West Indies defeats Bangladesh by 75 runs

Bangladesh on the way to outplayed again in the 4th ODI of Sahara Cup series on their home ground at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.

They lost 5 wickets on 13 runs only at the early of their batting and the match went their control. However, after 26 overs they could touch 107 for 6.

Then, Muhfiq went for 27, Shohag Gazi for 13 and Elias Sany for no run. Finally Bangladesh was totally dismissed for 136 with losing of total 10 wickets.  

An inspired spell of fast bowling by skipper Darren Sammy and Kemar Roach broke the back of Bangladesh as the pair shared five wickets.

Sammy grabbed three wickets and Roach two

Sammy had Anamul Haque caught and bowled, forced Naeem Islam to be caught in the slips and then removed Mominul Haque caught at square leg.

Roach bowled Tamim Iqbal for a duck and induced an edge from Nasir Hossain.

Earlier, Sammy top scored with a gutsy 60 not out off 62 balls to help his side reach 211-9 in 50 overs after the hosts won the toss and put their opponents into bat. Darren Bravo added 34.

Mahmudullah was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Elias Sunny and Abdur Razzak took two wickets each. Shohag Gazi and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza claimed one each.

Bangladesh lead the five-match series 2-1. The Tigers won the first two games in Khulna by seven wickets and 160 runs but West Indies won the third one-dayer by four wickets.

     

Captain, Vice Captain leading Bangladesh

Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim weathered the storm to put Bangladesh back on track in the fourth ODI against West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.

Vice-captain Mahmudullah and skipper Mushfiqur were batting as the Tigers rallied from 13-5 to reach 79-5 after 19 overs.

An inspired spell of fast bowling by skipper Darren Sammy and Kemar Roach broke the back of Bangladesh as the pair shared five wickets.

Sammy grabbed three wickets and Roach two

Sammy had Anamul Haque caught and bowled, forced Naeem Islam to be caught in the slips and then removed Mominul Haque caught at square leg.

Roach bowled Tamim Iqbal for a duck and induced an edge from Nasir Hossain.

Earlier, Sammy top scored with a gutsy 60 not out off 62 balls to help his side reach 211-9 in 50 overs after the hosts won the toss and put their opponents into bat. Darren Bravo added 34.

Mahmudullah was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Elias Sunny and Abdur Razzak took two wickets each. Shohag Gazi and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza claimed one each.

Bangladesh lead the five-match series 2-1. The Tigers won the first two games in Khulna by seven wickets and 160 runs but West Indies won the third one-dayer by four wickets.

Bangladesh wins against India by 5 wickets

Bangladesh Cricket National Team achieves a very prestigious 5-wicket win against India in the ongoing 4th match of Asia Cup of Cricket (ACC). It is also their 1st win against India in the history of ACC.

The ODI held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in the capital city of Dhaka of Bangladesh. In the day-night match, India bated first and scored 289 for five. India achieved the year long awaited Century for Sachin and also for the team.

But the Tigers! they thought they honoured Sachin but not India. They speed up wheel of run and won a very important and 3rd ODI victory against India.

Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh Team Captain made the winning boundary and run touched 293 for five.

Congratulations! Mr. Rahim.           

Bangladesh keeps hope on recent performance

Bangladesh Captain at Press
conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh   

Bangladesh Cricket Captain Sakib Al Hasan sees prospect of doing well as they have been performing continuously  in big matches playing good cricket.

"Back in 2007, there were uncertainty about performance and match results, but now most of the players think positively and behave accordingly," Mr. Sakib told media at a press conference here in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Friday.

Responding to queries on how confident was Bangladesh ahead of its first match against India in the World Cup scheduled tomorrow (on Saturday).

The World Cup event will begin with the day-night match at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka.

Sakib said Bangladesh want to defeat India and South Africa in the first round. "We are not thinking about India. We want to play a good cricket."

He told reporters at the stadium's media conference room that he had not targeted any opposition batsman for the match.

Asked to make comparison of the spinners of the teams, Sakib, a left-arm spinner himself, spoke of both.

He said Bangladesh batsmen were confident about playing well. "We are old enough to cope with the [pressure of] big matches."

He, however, admitted that the current Indian team was much stronger than it was in 2007. "They have improved a lot than the last World Cup."

"But, if we can push them to back-foot in the early overs, it will benefit us, no matter if they bowl or bat first," the Bangladesh skipper observed.

