Bangladesh: Cricket
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
The India connection
• Won their first ODI match in Chennai when they beat Kenya in a Tri-series tournament in 1998
• Played India in the first-ever Test in Dhaka in Nov 2000
• Stun India in the WC in 2007 which potentially ended their campaign
• Beat India in Potchefstroom to win their first-ever world title [in Feb 2020].
2014-15: Historical achievements
The Times of India, Jul 16, 2015
Hijam Raju Singh
The rise and rise of Bangladesh cricket team
The Bangladesh team has created history almost every month in 2015, especially in one-day internationals. First, a historical World Cup quarter-final appearance, followed by maiden series wins over Pakistan and India and yesterday over South Africa. There must be something right going on with Bangladesh, considering that they are producing landmark results one after the other.
It all started in November 2014 when Zimbabwe toured the country, and were thrashed in the ODIs 5-0. A clean sweep indeed, but few looked beyond the results and the matches because it was supposed to be a contest between two minnows, though both are Test-playing nations.
The cricket world noticed the progress made by this young Bangladesh team in the ICC World Cup in March 2015, which was played in Australia and New Zealand. They were supposed to go out in the group stage from a pool comprising the co-hosts along with England and Sri Lanka. They were expected to beat the newcomers Afghanistan and Scotland, that's it. And it indeed started as per the script, as Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by 105 runs in their World Cup opener. In the next, they got lucky as their match against eventual champions Australia was washed out due to rain, giving them a valuable point on the way. Expectedly they lost to Sri Lanka (by 92 runs), and then went on to beat Scotland by six wickets.
But the real giant-killing happened in the next game, with the chances for a slot in the last eight stage bright, Bangladesh went to the match against England with five points in four matches. In a tightly contested game, after being sent in to bat first in Adelaide, Bangladesh post a competitive 275/7 (riding on a fine century by Mahmudullah and a fifty to Mushfiqur Rahim (89)). In a do-or-die match, the target was always going to be a steep one and it turn out so for England as they failed to chase it down, bowled out for 260 in 48.3 overs with Rubel Hossain (4/53) doing most of the damage. The win virtually put Bangladesh into the quarter-finals for the very first time in their history - their previous best were reaching the Super Eights in 2007.
The team which was written off from the start knocked out England from the tournament with that victory. Bangladesh again came very close to beating New Zealand in their last group match, but lost out by just three wickets after posting a creditable 289-run target for the Kiwis. They finally bowed out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals, losing to India by 109 runs, in which they blamed umpires for biased decisions.
The flames of winning big matches were ignited at Adelaide for a new-look Bangladesh side and when Pakistan toured in the next month they were ready for the challenge. The world noticed their winning spree when they whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 in the ODI series with three comprehensive victories in the series. They stunned Pakistan by 79 runs in the first, by seven wickets in second and eight wickets in the third match. Due to the erratic performances of Pakistan team in the past, the historic result was though appreciated but was not celebrated as much as it was deserved. But it gave a young Bangladesh team brimming with confidence another shot in their arm before India toured in June.
The Indian selectors send a full-fledged side for the tour to Bangladesh despite reports that a few senior players had requested for rest after a long season, comprising a tour to Australia, the World Cup and IPL. A strong Indian team was expected to win the series against their small neighbouring country but the results were totally out of the blue. The home team surprised everyone when they beat India comprehensively by 79 runs in the first ODI after posting a massive 308-run target. They followed it up by another crushing six-wicket victory over twice World Cup winners in the second match to seal the series 2-0, proving that they have actually taken strong strides in limited-overs cricket in the last few years.
It was their tenth straight ODI winsat home, which is not a small feat at all for any team, especially against Test-playing countries. India finally won the final ODI by 77 runs to avoid a series whitewash. The historic series win against Pakistan and India also made sure that Bangladesh qualified for the next ICC Champions Trophy.
It was a dream run indeed, albeit in home conditions, and when South Africa landed it was expected that Bangladesh's run would come to a stop. South Africa started their tour with two easy wins in the two-match T20I series but the real test was always in the ODIs, where Bangladesh are no longer pushovers. When the Proteas registered an easy eight-wicket victory in the first ODI it seemed that Bangladesh's streak had ended, but the home team was plotting different script altogether. In the next match, Bangladesh bundled out the visitors for just 162 runs in 46 overs and chased down the target with a whopping 134 balls to spare and with seven wickets in hand.
In the decider, the Tigers stamped their authority again by restricting South Africa to 168/9 in a rain-truncated 40-overs-a-side match. The D/L revised target for them was 170, which they achieved in just 26.1 overs with nine wickets in hand, wrapping up yet another historic series win in style.
Now it won't be wrong to suggest the touring teams to Bangladesh - 'Beware, the Tigers are on the prowl'.
2017
First Test win over Australia
Bangladesh record first Test win over Australia, Aug 30, 2017: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
Shakib celebrated his 50th Test appearance by scoring 84 and finishing with a 10-wicket match haul
Warner struck a belligerent 112 and added 130 runs with Smith but their efforts were in vain
Bangladesh took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series
DHAKA: Bangladesh spun their way to a first Test victory over Australia on Wednesday, with Shakib Al Hasan's second five-wicket haul of the match securing a memorable 20-run win inside four days at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.
