Bangladesh register hard-fought win over Ireland

By Suneer Chowdhary

 

Bangladesh should have never got into the soup they were in at the start of the second innings. They seemed to have won a good toss when the Irish quickies had been slaughtered for 49 off the first five overs

By Suneer Chowdhary

Mirpur: Feb 25, 2011

A banner said it all. “They are 11, we are 160 million Bangladeshis.” And that is what it seemed like in the cauldron of the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur where the 2011 World Cup got its first thrilling contest. Defending a paltry 205, Ireland were bowled out for 178 after looking like they would go into the second innings as favourites to upset the fancied Bangladeshi side.

 

If ever the Irish side thought that 206 was going to be a cakewalk, they were mistaken. Only a few months back, Bangladesh had defended a sub-180 score against New Zealand at home in that shocking 4-0 upset. And egged on by a crowd with decibel levels reaching crescendo after the fall of each wicket, Bangladesh made a good fist of the game each time Ireland threatened to run away with the game.

 

At different stages in the Irish innings, they could have gone on to win the game through that one partnership. And at these different stages there were different bowlers who took the onus upon themselves to pull the Bangladeshis back.

 

It started with Abdur Razzaq and Shakib Al Hasan picking up the openers before a stunning move to get on Mohammad Ashraful into the attack paid richer dividends than the captain could have imagined himself. First Ed Joyce spooned a simple catch back to Ashraful and then Andrew White was bowled by the former captain.

 

Niall O’Brien looked like he was on his way to regaining his touch post previous year’s surgery before Shakib accounted for his wicket for 37. Later, Shafiul Islam overturned a bad World Cup start against India and a 0/11 from two overs in this game to return with figures of 4/21 and the last four Irish wickets fell for 14 runs alone. The ball reverse-swung towards the end of the innings and it was exploited by Islam to the hilt.

 

Clearly, the pace-bowlers-bashing from captain Shakib in the media after the listless performance against India had done its trick.

 

Bangladesh should have never got into the soup they were in at the start of the second innings. They seemed to have won a good toss when the Irish quickies had been slaughtered for 49 off the first five overs. Taking cue from the manner in which the Indian opening batsmen had gone about their business, the home team looked like they had aimed for a 300-plus score. They had aimed for a lot in that case.

 

Once Imrul Kayes was stumped down the leg-side off the bowling of John Mooney, it led to a mini-collapse and the side crashed to 68/3 and then to 86/4. To add to their chagrin, both their batting stars, Tamim Iqbal (44) and Shakib Al Hasan (16) had been shown the exit door.

 

The rescue-act came through another 61-run stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Raqibul Hasan but once it was broken through, the rest of the side had no answer to the medium-pace of Andre Botha and the guile of George Dockrell. Six wickets had fallen for 68 runs and Bangladesh had looked out of it till the bowlers put their hands up to keep their hopes of getting to the quarter-finals of the World Cup alive.

 

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 205 all out in 49.2 overs (Tamim Iqbal 44, Raqibul Hasan 38, Mushfiqur Rahim 36; Andre Botha 3 for 32, Goerge Dockrell 2 for 23, Trent Johnston 2 for 40) bt Ireland 178 all out in 45 overs (Niall O’Brien 38, Kevin O’Brien 37; Shafiul Islam 4 for 21, Shakib Al Hasan 2 for 28, Mohammad Ashraful 2 for 42) by 27 runs

 

(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here: @suneerchowdhary)

 

 

Pictures © Getty Images

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