England undermined by poor fielding before restricting Bangladesh to 158

England

England were undermined by a slipshod fielding performance but a strong finish from their bowlers restricted Bangladesh to 158 for two in Dhaka.

While Jos Buttler won the toss for the first time in nine attempts this year, England’s bid to avoid a T20 series whitewash was undermined by basic errors, with Rehan Ahmed and Ben Duckett dropping catches.

Litton Das was shelled by Duckett on 51 and went on to amass 73 off 57 deliveries and put on 84 for the second wicket with Najmul Hossain Shanto, whose fine series continued with 47 not out off 36 balls.

While Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan were the only wicket-takers, England’s quicks offered remarkable control at the death as Bangladesh added just 27 runs in the last five overs, conceding only one four.

Litton and Rony Talukdar put on 46 in the powerplay but the partnership should have been ended, only for the latter’s top-edge to slip through the fingers of Ahmed, leaving bowler Jofra Archer covering his eyes with his hands.

A couple of mistakes in the outfield followed but Rony’s drop did not prove too pivotal as the opener’s attempted reverse sweep off Rashid – the pick of England’s bowlers with one for 23 – took a toe-end and ballooned back to the leg-spinner.

Chris Jordan (left) and his England team-mates celebrate the dismissal of Litton Das (front)
Chris Jordan (left) claimed the wicket of Litton Das (front) (Aijaz Rahi/AP)

Shortly after passing fifty, Litton whacked Archer into the deep and, while Duckett could not cling on after running to deep midwicket, Jordan removed the opener with a slower ball that carried to Phil Salt.

Jordan, Archer and Sam Curran bowled well at the death, with the latter conceding just four runs in the final over.

Jos Buttler

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