Mominul, Nasir give Greens the edge
The batsmen put in some good work on the second day of the three-day practice match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday. Interestingly, the notable innings came from those whose places in the national team are not certain, similar to the first day when the bowling performance of the first day came in the form of a five-wicket haul by reserve pacer Shafiul Islam.
The left-handed Mominul Haque -- who has already been tagged as a longer-version specialist -- and all-rounder Nasir Hossain hit half centuries while Tanbir Hayder also made a fifty for the Tamim Iqbal-led Bangladesh Green, who were all out for 283 in response to the Mushfiqur Rahim-led Bangladesh Red's 140 for nine declared.
Both Mominul and Nasir missed the opportunity to play big knocks as Mominul smote five boundaries during his 135-ball 73 while Nasir scored a 92-ball 62 that contained three fours and as many sixes.
On a slow track, Rubel Hossain bowled well and took three wickets. The bowler however jolted the camp for a while when he slipped and fell while on his delivery stride and struggled to stand up immediately. Thankfully, Rubel took only a little time to return to the bowling mark.
After the day's play ended earlier than scheduled due to rain, Nasir -- who played 17 Tests for Bangladesh between 2011 and 2015 -- said that he was just enjoying playing against the red ball after a long break and making a comeback was not on his mind.
“I am just enjoying the red ball game as after a long break we are playing longer-version cricket. It's not as if I wanted to make my comeback by playing the practice match,” said Nasir.
“It's just a practice match, so I tried to capitalise on the opportunity as much as possible. We have been practising hard for quite some time for the coming series against Australia but match practice is always good,” he added.
Despite being in good form, Nasir has to struggle for his place in the national team as there has been huge competition for places. Nasir however saw it as a positive sign for Bangladesh cricket.
“Competition is always good and it's good for everybody. As there are a number of players in the pipeline it just shows that our cricket is going up. You need to be mentally strong to make a comeback. and I have that mentality,” he said.
Bangladesh Red scored 24 for one in their second innings and it was Imrul Kayes who was dismissed by Mustafizur Rahman after hitting two consecutive boundaries.
SCORES IN BRIEF
BANGLADESH RED: 140/9 dec and 24-1 in 5 overs (Imrul 8, Soumya 9 not out, Nazmul 7 not out; Mustafizur 1-12)
BANGLADESH GREEN: 283 all out in 78.3 overs (Tamim 29, Liton 5, Mominul 73, Sabbir 10, Nasir 62, Tanbir 51, Sanjamul 22; Rubel 3-54, Saqlain 3-64, Taijul 2-80, Naeem 1-23)
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