In response to another query whether the team had needed pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who was left out of the squad, the captain said that the current players in the squad were performing well.

"He played up-to-the-mark as long as he was in the team," he said about Mashrafe, who used to start with the new ball.

Bangladesh Cricket Squad for CWC 2011 without Mashrafe raises controversy

Bangladesh embracing ICC Cricket world cup for the first time on its own soil this year! The country will celebrate will celebrate the occasion with red and green flags! 17 crore people of country will salute the Proud Cricket Team in their each win. The pleasure of win on native country has comparison. So, every cricketer of organising three countries has a special attention for the upcoming World Cup Tournament scheduled to be celebrated during February 19 to April 2, 2011.

Everybody was waiting for the explosion that never burst. Hundreds of Journalists were present at the press conference at Mirpur were expecting a last moment drama, but all the fuss kicked the bucket once chief selector Rafiqul Alam announced the 15-member squad on January 19, 2011.

Almost everyone preferred silence because the Rafiqul-led three-member selection committee stuck to their squad without injured paceman Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, despite the pressure they had been facing from Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) technical committee, which ignited a lot of controversy over the team selection for the last couple of days.

The question was not only about whether injured paceman Mashrafe would be included in the team or not, but also about who between Mohammad Ashraful and Alok Kapali would be included. There was also a question about the inclusion of middle-order batsman Rokibul Hasan.

With these circumstances, everybody's focus was on the selection committee because the question was whether they could show their guts or whether they were going to swallow the bitter pill.

In the end Rafiqul came up with flying colours even though he looked nervous during the press conference as he announced a team made up of players who were part of the squad for the last two years, with no surprise inclusions.

When Rafiqul faced a volley of questions, BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal was beside him. Kamal surprisingly started to walk soon after the announcement of the team but after a hue and cry the BCB boss came back with the selectors to take questions from the media.

"Yes, it's our team. We discussed with everyone but ultimately we [the selection committee] took the final decision and it's nothing new," Rafiqul responded when he was asked whether this team is what they actually selected.

Coach Jamie Siddons and captain Shakib Al Hasan were also satisfied with the team.

"It was my team, I talked with the selectors and we discussed long and hard. There were lots of arguments and fights. Yes, the chief [Rafiqul Alam] fought for the team. I'm happy with the team," said a delighted Siddons.

"It is without Mashrafe who is probably our best bowler. I want him in the team and I hope he will recover in time. He will be our first replacement and I'm sure he'll come back. It would be better if he's fit by February 19," he said.

Chief selector Rafiqul, captain Shakib and coach Siddons echoed the sentiment that the World Cup is not over for pace spearhead Mashrafe.

"I think this is best possible side. I don't think the World Cup is over for him [Mashrafe]. I hope he will be okay before the start of the tournament proper and there is a scope to include him in the team. His heart might be broken but I have no doubt that he will come back strongly. He is a strong man and has proved it time and again," said Shakib speaking about Mashrafe.

Rafiqul also went on to explain why they had left out Mashrafe despite there being a precedent of including injured players, as seen in the selections of teams like India and Australia.

"You can't compare Mashrafe's injury with other players," said Rafiqul.

The former national cricketer also defended the inclusion of Mohammad Ashraful and left-arm spinner Sohrawordi Shuvo and explained why they didn't consider Alok Kapali in the team. Rafiqul rated this team highly as he said that there were eight batsmen who averaged over 30 in the line-up.

Rafiqul also said that they had the plan to design the team with three pacers and they mainly focused on the spin attack considering the conditions.

"We generally play with two pacers in this kind of condition, so there is no point to take one more pacer in the team," said Rafiqul.

"We picked three left-arm spinners against teams which are weak against the outgoing ball and have more right-handers," added Siddons.

Bangladesh, who co-host the tournament alongside India and Sri Lanka, open their campaign against India on 19th February in Dhaka.

As expected, Bangladesh have loaded their squad with spinners - Shakib, Abdur Razzak, Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam and Suhrawadi Shuvo all providing slow-bowling options along with the leg-spin of batsman Mohammad Ashraful.

However, a day-long strike was observed to press hone demand for inclusion of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in his own District Narail in Bangladesh on January 20, 2010. It is first time in the history of cricket that beloved people of a cricketer have observed strike for him.  

Bangladesh World Cup squad: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Abdur Razzak, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Roqibul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Tamim Iqbal.