After Tamim Iqbal hit his 56th ODI fifty Mustafizur Rahman claimed four wickets that guided Bangladesh to clinch the three-match one-day international series against Ireland by 2-0 as they registered a thrilling five run win in the third and final tie in Chelmsford, England, on Sunday.
Tamim’s 69, along with 45 and 37 from Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, gave an impetus to manage 274 all out for the visitors, that they successfully defended with Mustafizur claiming 4-44 and Hasan Mahmud taking two wickets to restrict the home side to 269-9.
Paul Sterling scored the highest with 60 off 73 for the Irish, and their next top scores of 53, 50, and 45 came from Andy Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker, and Herry Tector’s bat.
Mark Adair was the standout bowler for Ireland, scalping 4-40, while Andy McBrine and George Dockrell took two wickets each.
Chasing down the competitive total, they lost their opener Stephen Doheny for 4, but took command of the tie with Balbirnie and Sterling forming a 109-run partnership in the second wicket stand before the former fell to Mehidy Hasasn Miraz.
Then a 65-ball, 79-run stand between Tucker and Tector in the fourth wicket stand gave the hosts hope to level the series; however, all hope was shattered after IPL returnee Mustafizur had Tucker, Curtis Campher, and Dockrell for 50, 1, and 3 runs, respectively, that provided the essence of victory to the visiting side, reducing them to 242-7.
In the final over, the Irish needed 10 runs, which were successfully defended by Mahmud.
Earlier sent into bat, Bangladesh lost their debutant opener Rony Taluldar for 4 inside the fourth over, but they fought back with Tamim and Najmul Hossain Shanto adding 49 runs for the second wicket.
However, the latter, who struck his maiden ODI ton in the last game, fell to Craig Young for a 32-ball 35.
Liton then shared a crucial 70-run stand with Tamim to pull the Tigers close to the hundred-and-fifty mark before McBrine had him on 35.
Meanwhile, Tamim bagged his much awaited fifty since his nine innings prior to his exclusion by George Dokrell in 33.3 overs, leaving the side at 186-5.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mushfiq then formed a vital role, playing a 75-run partnership to surpass the visitors two hundred and fifty threshold before the latter was dismissed by McBrine in 45.3 overs.
Just after an over, Miraz copied Mushfiq’s steps as Mark Adair forced him to give a catch for 37 runs to Young
