ICC T20 World Cup, Bangladesh beat PNG: Records broken
Bangladesh beat Papua New Guinea (PNG) in a crucial Round 1, Group B match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 on Thursday. Batting first, Bangladesh posted 181/7 in 20 overs as Mahmudullah led the way with a 50-run knock. In reply, PNG (97/10) suffered their third successive defeat as they failed to chase down a tall target. Here's more.
Bangladesh lost an early wicket before Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan added a 50-run stand for the second wicket. Bangladesh lost their way a bit, being reduced to 101/4. However, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, and Saifuddin helped the side to get past 180. In reply, PNG were a menace with the bat as Shakib tore them apart with a magical spell.
Mahmudullah struck a fine half-century, hitting three fours and three sixes. He brought up his sixth half-century in T20Is. Mahmudullah has raced to 1,861 T20I runs, surpassing Chris Gayle's tally (1,854). Meanwhile, Shakib (46) now has 1,871 runs, equaling the tally of Jos Buttler (1,871). Shakib is now the sixth-highest scorer in the T20 World Cup. He has 675 runs at 29.34.
Shakib was superb with the ball for Bangladesh, claiming figures worth 4/9. The left-arm spinner has now raced to 115 T20I wickets at 19.53. Shakib is now the joint-highest wicket-taker in the ICC T20 World Cup. He has 39 wickets at an average of 16.41. Shakib matched the mark of former Pakistan legend Shahid Afridi (39 wickets) in this regard.
