 77 runs. Tigers scored 202 runs after losing 3 wickets in the match, which came down to 17 overs due to rain. In response, Ireland was stuck at 125 runs. And Bangladeshi players made several records in this match.
Fastest Hundred in T20 for Bangladesh
Litton Das and Rony Talukder made 124 runs partnership in 9.2 overs. They completed their team hundred in 7.1 overs. That is the record for Bangladesh's fastest 100 runs in T20 cricket.
Read More: 3rd T20: Stirling stars in Ireland's seven-wicket win against Bangladesh
Highest Opening Pair
The 124-run partnership is Bangladesh's highest in opening and the second-best for any wicket. Earlier in 2012, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah made a partnership of 132 runs for the second wicket in Mirpur.
Third Highest Runs in T20
Bangladesh's 202 runs are the fourth highest in T20 cricket. Earlier in 2018, Bangladesh scored 215 runs against Sri Lanka in the Nidahas Trophy, which is the highest. The Tigers made 211 against the West Indies in Mirpur that year. The 207 runs scored against Ireland in the first match of the series is Bangladesh's third-highest T20 score.
Second Best Win in Terms of Run Difference
Bangladesh won by 77 runs in the second match. This is their second-best win in the T20 format. 84 runs against Papua New Guinea in the 2021 World Cup is Bangladesh's best in terms of run difference. Besides, Bangladesh had a victory against Ireland in 2012 by 71 runs. Bangladesh's 61-run win against Afghanistan last year is Bangladesh's fourth best.
Read More: Tigers bat first in 3rd T20 against Ireland
Shakib’s Second Fifer and Highest Wicket Taker
Shakib took 5 wickets with 22 runs in 4 overs in the second match. This is his second wicket in his T20 career and second-best bowling. With those five wickets, Shakib became the owner of the most wickets in international T20 cricket. He has 136 wickets in 114 matches.
The all-rounder took the top spot surpassing Tim Southee’s 134 wickets. Rashid Khan, who is behind them, has 129 wickets. Shakib’s career-best bowling was 5 for 20 against the West Indies in 2018.
Final Words
Bangladesh won matches one after another against the Irish in fast-paced cricket. While the Tigers beat Ireland by setting continuous records in the ODI series, they also kept the incredible performance in the T20 series. However, Bangladesh could not whitewash Ireland. Still, the 2023 BAN vs IRE T20I series win at 2-1 is satisfying too.
Read More: Bangladesh’s ODI Series Win Against Ireland: Records, best performances, milestones achieved