Liton’s record fifty sees Bangladesh amass 202 in 17-over game

Liton Das set the new record for the fastest fifty by a Bangladeshi in T20Is as the Tigers shattered a number of milestones during their second match of the three-match T20I against Ireland at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today. 

In a game reduced to 17-over-a-side due to rain, Bangladesh amassed 202 for three wickets -- the second time in a row in the series that Bangladesh crossed the 200-run mark. This was also the fifth time that Bangladesh scored more than 200 runs in a T20I game.  

Liton scored an 18-ball fifty on way to his career-best T20I score of 41-ball 83. The elegant right-handed opener broke the record of Mohammad Ashraful, whose 20-ball fifty against West Indies in the 2007 T20 World Cup was the fastest fifty by a Bangladeshi before today.

Liton staged a carnage in Chattogram today, smashing a total of 10 boundaries and three maximums during a relentless show of batting brilliance. He and Rony Talukdar picked up from where they had left off in the previous game as the duo saw Bangladesh score the fastest team 100 – in just 43 legal deliveries – in T20Is, surpassing their previous fastest which was off 8.5 overs against Ireland in the last game.

Rony and Liton also starred in a rapid 124-run opening stand, the highest opening partnership for Bangladesh in the format. The previous best opening stand by Bangladesh was a 102-run stand between Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar against Zimbabwe in 2021 in Harare.

Rony, who seemed to have been struggling to time his shots at the intial stage of the game, gradually got into the groove and scored a blistering 23-ball 44 before being the first to depart on the day. He was dismissed by Ben White in the 10th over. Liton, trying to up the ante further, was caught behind off a delivery by the same bowler just an over later. 

However, skipper Shakib Al Hasan and youngster Towhid Hridoy did not let the scoring rate suffer a lot since the dismissal of the two openers. Shakib took on the Irish bowlers right from the word go, opening his account with a boundary the very first ball. 

Shakib smashed three boundaries and two sixes as he scored a quickfire unbeaten 24-ball 38. Hridoy, meanwhile, played a 13-ball 24-run cameo, featuring three boundaries and a maximum.