Overnight batsman David Warner struck a belligerent 112 and added 130 runs with skipper Steve Smith but their efforts were in vain as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Chasing 265 to win, Australia lost five wickets in an eventful morning session, and whatever hopes they had were snuffed out when Shakib bowled Glenn Maxwell with the first delivery after the lunch break.
Pat Cummins scored an unbeaten 33 down the order to inject some drama but it was not enough in the end as Australia were all out for 244. Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim was delighted to record the country's first victory over Australia. "Obviously a great feeling, beating Australia," he said at the presentation ceremony.
"A great effort by the boys, especially Shakib and Tamim (Iqbal) were outstanding," he said of the duo, who featured in a 155-run partnership to rescue Bangladesh from a top order collapse in their first innings.
Shakib (5-85) celebrated his 50th Test appearance by scoring 84 in the first innings and finishing with a 10-wicket match haul, a performance worthy of his status as the world's top-ranked Test all-rounder.
He was the obvious choice for Man of the Match.
Resuming on 109-2, Warner batted with calculated aggression, while Smith was content to play second fiddle as they continued the good work they had started on Tuesday evening with some generous assistance from Lady Luck. Warner survived a review before the southpaw brought up his 19th Test century, a second in Asia. Then, when the opener was on 106, he pulled a Shakib delivery and the ball flew past leg-slip before the fielder could put his hands together.
Smith was on 28 when Tamim spilled him at mid-on but Shakib was lurking round the corner with his left-arm spin to change the complexion of the match. Shakib first trapped Warner leg-before for 112 and, four overs later, had Smith caught behind for 37 to pile the pressure back on Australia.
On a turning track where their frontline batsmen have struggled against Bangladesh's three-pronged spin attack, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade and Ashton Agar all fell in quick succession prior to lunch.
Cummins hit a couple of sixes in his aggressive innings but ran out of partners after Taijul Islam trapped Josh Hazlewood leg-before.
Smith said failing to pile up runs in the first innings had made their job tougher. "It was a great Test match, credit to Bangladesh the way they played," he added.
"We probably let ourselves down in the first innings with the bat, probably should have made a few more there. It was pretty difficult batting here in the second innings and I thought we did pretty well to get 240 in the end." Australia will slip one place to fifth in the Test rankings even if they level the series by winning the second Test in Chittagong from Monday. A second defeat would see them lose another place.
2018
Series win over W. Indies
Bangladesh cruise to series win, December 15, 2018: The Times of India
Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar slammed half-centuries as Bangladesh cruised to an eightwicket win over the West Indies in the third and final one-day international to take the three-match series 2-1 on Friday. Tamim hit an unbeaten 81 in the northeastern city of Sylhet while Soumya added 80 off 81 balls to guide Bangladesh to 202-2 in 38.3 overs after Mehidy Hasan's career best 4-29 helped the home side restrict the West Indies to 198-8 in 50 overs.
Shai Hope fought a lone battle for the tourists, scoring his second successive hundred of the series but it was in vain as no other batsman provided support.
Fresh from an unbeaten 146 off 144 balls in the previous match, Hope struck another unconquered knock of 108 off 131 to prop up the visitors, taking his tally in the series to 297 runs.
Bangladesh made a steady response, with Tamim and Liton Das hitting 45 runs for the opening wicket.
World Cup and Bangladesh
1999-2015: highlghts
Vivek Krishnan , June 2, 2019: The Times of India
Bangladesh’s best WC moments
Bangladesh made their World Cup debut 20 years ago when the tournament was last played in England. As The Tigers gear up to begin their 2019 campaign in England with a clash against South Africa, here are their four best moments
Vs Pakistan (1999), May 31, Northampton
Taking their initial steps in international cricket, debutants Bangladesh were considered mere pushovers heading into the 1999 World Cup. Pakistan, however, were at the receiving end of a rude jolt when they suffered a 62-run defeat against the minnows in the group stages. Having been restricted to 223 for 9 after Saqlain Mushtaq’s 5 for 35, the Bangladesh bowlers came to the fore and bundled out Pakistan for 161.
Vs India (2007), March 17, Port-of-Spain
Bangladesh sent shock waves through the cricketing world when they stunned India in the group stages of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. Against an Indian side replete with superstars, Bangladesh produced a stunning allround performance, restricting India to 191 before chasing it down with five wickets in hand. The win played a large part in Bangladesh progressing to the next stage while India had to take an early flight home.
Vs South Africa (2007), April 7, Providence
While the win against India in the 2007 WC may have been viewed as a one-off in certain sections, Bangladesh emphatically proved that it wasn’t so. In the Super Eight stage of the tournament, they went on to beat the muchfancied South Africa by 67 runs. Defending 251, Bangladesh’s trio of left-arm spinners – Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan successfully applied the breaks on the South African batsmen.
Vs England (2015), March 9, Adelaide
Bangladesh had managed to pull off some upsets in previous editions without going that extra mile. In the 2015 WC, though, they took a step in the right direction as they defeated England by 15 runs to make the quarterfinals of the tournament. Riding Mahmudullah’s century, they posted 275 for 7 and then capitalized on the uncertainty and nervousness of the Englishmen to restrict them to 260.
