Tamim Iqbal
Bangladesh won the match by the skin of their teeth, something nobody would have expected, this match should have been over at 8’o clock, however Ireland were so close yet so far, in the end it was Bangladesh’s day.
All the statistics were in Bangladesh’s favour yet Ireland still gave Bangladesh a few minutes to panic.
Bangladesh learning from past mistakes this time won the toss and elected to bat first putting Ireland to bat under lights. However this move proved to be ineffective for Bangladesh as well, they managed to put up a total of only 205 runs which even for a minnow to chase might not have been a problem.
But luckily for Bangladesh today just wasn’t Irelands day and they lost by just 27 runs.
This Group B match which was the 9th match of the ICC World Cup 2011 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur in Bangladesh ended in the home teams favour. Only a few minor contributions from a handful number of players allowed Bangladesh to win, Andre Botha of Ireland took three Bangladeshi wickets, that of openers Tamim Iqbal who made a match winning individual score of 44 runs in 43 balls, Captain Skakib Al Hasan made only 16 runs of 20 balls and Shafiul Islam made 2 runs of 17 balls.
Other important contributions were from Mushfiqur Rahim who made 36 runs of 66 balls, his wicket was taken by George Dockrell and Raqibul Hasan made 38 runs of 69 balls and was run out by Andrew White. Naeem Islam also looked to score big but managed to make only 29 runs of 38 balls, his wicket was claimed by Trent Johnson.
Bangladesh was all out in 49.2 overs and made 205 runs which could be chased by Ireland at 4.15 runs per over.
Ireland showed us why they are considered minnows, their batting if possible was worse than Bangladesh’s in this match. What is to be observed is that these teams that are known as minnows are weak because they don’t have the whole package, if their bowling is good then the batting is abysmal and vice versa, once this all roundedness is achieved these teams might prove to be true competitors.
Ireland’s innings started with opener and Captain William Porterfield making 20 runs of 30 balls and fall prey to Shakib Al Hasan’s bowling and second opener Paul Striling making 9 runs of 10 balls his wicket was taken by Abdur Razzak.
The bowler of the day was Shafiul Islam who took 4 wickets that of Kevin O Brien who made 37 runs of 40 balls, his was the highest individual score from the Ireland team. Andre Botha made 22 runs of 36 balls, Trent Johnson made 6 runs of 6 balls and Boyd Rankin made 3runs of 13 balls, all these men fell to Shafiul Islam’s bowling attack.
Shakib Al Hasan took the wicket of Niall O Brien who looked to be getting comfortable making 38 runs of 52 balls before his wicket was taken. Mohammad Ashraful took two wickets in this match.
Ireland didn’t have that much problem in the number of balls to runs that had to be made; the only difference was the wickets in hand, which ultimately lead to their downfall.
The Man of the match award went to Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal who made 44 runs of 43 balls. This decision was understandable even though Shafiul Islam took 4 wickets as it was a very low scoring match.
Tags: Bangladesh, Cricket, Ireland, Man Of The Match, Mirpur, Shere Bangla National Stadium, Tamim Iqbal, World Cup
