Bangladesh Cruise to a Clinical Victory
|| CF Correspondent ||
The way that fortunes can change for cricket teams in the space of just a few days was vividly demonstrated at a cold and cloudy Clontarf.Only days after Bangladesh suffered an unexpected 88 run defeat to the Ireland A team while simultaneously the West Indies were enjoying a comprehensive record breaking victory over Ireland, both teams experienced a reversal in fortune when they faced each other in Clontarf, Dublin.
Bangladesh and the West Indies have been familiar and well matched foes over recent months, with strong world cup ambitions, so a keenly contested game was expected in this new encounter. The clash was taking place at Clontarf Cricket Club, in a leafy suburb of Dublin. The world record opening stand of 360 runs between Hope and Campbell on the same ground just a few days previously was always going to be a tall order to surpass or even match. The partnership couldn’t be repeated as Campbell wasn’t in the starting eleven due to a sore back.
Hope performed in similar vein to his gigantic innings, looking untroubled during a patient start to his innings, accumulating runs at will with a straight bat in a classy manner. His century was warmly applauded and when his innings came to an end it looked like tiredness had crept into his game, as he was out caught following an uncharacteristically loose shot. Entirely understandable given the number of overs he had batted in his last 2 innings not to mention his wicket keeping duties.
All of the Bangladesh bowlers chipped in with wickets, Shakib and Miraz initially doing well to slow down the West Indian start to the game and the ever inspirational Mashrafe, leading from the front, picking up 3 wickets for his clever bowling. The way the bowlers, backed up with astute aggressive fielding, sparked a West Indies collapse that will please the team management hugely.
As a seasoned watcher of the Bangladesh cricket team, I’ve never been totally convinced of their fielding ability, there certainly are good athletes in the team but all too often fielding displays are typified by lapses and a lack of aggression. I was genuinely surprised by how accomplished they looked in the field in this match, the ground fielding was tidy and the catching in the deep was really impressive.
Shakib’s full length dive and catch on the long off boundary was the stand out moment of the fielding display, moving quickly to his left he expertly pouched a straight hit from Carter that looked destined for the boundary boards. The handful of hardy spectators in the stand behind Shakib had an excellent view of the catch, a reward for the grim weather that they had to endure.
Although it wasn’t a record breaking partnership, in reply the opening stand of 144 between Tamim and Sarker broke the back of the run chase and meant that the batters who came in after the fall of their wickets were never under pressure to score quickly. Both openers played sensible controlled innings, everyone knows what Tamim is capable but hopefully Sarker’s innings will be the start of greater consistency for him ahead of the World Cup.
The last time I watched these two teams play one another six months earlier, it was a grey and unseasonably cool day in Sylhet, Bangladesh. This prompted a good amount of grumbling from me, however the weather conditions in Dublin were in an altogether different league. During my entire stay I’m convinced the temperature never reached double figures, biting winds coming off the Irish sea coupled with skies in varying shades of grey made watching 100 overs of cricket a trial.
The players appeared to find conditions equally uncomfortable, the Bangladesh team were in several layers of clothing, including woolly hats and gloves during practice. During the game against Ireland wolves, I even spotted the Bangladesh team management returning from a hastily arranged shopping trip with several bags of thermal clothing. They can only hope that the weather drastically improves in England and Wales throughout June.
In any case the conditions experienced in Ireland will certainly help them acclimatise and be ready to face the vagaries of the UK weather. The poor weather combined with the weekday schedule meant that only a very moderate number of spectators turned out. Throughout the day the few spectators that were in the stands became even fewer as they sought shelter from the increasingly oppressive chill.
Bangladesh should take great heart and confidence from such an accomplished victory and have created an important psychological advantage ahead of the most important meeting between these two teams, on June 17th in Taunton, England. Qualification for the knock out stages could hinge on the result of that match so a repeat performance of today’s victory would be massively desirable
