Twitter Reactions: Shakib Al Hasan inspires Bangladesh to a resounding triumph in Dhaka

Bangladesh were thumped by Windies in Sylhet courtesy of Shai Hope’s blitzkrieg. Nonetheless, the hosts showed tremendous guts and brushed aside the Caribbean team by 36 runs at Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka to draw level in the three-match series. The victory was carved by none other than Shakib Al Hasan, their skipper, as he put a near-flawless performance in the crunch match.

Tigers’ batsmen on a rampage

Windies won the toss and elected to field first, but the decision backfired on them badly as the Tigers racked up 211 runs in their 20 overs. Fabian Allen removed opener, Tamim Iqbal, however, his fellow opening batter Liton Das was in a different zone as he scored 60 runs from 34 balls with the help of six boundaries and four hits into the stands. He was eventually nipped out by speedster Sheldon Cottrell.

Soumya Sarkar wielded the willow to score 32 runs from 22 balls after which Cottrell accounted for his wicket. In the next over, Mushfiqur Rahim fell for one. Then skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah took the onus and cobbled together a blistering stand of 91 runs from 42 balls. While the captain racked up 42 runs from 26 balls, Riyad plundered 43 runs from 21 balls with seven boundaries.

Bangladesh prevail in the thriller

The run-chase didn’t start well for the Caribbean team as Abu Hider Rony removed Evin Lewis for one run. Nevertheless, Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran threw the kitchen sink at everything and put on 41 runs for the second wicket in just 14 balls. Hope threatened to take the match away, but Mehidy Hasan Miraz picked him up, much to Bangladesh’s delight. Pooran became Shakib’s first victim in the fifth over.

Thereafter, Shakib came to the party and sent back Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite, and Fabian Allen, and picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is. Moreover, he only conceded 20 runs in his four-over spell to keep the batsmen in check. Rovman Powell, with a 34-ball half-century, and Keemo Paul (29) tried their hearts out, but the task was too monstrous for them to accomplish.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Shakib’s brilliance

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