AI Simulation | Litton Das stars in first match as full-time Bangladesh captain to defeat UAE at Sharjah

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Litton Das channeled all his experience to lead Bangladesh to victory in the first T20I against UAE at Sharjah as per AI

As per Artificial Intelligence, Bangladesh are well placed to take home the first of two T20Is against the United Arab Emirates, in Sharjah on Saturday. The hosts set the Tigers 166 to chase, a task they accomplished with ease courtesy of a 75-run opening stand between Litton Das and Najmul Shanto.

Pitch and Weather

The Sharjah served up a pitch fitting for its small dimension with the surface playing flat to allow batters a free hand for stroke-play for the majority of the encounter, barring some early movement for pacers with the new ball and grip for the spinners in the first half of the game. Dew made its presence felt considerably as temperatures of 30 °C gave way to a light breeze.

Toss

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Lineups

UAE XI: Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Asif Khan, Rahul Chopra (wk), Aryansh Sharma, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Jawadullah, Simranjeet Singh, Sanchit Sharma, Muhammad Zuhaib, Matiullah Khan

BAN XI: Litton Das (c & wk), Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud

Match Report

A new era for Bangladesh cricket got underway on Saturday as Litton Das led the team out for the fifth team overall in the shortest format but for the first time as full-time captain after Najmul Hossain Shanto stepped down earlier in the year. Fittingly, it was the ex and current-skipper that combined to guide their team to a comfortable victory over Asian rivals United Arab Emirates with a chase of 166.

Asked to bat first, UAE got off to a shaky start when Mustafizur Rahman outwitted Aryansh Sharma to deliver Bangladesh an early blow in the powerplay. However, the hosts were not prepared to lay down their arms as skipper Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu went down the counter-attacking route against the swinging delivery to tick the score up to 50 within the first six overs. Once the field spread out, the visitors seized momentum again by constricting the run-flow through the likes of Tanzim Sakib and Hasan Mahmud, a tactic that brought Mustafizur the wickets of both incumbent batters and leave UAE in a spot of bother. Soon enough, even a score of 150 looked appetizing for the hosts but Asif Khan turned the tide around both for himself and his team in ecstatic fashion. The middle-order hitter struck four boundaries and two maximums at the death to help his team accumulate over 40 runs in the last four overs and end on a respectable 165/8.

In response, Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto had little trouble dealing with the shiny new Kookaburra as their band of risk-free cricket allowed them to outdo the UAE in the powerplay. The partnership had already ticked up to 75 when Sanchit Sharma finally delivered the goods for the hosts by scalping Shanto for a sedate 40, but the stage had been set for a comfortable chase. Towhid Hridoy aided his skipper with a brisk knock of 25, featuring just a solitary boundary but exceptional running between the wickets to squeeze the life out of UAE. Litton eventually brought up a 47-ball fifty and even though Sanchit struck twice more towards the end to add some jeopardy to the occasion, Jaker Ali's back-to-back lusty blows in the penultimate over sealed the deal with seven balls to spare.

Player of the Match

Litton Das picked up the rhythm of the chase exceptionally, constructing his innings around fellow batters and taking the charge when necessary to be named the man of the match for his unbeaten 60.