Et tu, Ireland!

An Irish fan enjoys his time with his son ahead of the World Cup opening ceremony at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne yesterday. Photo: AFP

If there were any hidden fears surrounding Bangladesh's first World Cup encounter against Afghanistan they were all vividly revealed on social media yesterday, as the Tigers went down to Ireland by four wickets in an unexpected defeat at the Blacktown Olympic Park in Sydney.

It was exactly the kind of start -- a four-match winless streak -- that Bangladesh wanted to avoid ahead of the mega event. Going down to the Irish, who were thumped by 179 runs in their first warm-up against Scotland, has also rung the warning bells with regards to Bangladesh's match against the Scots at Nelson.

Having been bowled out for just 189, it was quite obvious that it was Bangladesh's batting that spoilt the party. According to those in the stadium, the batsmen played too many shots in the air and paid the price. There weren't any demons in the wicket either; most of them fell due to wrong shot selections.

Soumya Sarkar's run-out was also a key moment in the game. The youngster, who was looking good with the bat, made the long trip back to the pavilion in the 29th over after a 51-ball 45. A few hits from the tail helped them near 200.

The bowlers, on the contrary, did well to stretch the game till the 47th over. Captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza led from the front with miserly figures of none for 13 in eight overs with three maidens. Even Taijul Islam, who had struggled in the earlier games, did well with figures of 2 for 29 in eight overs.

While they successfully managed to remove the top order half-way through -- the Irish were poised at 78 for 4 in 25 overs -- a gritty 63 not out from Andy Bilbirnie eroded any hopes Bangladesh had of finding a win.

Earlier pacers John Mooney and Max Sorensen had taken three wickets each to run through Bangladesh's batting order.

Anamul Haque, who failed to get among the runs in the first three matches, scored a painstakingly slow 25 off 72 deliveries. Mominul Haque and Shakib Al Hasan, were both dismissed for eight while Mushfiqur Rahim (26) gave away his wicket to slow left-armer George Dockrell after settling in.

Bangladesh will travel to Canberra on Friday to prepare for their World Cup opener against Afghanistan.

SCORES IN BRIEF

BANGLADESH: 189 all out in 48.2 overs (Anamul 25, Soumya 45, Mushfiqur 26, Sabbir 20, Mashrafe 22; Mooney 3-32, Sorensen 3-31)

IRELAND: 190-6 in 46.5 overs (Porterfield 24, Joyce 47, Balbirnie 63 not out, K O'Brien 23; Taijul 2-29)

Result: Ireland won by 4 wickets.