Bangladesh just about beat hosts United Arab Emirates by seven runs in the first of two Twenty20 internationals Sunday.
The Tigers came to the Middle East with the intention of getting some much needed confidence under their belts after an indifferent 2022 in the shortest format where they won only twice in 10 attempts.
However, Sunday’s events left a lot to be desired as Bangladesh first made an unconvincing display with the bat before coming up with uninspired ground fielding and catching.
Chirag Suri, with 39, and Viritya Arvind (19) had put the UAE in a position to challenge with a 50-run 22-ball second-wicket stand.
The men in red and green though just about held on against the Emiratis, who were eventually all out for 151 with two balls to spare.
Player of the match Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Shariful Islam bagged three wickets apiece while Mustafizur Rahman picked up two.
The hosts started the last over needing 11 runs with two wickets in hand.
The 21-year old Shariful gave up three runs from the first two balls before striking.
He dismissed Aayan Afzal Khan, caught by Mosaddek Hossain, for 25.
The batsmen crossed, but off the next ball Shariful had Junaid Siddique caught by Saifuddin for 11.
Earlier, the Tigers rode on an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 81 between Afif Hossain (77 off 55) and captain Nurul Hasan (35 off 25) after losing half their side for 77 within 11 overs.
Opener Miraz (12) and Liton Das (13), scripting a return to the side after missing the Asia Cup T20, both got out after making starts while other opener Sabbir Rahman (nought), Yasir Ali (four) and Mosaddek (three) were all dismissed in single digit.
Sabir Ali, Zawar Farid and Aayan all struck in the first 4.4 overs to reduce the visitors to 35/3.
Karthik Meiyappan, who finished with 2/33, then removed Yasir and Mosaddek cheaply.
The sixth wicket duo then set about doing the recovery work as Afif registered his career best T20I knock, hitting seven fours and three sixes, while Nurul struck two fours and as many sixes.
Afif rode his luck as he was dropped twice en route to his third T20I fifty.
Bangladesh eventually finished on 158/5 after being asked to bat first.
The second and final T20I will be held Tuesday.
1ST T20I
Bangladesh 158/5 in 20 overs (Afif 77*, Nurul 35, Liton 13, Meiyappan 2/33, Sabir 1/16, Aayan 1/16) beat UAE 151 in 19.4 overs (Chirag 39, Aayan 25, Aryan 19, Shariful 3/21, Miraz 3/17, Mustafizur 2/31) by seven runs