Bangladesh fail Irish challenge
Bangladesh fail Irish challenge
Ireland won by 4 wickets
Victory seemed a bridge too far for Bangladesh tigers as they lost their fourth warm up match to Ireland by four wickets. Ireland reached the target of 189 runs losing only six wickets with 19 balls in hand.
Andy Balbirnie guided his team to victory with a timely knock of 63 runs from 79 balls after Ireland were in a spot of bother at 78 for 4 in the 25th over. Ed Joyce steadied the ship after the loss of early wickets by scoring a watchful 47 from 87 deliveries. His partnership with Balbirnie was crucial in getting Ireland close to Bangladesh’s total.
Although Bangladesh’s pacers started spiritedly, they failed to apply constant pressure by bowling on both sides of the wicket. Mashrafe Mortaza was the lone exception as he only gave away only 13 runs in his 8 overs. Both Al-Amin Hossain and Taskin Ahmed took one wicket each but conceded over 5 runs in their quota of overs.
Bangladeshi spinners managed to restrict the scoring rate of Irish batsmen by bowling sensibly to the field. Taijul Islam picked up 2 wickets for 29 runs while Shakib Al Hasan bagged one after giving away 27 runs in his 6 overs. Nasir Hossain’s part-time bowling yielded a wicket for the Tigers.
Earlier, Ireland won the toss and chose to field considering the pitch and playing conditions at Sydney.
Irish bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals as Bangladesh stuttered to a paltry total of 189 runs in the first innings of this match.
Soumya Sarkar was the top scorer with 45 runs in 51 balls with two boundaries to his name. Anamul Haque played the sheet anchor role while wickets were falling around him. He scored 25 runs from 72 deliveries before holding out to Porterfield in the 23rd over.
Wicketkeeper Musfiqur Rahim was one of the few batsmen who got a start but got out in the 20s. He scored 26 with two hits across the fence while Sabbir Rahman’s 20 and Mashrafe’s 22 gave some respectability to Bangladesh’s total.
The Irish side was rewarded early as Tamim holed out Porterfield in the fourth over scoring 4 from 11 balls. By the 10th over, Mominul went back to the pavilion leaving Bangladesh reeling at 30 for 2.
Hardly any Bangladesh batsmen stayed long enough at the crease to build up any substantial partnership necessary for a big score.
With in-form batsmen Tamim, Shakib and Nasir falling for single-digit scores, the middle order crumbled under pressure from the Irish bowlers.
Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Gary Wilson, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Andy McBrine, Ed Joyce, George Dockrell, Paul Stirling, Max Sorensen, Andy Balbirnie, Craig Young
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Mahmudullah, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed