Two matches in two nights, the same result in pretty much the same manner. The UAE bowlers did the business again in the 2016 Asia Cup T20, but the batsmen let them down for the second consecutive night, with it handing Bangladesh, far from impressive again, their first victory of the tournament.
If the big crowd at the Shere Bangla National Stadium came in expecting the likes of Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mushfiqur Rahim to go hammer and tongs against the UAE bowlers, they were in for a surprise.
The UAE bowlers, having bowled Sri Lanka out for 130 on Thursday, came to the fore again, restricting the Bangladesh batsmen to just 133/8 in the 20 overs, with the hosts getting past 130 only because of a nice innings from Mahmudullah (36, 27b, 1x4, 2x6) late on.
Only Mohammad Mithun (47, 41b, 4x4, 2x4) really made an impression in the Bangladesh top order, and even that innings wasn't particularly convincing as the home team kept losing wickets in clusters.
At 114/7 in 18.2 overs, it looked like Bangladesh would only just scrape past the 120 mark, but Mahmudullah, who would also go on to pick up a couple of wickets in a man of the match effort, gave his team much-needed momentum with a 17-run final over.
That momentum was carried on in the second innings, as the UAE batsmen showed their inexperience at the highest level again, playing some – and this is being kind – daft shots.
Muhammad Kaleem fell in the second over to a poor shot, before Rohan Msutafa, after a couple of lives, succumbed as well, trying to go for a big shot. UAE just seemed to panic every time they failed to get some runs going, and the Bangladesh bowlers made merry as a result.
Shaiman Anwar, Mohammad Shahzad and Swapnil Patil fell in the space of a couple of overs, and at 34/5 it was game over for the UAE, who eventually finished on 82 all out in 17.4 overs to hand Bangladesh a 51-run victory, their first in this Asia Cup, after that big opening day defeat to India.
Watch the highlights of the match HERE
