Drought over as Ireland gain momentum ahead of T20 World Cup

Ireland broke a drought of almost 14 months as they defeated Bangladesh in the opening T20I of their three-match series in Chattogram on Thursday.

Hard-hitting batter Harry Tector smashed an unbeaten 69 to help Ireland post 181/4 and a solid bowling performance ensured Bangladesh could muster just 142/9 in reply at Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium.

It was Ireland's first victory in T20I cricket since they defeated South Africa by 10 runs in Abu Dhabi in September of last year and bodes well for the European side ahead of the next edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka that commences in February.

Ireland are drawn in Group B alongside Australia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Oman for next year's T20 World Cup and the side are using the series in Bangladesh to help them prepare for the showcase event.

Skipper Paul Stirling was thrilled to claim the victory and believes his side are building some momentum ahead of the T20 World Cup next year.

"We turned up really well today and that's as close to a full strength team as we've had in a long time," Stirling said after the match.

"We welcomed back some senior figures and it showed today as we came out on top.

"There's never a perfect game, I don't think. But in terms of the first 35 overs of the game, I thought we were excellent and there's not many places I can really pick holes in."

Ireland can clinch the series with a victory in the second match on Saturday and Stirling is confident his side can do it.

"We've got two more goes to hopefully get a series win," he added.

"I think we won our last game here (in 2023) as well, so we've sort of got two on the bounce so we're taking that momentum into the third."

Bangladesh right-hander Towhid Hridoy is backing his side to bounce back quickly in the next match and wants to see his fellow batters adopt a more aggressive approach when at the crease.

"When there are 180-plus runs on the board, you have to play shots," Hridoy said after his innings of 83*.

As I said just now, the execution perhaps wasn't done properly today. If our execution had been good early on, maybe it would have been different.

"I think it is totally a mindset issue. It's not that we can't do it. We have done it, and we have chased 200 runs and won matches. If our mindset is right and if we can execute properly, I think it will not be that difficult. And it's not like we are chasing 200 or 180 runs every day. We have many players who are used to this. So, I hope we will overcome this."