Kyle Coetzer’s century in vain as Bangladesh register commendable 6-wicket win over Scotland in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Bangladesh register commendable 6-wicket win over Scotland
Minnows, Bangladesh registered comfortable and a commanding six wicket win over fellow minnows, Scotland in Pool A, match 27 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at the Saxton Oval in Nelson on Thursday. Tamim Iqbal‘s healthy 95 followed by couple of more half centuries from Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim got the job done for Bangladesh as they keep their hopes alive for the quarter-finals, while Scotland suffer their fourth consecutive defeat in the tournament. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE
Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field first as they finished on challenging total of 318 for the loss of eight wickets. Kyle Coetzer‘s brilliant 156 was the star highlight of the innings that helped Scotland to post the big total. Taskin Ahmed was the highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in the innings with three for 43. Live updates: Bangladesh vs Scotland
Scottish openers, Coetzer and Calum MacLeod were down to business, but were off to shaky start as just 13 runs were scored on the board and MacLeod departed for mere 11 after Mashrafe Mortaza made him caught him by Mahmudullah. However, it was the big partnership between Coetzer and Preston Mommsen that changed the scenario. A 141-run stand for the fourth wicket saw Coetzer scoring his 2nd ODI century and also becoming the first Scottish player to score a century in the World Cup.
Bangladesh started of their chase in a shakky manner, losing Soumya Sarkar early, with just five runs on the board, after being caught behind by Matthew Cross off Josh Davey. Out came Mahmudullah, and it was followed by brilliant and healthy 139-run stand between the both during which Tamim scored his 28th ODI half-century along with Mahmudullah, who too scored his 12th ODI half-century. At the score of 144, Mahmudullah was dismissed for 62 after being bowled by Iain Wardlaw. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
However, it was followed by another healthy 57-run stand between Tamim and wicketkeeper-batsman, Rahim, before Tamim was dismissed for 95, falling short of his century by just five runs and thus could have become the first Bangladesh batsman to score a century at the World Cup.
Out came their star all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan and put up 46-run stand with Rahim. Rahim also scored his 20th ODI half-century before being dismissed for 60 by Alasdair Evans. He was then followed on to the crease by Sabbir Rahman, who along with Shakib took the charge of steering Bangladesh comfortably home as they won by six wickets with 11 balls to spare.
Man of the Match: Kyle Coetzer (Scotland)
Brief scores:
Scotland 318 for 8 in 50 overs (Kyle Coetzer 156; Taskin Ahmed 3 for 43) lost to Bangladesh 322 for four in 48.1 overs (Tamim Iqbal 95; Josh davey 2 for 68) by 6 wickets.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United and idolises Roger Federer)