Al-Amin five-for goes in vain as Bangladesh A lose against Irene Villagers Cricket Club

Irene Villagers Cricket Club vs Bangladesh 'A'
Warm-up One Day match

Pretoria, South Africa
Toss: Irene Villagers Cricket Club, Field first
Result: Irene Villagers Cricket Club won by 4 wickets (with 9 balls to spare)

Bangladesh 'A' 272-7 (50 ov.)
Irene Villagers Cricket Club 273-6 (48.3 ov.)

Bangladesh A got off to a horrible start to their tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe when they were humbled by Irene Villagers Cricket Club by four wickets at Pretoria.

A strong side on paper, Bangladesh A were made to pay through their nose for their ill-disciplined display especially with the ball as the home side won with nine balls to spare in a dramatic turn-around from the depths of despair.

Chasing 273 for victory, the Irene Villagers Cricket Club’s top order was absolutely obliterated by the lanky Al-Amin Hossain.

Al-Amin made the best use of a lively pitch that gave him appreciable seam movement with the new ball, and took four wickets inside the ten overs. Victory seemed virtually impossible as the home side were struggling at 27 for 4 by the 19th over of their chase.

The Bangladeshi fast bowler finished with five wickets for 45 runs in 10 overs with a maiden over in his fantastic spell.

With their backs firmly squashed on the wall, Irene Villagers Cricket Club’s skipper S Naidoo and R Moonsamy decided to make their stand…and what a stand they made!

From the utter depths of despair and hopelessness, both these batters began an exhilarating fight-back, knowing well, that another wicket would have sealed their fate.

The likes of Mohammad Shahid, Kamrul Islam, Abu Jayed, Jubair Hossain, Taijul Islam, Saqlain Sajib tried desperately to resist the furious assault from Naidoo and Moonsamy.

The longer Naidoo and Moonsamy stayed at the wicket, the more frustrated Bangladeshi bowlers became, and began to lose their plot. They became ill-disciplined, conceded 19 wides in total and bowled on both sides of the wicket.

Moonsamy was particularly severe on the hapless Bangladesh bowlers, and hammered them all across the park with sheer disdain. As he went on the attack, Bangladeshi shoulders dropped on the field as their captain ran out of ideas.

Naidoo and Moonsamy almost completed the dramatic turn around with their partnership, which was stopped at 138 by Taijul Islam. Moonsamy was dismissed after he lifted his team with a belligerent knock of 84 runs from 75 balls.

He sent the Bangladeshis on a leather hunt with ten hits across the fence and four massive sixes to the delight of the home crowd at Pretoria.

With 66 runs to get and the lower order of the home side exposed, Bangladesh A were still in the driver’s seat after Al-Amin grabbed his fifth wicket when he sent back the dangerous Naidoo for 65.

Naidoo played second fiddle to Moonsamy in their blistering partnership, and weathered the storm when his partner took on the bowlers with the required run-rate going out of reach.

Naidoo rotated the strike with relative ease, as the Bangladesh skipper was more interested in stopping the boundaries, which came thick and fast with the bowlers erring in line and length too often. His innings of 65 runs from 87 balls was the perfect foil to Moonsamy blitzkrieg and contained seven fours and two sixes.

With his departure, Irene Villagers Cricket Club was dealt a severe blow, and it seemed their chase was not going to be successful after all. However, T Kaber and J Snyman heaped more misery on the ineffective visiting bowlers.

Kaber and Snyman didn’t take long to settle down, they were gifted freebies by the Bangladeshi bowlers every now and then.

Kaber was undefeated on 44 from 54 balls, and had three fours and a six to his name. Snyman was more aggressive than his partner, and was not out on 40 from 30 balls with six fours a six. Both of them took their team home with sensible and selective aggression, made possible by the lackluster display by the Bangladesh bowlers.

Earlier, Bangladesh A were invited to bat first by the Irene Villagers Cricket Club captain Naidoo and made a superb start thanks to Rony Talukdar and Liton Kumar. They were 99 for 1 inside the 13th over.

The fall of Liton’s wicket triggered a collapse and Bangladesh A were soon reeling at 135 for 5, looking all at sea against a spirited home side eager to perform.

Mahmudula Hasan's 43 and Sadman Islam's 38, with Mithun Ali's 33 runs in the latter stage gave Bangladesh A a fighting total considering the conditions at Pretoria.

Soumya Sarkar flopped once again, and has yet to recover his form going back to his wretched series in India. His innings was cut short after 15 balls and two streaky fours.

Rony Talukdar looked the most comfortable of Bangladeshi batsmen in the foreign conditions, and smashed 68 runs from 64 balls with 11 cracking shots across the rope.

He was in total command, by the look of his innings and stamped his authority on the game quite early.

Liton Kumar supported him with his timely knock of 39 runs. He played only 29 balls in his cameo and entertained his teammates with seven boundaries and a six during his stay at the crease.

The descent batting performance from Bangladesh A was not complemented by the bowlers, because their ill-discipline and impatience let the home side off the hook.

Bangladesh A coach has a lot of issues to deal with before the next game, and must ensure his bowlers pull up their socks big-time…otherwise the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of Bangladesh A and the BCB.