jos buttler defended his composition England The side admitted however that they weren’t able to score enough points as their first T20 since their world title defeat.
An England team of seven that played in the T20 World Cup final last November looked light against Bangladesh and turned out to be under 156 in six.
67 of Buttler’s 42 balls seemed to have provided England with a springboard, but some gruesome bowling from Bangladesh’s quick shots limited tourists to just 21 runs in the final four overs at Chattogram.
Najmul Hossain Shanto broke the back of the chase with 51 balls from 30 guns, then brought Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan’s side home with 34 of 24 deliveries, six wickets and two overs to spare.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, Buttler said: “We were finally in a position to start and throw but we couldn’t escape and were probably 20 short of where we wanted to be.
“Then we chased a bit on the court. It would have been a little easier if we had extra runs on the board, but Bangladesh came out and played very enthusiastically, took the game and put a lot of pressure on us.
England only have 13 players to choose from after deciding not to replace injured Tom Abell or Will Jacks. Sam Curranplayer of the tournament and final player at the T20 World Cup, with his first six roles Chris Woakes he hits the highest number seven position in this format.
Buttler added: “We have a well-balanced team, a lot of good versatile players, and that gives you a lot of options. We’re blessed with options, and it’s a good position to be on the pitch.”
Butler made 80 in the top 10 Phil’s saltdeliberately enraged but stuck against slower lefties Shakib and Nasum Ahmed, making a dull 38 out of 35 balls.
This was Salt’s second game in a row in the 30s—after doing so in a series that England won 2-1 against Bangladesh in the last ODI—and later admitted disappointment.
“They’re the most frustrating to me because you want to be the guy who keeps winning the game. That’s the sign of a top-notch player, someone who moves on and wins it.
Salt would have liked to pluck a leaf out of Buttler’s book, one of the four rooks would fall in the top five while the England captain hit four fours and four sixes before he went out.
Salt has occasionally tagged his England colleague and his Lancashire and Manchester Originals teammate as the best limited hitter around.
Salt said: “Honestly, he’s probably my favorite opening partner, he has so many different options and his skill level is very high.
“Right now in white ball cricket around the world, the bat is the benchmark, it’s the best. Everyone wants to imitate him. I definitely want to imitate him.”
After Bangladesh mounted a flyer in response, a wicket for each Adil Rashid And Jofra Archer checked their progress but Najmul skinned him sign wood for four consecutive quads to fire up their charge.
His hard-hitting six-fours in a row from Towhid Hridoy ahead of Chris Woakes after back-to-back bounds put Bangladesh on pole in the first of three T20s.
Najmul was sacked shortly after the fantastic 27-ball-hands, but Shakib and Afif Hossain, who contributed 15 points to a solid 46-point grandstand, ensured it wasn’t a dramatic change.
For Shakib, who finished last in their T20 World Cup group, the victory over England was an ideal start as they made their way to the 2024 tournament in the Caribbean.
“This is a very good start and we are just building from here. We can only get better and then put a very good team in the World Cup.”
The series will continue in Dhaka on Sunday.