LIVE Bangladesh vs. Ireland – Bengali Tigers struggle after losing early wickets
Bangladesh were in a bit of bother halfway through the innings of their second match of the ICC World Cup 2011 against Ireland at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
The hosts had managed 113 runs for the loss of 4 wickets from 25 overs.
Bangladesh captain Shakib-Al-Hasan won the toss and elected to bat first. The memories of the match against India would have been afresh in Shakib’s mind and he did not repeat the mistake of asking the opposition to bat first.
The wicket was ideal for batting and there was not much assistance for the bowlers in it. However, it was on the slower side which did not allow the Bangladesh batsmen to score too many runs in the first half of their innings.
Imrul Keyes and Tamim Iqbal gave a solid start to their team as they amassed a 53-run opening partnership. However, Keyes was not able to carry onto the aggressive start he got to his innings and was dismissed after scoring 12 runs.
Fall of Keyes brought the promising Junaid Siddique at the crease, but he could not make an impact as he ran himself out for 3.
Wicketkeeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was promoted up the order to steady the ship for Bangladesh. Tamim looked good for his 44 off 43 balls, but failed to score a well-deserved half century.
The hosts were in deep trouble as their captain, Shakib Al Hasan walked out in the middle. He looked solid as ever and got a good start to his innings. He was playing flawless cricket until he gave a simple catch to Andre Botha when he was on 16.
Bangladesh were in deep trouble with 4 wickets down for just 86 runs in 15.2 overs.
Raqibul Hasan joined Mushfiqur in the middle and the pair looked to stabilise Bangladesh’s position. They were unbeaten on 14 and 18 respectively at the end of 25 overs.
There is still some batting to come for Bangladesh and they will be looking to score at least 250 runs on this track.
On the other hand, Ireland bounced back in the match with some crucial wickets. Botha was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets and will be looking forward to pick up a few more in order to restrict the hosts to a manageable total.