Rony, Liton power Bangladesh to 207-5 in rain-hit Chattogram T20

Rain kept Bangladesh from playing out their 20 overs, as their innings finished on a daunting 207-5 in 19.2 overs in the first Twenty20 against Ireland thanks to the maiden half-century from Rony Talukdar and a whirlwind innings from Liton Das.

Rony made 67 off 38 balls, the third fastest fifty for a Bangladeshi, while Liton struck a quickfire 47 off 23 balls and Shamim Hossain chipped in with a 30 off 20 balls at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Monday.

This is the third time the Tigers have gone over the 200-run mark in a T20I.

Rain robbed Bangladesh the chance to break their highest total record, which is 215-5 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2018.

Irish bowlers had a difficult day on a gloomy day in Chattogram. Craig Young was their most successful bowler, claiming two wickets for 45 runs.

Bangladesh’s innings went off to a flier, as the opening pair of Liton and Rony went berserk in the first six over, scoring 81 runs in the powerplay, the highest ever for Bangladesh in the 20-over format.

Their joint assault ended in the eighth over, when Liton, after hitting four fours and three sixes, got caught by Paul Sitrling off Young.

Liton’s departure didn’t deter Rony, as he completed his half-century off 24 balls and formed a couple of more partnerships with Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shamim worth 27 and 36 runs respectively.

Rony’s knock ended in the 14th over, when he got castled by pacer Graham Hume.

Hitting boundaries became difficult as the drizzle at the ZACS started getting heavier. Still skipper Shakib Al Hasan’s unbeaten 20 off 13 balls and Towhid Hridoy’s 13 off eight balls made sure Bangladesh crossed the 200-run mark before the umpires called for the covers.

Ireland are likely to be set a revised target once the rain stops. And if the weather doesn’t improve, the match would end in a no result.

Earlier, Ireland won the toss and asked Bangladesh to bat first.