'We are no walkovers' - Harmeet Singh gives bold statement after handing Bangladesh upsetting defeat

In a historic upset, United States of America pulled off a brilliant victory by defeating Bangladesh by five wickets in the first T20I of their three-match series in Prairie View, Texas. It was the second time the USA had beaten a full-member nation in a T20I match.

The Harmeet Singh was awarded the Player of the Match award for smashing an unbeaten 33 runs off just 13 balls to seal the game for the hosts with three balls to spare.

The Bengal Tigers were asked to bat first and posted 153/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Towhid Hridoy top scored with 58, while Steven Taylor took 2/9 for the hosts. In their chase, USA were struggling at 94/5 before Harmeet and Corey Anderson (34* off 25 balls) stitched an unbroken 62-run stand to get them over the line.

The 31-year-old also contributed through his fielding skills, as he ran out the experienced Shakib Al Hasan while he was batting on six. Though he went wicketless with the ball, the all-rounder gave away just 27 runs in his four-over spell to keep things tight from his end.

“You don't always get an opportunity to win a game against a big side like this every day. The way the boys have been training, it is a personal effort from everybody. It means a lot to us to put on a show against Bangladesh. We are no walkovers. I think our potential is immense. We have a lot of match-winners on the team. It gives us the edge. We bat as well (as anyone) now,” Harmeet said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Also read: USA pull off major upset, defeat Bangladesh in 1st T20I in last-over thriller

We had a chance to sneak in a 20-run over from the other side: Harmeet Singh

The all-rounder, who was a part of India's 2010 U-19 World Cup winning squad, felt the tourists made a crucial error by using lethal pacer Mustafizur Rahman from the wrong end after he had taken two big wickets.

“We believed that Fizz would bowl against the wind over, but when I saw him bowl from the other end, with the wind, I thought we had a chance to sneak in a 20-run over from the other side. I think either they took us lightly, or I don't know. They didn't have bowlers to bowl with from the other side,” he added.

Also read: Karnataka spinner Nosthush Pradeep Kenjige makes it to USA’s T20 World Cup squad

The cricketer also praised the side's knowledge of home conditions and the way they fought against an experienced side like Bangladesh leading up to the all-important T20 World Cup in indigenous conditions.

“I told the guys before the game that Bangladesh are a good team on paper, but if we go down without a fight, it won't send a good message. We know the wicket, as this is our home condition. We know everything about this ground. It is a T20 format. After a couple of hiccups, we push them into the powerplay. Then you can corner them and close out the game,” he further added.

Both sides will now square off against each other on May 23 for the second T20I. The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side will look to rectify the errors they made in the first game and come back stronger. While the hosts will be riding high on confidence and will be looking to carry on the same momentum.