Tigers brush Ireland aside

Bangladesh got their first victory of the tri-series against hosts Ireland at the Malahide Cricket Club in Dublin as they raced to an eight-wicket win in 27.1 overs yesterday.

After their first game against the same opponents was washed out and the second resulted in a four-wicket loss against New Zealand, the Tigers came out all guns blazing and dominated their opponents. The bowlers, led by Mustafizur Rahman's four-for, squeezed the life out of their opponents, while the batsmen, championed by Soumya Sarkar's explosive 68-ball 87, raced to the target with ease.

Bangladesh's chase got off to a brilliant start, as Soumya and Tamim Iqbal put the Irish bowlers to the sword as the Tigers reached 95 in 13.5 overs.

Tamim, who started aggressively and refused to tone it down in a fiery display, finally departed with the job half-done for a 54-ball 47, a knock punctuated by six boundaries. Soumya was no slouch either, hitting 11 fours and two sixes to make Tamim's knock look docile in comparison.

After Tamim's departure, Sabbir Rahman joined Soumya and the pair almost did the rest, but Sabbir departed just before the job was completed with the score at 171. The duo put on 76 runs for second-wicket, with Sabbir contributing 35 off 34 balls. He hit three fours, but the highlight of his knock came in the 24th over as he lofted Peter Chase straight down the ground for six.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Soumya completed the job, getting the requisite 12 runs as Bangladesh cruised home.

Earlier, a disciplined performance by the bowlers bundled out Ireland for a below-par total of 181 in 46.3 overs. Mustafizur was in full flow, taking four wickets for 23 runs, while debutant Sanjamul Islam and skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza picked up two wickets each.

It took Mustafizur just three balls to draw first blood, as he induced an edge from Paul Stirling which sent the ball straight to Sabbir Rahman at slips as the hosts lost their first wicket without any runs on the board.

William Porterfield came in at third and he got going with a four off Rubel Hossain in the fourth over, before dispatching Mashrafe for a six off the final ball of the fifth. He continued to attack, hitting two more fours off Rubel in the following over and it seemed he would be a thorn in the Tigers' side when Mosaddek Hossain dropped a simple catch at short extra cover off Mashrafe's bowling.

However, Mossadek made amends for that transgression, taking a catch off his own bowling to remove the dangerous left-hander. The ball was driven straight back to Mossadek, who gleefully accepted the chance.

Ed Joyce and Andy Balbirnie set about repairing the innings and the latter took the attack to Shakib Al Hasan, hitting a huge six off the left-armer's first over. However, Bangladesh's ace all-rounder exacted revenge in his next over with a beautiful ball which completely flummoxed Balbirnie and left Ireland at 61 for three. Shakib could have had another four balls later, but Mushfiqur Rahim failed to gather the ball after Niall O'Brien had edged it.

That half-chance proved to be crucial as Joyce and O'Brien stitched together a 55-run stand for the fourth wicket before Mustafizur teased O'Brien into chasing a ball outside off, which made its way straight to Tamim Iqbal at third man.

In the next over, the 28th of the innings, Sanjamul marked his first international over with Joyce's wicket. The opener, who made a 74-ball 46, was caught by Tamim as he came down the pitch and attempted a heave over long-on to leave Ireland flailing at 126 for five.

Mustafizur came back for a spell after that and although his first over yielded no wickets, he picked up two in his next two. The first, Kevin O'Brien's, came courtesy of a superlative diving catch from Mosaddek and the second came as Gary Wilson edged behind to Mushfiqur.

At 136 for seven, Bangladesh seemed like they would send the hosts packing soon, but George Dockrell and Barry McCarthy dug in and played just over 10 overs to steer Ireland to 171 with a 35-run partnership before Sanjamul returned to claim his second victim in McCarthy.

Mashrafe then cleaned up the tail in his seventh over, taking two wickets in three balls to send Ireland packing for 181.