Batsmen all chip in
Bangladesh had a good outing on the opening day of the three-day practice match against South Africa Invitation XI at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday.
After Mushfiqur Rahim elected to bat, all the batsmen scored runs barring opener Tamim Iqbal, who left the field retired hurt after suffering a strain in his right thigh, and Mahmudullah Riyad, who made a first ball duck. The Tigers declared their innings at 306 for seven.
Tamim was on five when he left the field in the fifth over after facing only 13 balls while opening the innings alongside Soumya Sarkar. He will be under observation for 48 hours but team sources said that the injury was not serious.
After Tamim's departure, Soumya (43) and Imrul Kayes (34) steadied the ship by sharing 84 runs but both batsmen returned to the pavilion in quick succession. A 119-run stand for the third wicket followed between Mominul Haque (68) and captain Mushfiqur Rahim (63) which seized back the initiative from the home side.
However the Tigers suffered another collapse soon after Mominul's dismissal as they lost four wickets for nine runs. The very next ball after Mominul's departure saw Mahmudullah walk back to the dressing room. Captain Mushfiqur was also failed to convert his fifty into three digits as the wicketkeeper-batsman was dismissed for 63 and Liton Das was the other batsman who scored a duck as Bangladesh were reduced from 211 for two to 220 for six.
Sabbir Rahman was the other successful batsman. He scored a fifty and remained unbeaten on 58 when Mushfiqur declared the visitors' innings.
After the exchange Sabbir initiated a run out on the last ball of the day to send Isaac Dikgale back to the pavilion and the home side were at 21 for one at stumps.
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