Liton Das half-century leads Bangladesh to series-tying T20 win over Ireland

CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh (AP) — Captain Liton Das’ half-century led Bangladesh to a Twenty20 series-tying win against Ireland on Saturday.

Liton’s 57 off 37 balls helped Bangladesh reach 174-6 and a four-wicket victory after Ireland posted a challenging 170-6.

The third and deciding T20 is on Tuesday.

Despite losing opener Tanzid Hasan cheaply, Bangladesh appeared on course for a comfortable win as Liton and Parvez Hossain took control of the chase.

They added 60 runs with Parvez contributing 43 before being dismissed while attempting a reverse sweep.

Liton then received support from Saif Hasan, who made 22.

Liton raised his 20th T20 half-century in style, slog-sweeping left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys for a six over long-on off 34 balls.

However, his dismissal sparked a collapse as Bangladesh lost four wickets for just 19 runs in the next 20 balls.

Mohammad Saifuddin eased the pressure with a six off the first ball he faced, and his seven-ball 17 not out got Bangladesh over the line with two balls to spare.

Earlier, Lorcan Tucker anchored Ireland with 41 runs off 32 balls while Tim Tector made a fluent 38 off 25.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, captain Paul Stirling helped Ireland start well with a 14-ball 29. He was key as Ireland raced to 75 runs in the first six overs.

Bangladesh clawed its way back into the contest after Stirling fell to pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Mahedi Hasan removed the Tector brothers and Ben Calitz in quick succession, claiming 3-25 and leaving Ireland 103-4 in the 11th over.

Tucker hung around to make the game competitive until he was run out on the last ball by Liton.