By Fathima Zanaida
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| Kevin O'Brien captured three wickets to dent Bangladesh |
COLOMBO, Sri lanka (TheSportsNext) September 17, 2012: Kevin O’Brien and Paul Stirling fired Ireland to an impressive but intriguing victory over Bangladesh by five runs in their ICCWT20 warm-up match played at Moors Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Monday.
Bangladesh found themselves on the losing side despite of an aggressive knock by former skipper Shakib Al Hasan who fought till the end but lacked support from the other batsmen.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and asked Ireland to bat first. Irish openers Paul Stirling (71 from 41 – 5 fours, 5 sixes) and skipper William Porterfield (17 from 11 – 2 fours) got their team off to a promising start and collected 46 runs in the opening wicket partnership from just 28 balls.
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| Paul Stirling played with aggression |
Ed Joyce (39 from 36 – 5 fours) then joined dangerous-looking Stirling after skipper was run out and the pair added another 64 runs for the second wicket from only 40 balls as they looked all set to post a massive total for the Bengalis.
However, some impressive bowling changes by Mushfiqur Rahim disrupted the flow of Ireland innings and they lost the script with Gary Wilson (13 from 15 – 1 six), Kevin O’Brien (Duck), Nigel Jones (Duck), and Trent Johnston (10 not out from 9) failed it tough to impose big hits and Ireland had to settle with a total of 164 for six from their 20 overs.
Mashrafe Mortaza captured two wickets for 33 runs but star of the show was Shakib Al Hasan who grabbed two wickets for only 21 runs and proved too difficult to get away for the Irish batsmen, especially towards the end of the innings. Elias Sunny also bowled with control and bite as he took one wicket for only 21 runs from his four overs.
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| Shakib Al Hasan |
Bangladesh had enough batting resources to achieve the target and opening batsmen Tamim Iqbal (35 from 28 – 3 fours, 2 sixes) and Mohammad Ashraful (7 from 3 – 1 six) looked in a hurry before latter became first victim of Trent Johnston.
Shakib Al Hasan (52 from 23 – 3 fours, 5 sixes) relished the opportunity to bat in the top-order and used his ability to swing hard and strike the ball cleanly to punish Irish bowlers as Bangladesh raced to 79/1 from 7.4 overs, a position where they fancied their chances to win the match.
Still needing 85 runs from 75 balls, Bangladesh looked favorites to win the match but Alex Cusack got rid of Tamim Iqbal which opened the floodgate of wickets for Ireland as Bangladeshi skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (7 from 12), Mahmudullah (7 from 6 – 1 four), and Nasir Hossain (1 from 3) all succumbed to pressure of the rising asking rate.
Ziaur Rahman (26 from 22 – 2 fours, 1 six) and Mashrafe Mortaza (14 from 17 – 1 four) then controlled things before letting it slip away in the final two overs and the Bangladesh innings was culminated at 159 for nine from 20 overs.
Kevin O’Brien led the bowling effort of Ireland as he captured three wickets for 24 runs, while Trent Johnston and Alex Cusack grabbed two wickets apiece for 25 and 28 runs, respectively.
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| Shakib Al Hasan once again tries his best but fails to help his side cross the line |
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