Mehrab ton inspires Tigers to big win

MEHRAB ... 132 not out

A Mehrab Hossain special enabled Bangladesh to thrash the Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI by 120 runs at the Gardens Oval yesterday. Coming in at number three the left-hander paced his innings beautifully and was unbeaten on 132 in Bangladesh's imposing 305 for four after the Tigers had opted to bat. Mehrab's left-arm orthodox spin then fetched him three wickets as the Chief Minster's XI innings, without any players from the Australian national side, folded for 185 in 36.2 overs.
This was Bangladesh's last warm-up match before the one-day international series against Australia and the win came just when needed. The Tigers had a lacklustre outing in the first four practice games against the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and had lost three of those matches.
"I hit the balls well out there today (Wednesday). Obviously you want to take confidence from practice games and we managed to do that and the win today was very important," said Mehrab who carved his innings from 129 balls (16 fours and three 6s). He concentrated on the ground shots but was not afraid to use the slog-sweep to clear the fence much to the delight of the spectators present.
Bangladeshis living in Darwin cheered Mehrab on and he had fans among the locals also who knew him from his stints with the NT Academy and club cricket here.
"This was almost a home match for me as most of the opposition players are my friends. Some of my local friends were also in the stands and it felt really good," said Mehrab.
Mehrab also felt that the Tigers had every reason to feel upbeat about the ODI series.
"We will go out there and enjoy ourselves because we have got nothing to lose. If they (Australia) slip up then that will be a major setback for them so I guess if there is any pressure it is on them," said the left-hander who recently got married.
Captain Mohammad Ashraful, who played all the shots in his repertoire in a nonchalant 77-ball 80 said the team was ready for the ODIs.
"We needed good practice and we got that from the five matches we have finished here. All the batters have runs behind them and the bowling was pretty good.
"We have rotated the players and swapped batting positions in these games and rested those who have just recovered from injuries. We now have a full strength squad to choose from," said Ashraful.
Tamim Iqbal the opener played a solid 57 up front and the only downside in Bangladesh's batting was the failure of the other opening batsman Zunaed Siddique who was caught behind for one after chasing a delivery close to his body.
Ashraful however felt the Tigers had found an alternative in Mehrab who opened in two of the practice games.
"Mehrab can open the batting and he is an option," Ashraful said.
Bangladesh's bowling had more purpose and half the batting side was back in the pavilion with 85 on the board. Shahadat Hossain and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza kept a tight leash on the scoring and wickets came at regular intervals.
The best batting of the Chief Minister's XI team came from player-coach Shane McDermott who scored an entertaining 61. McDermott, the former Bangladesh and GP-BCB National Cricket Academy trainer, was roughed up by Shahadat early on but then swept and cut vigorously.
The Bangladesh bowling also eased up as Alok Kapali, Mehrab and Ashraful bowled between them. McDermott was the seventh batsman out at 179 when Zunaed took a catch diving forward at short third man off Ashraful and the innings ended soon after. Kopali claimed three for 22.The Bangladesh players have an off day tomorrow (Thursday). The Australians arrived in Darwin today and take on the AIS at the TIO Stadium tomorrow in a practice game.
BRIEF SCORES
BANGLADESH: 305-4 in 50 overs (Tamim 57, Zunaed 1, Mehrab 132*, Ashraful 80, Kapali 14, Mashrafe 2*, extras 19; Kelly 1-54, Hodgson 2-66, Hatton 1-64).
NT CHIEF MINISTER'S XI: 185 all out in 38.2 overs (Williams 21, Cornford 2, Short 4, Lavers 31, Regan 6 Johnstone 33, McDermott 61, Francis 5*, Ezard 2, Hodgson 0 Kelly 0, extras 20; Shahadat 1-26, Dollar 1-30, Kapali 3-22, Mehrab 3-31, Ashraful 1-6).
Result: Bangladesh won by 120 runs.