Bangladesh lose tour opener

Bangladesh started off their tour campaign against a Queensland Academy of Sport XI over the weekend.

In an evenly fought match, Qld Invitational X1 took the honors but it wasn't at all one-way traffic for the local boys at Allan Border Oval.

Bangladesh won the toss and sent the local boys in and it worked wonders with Qld X1 losing early wickets and at one stage were 3-10 with some good bowling by Tapash Baisya, who had the two early wickets and finished with 3-33 off his 14 overs. Qld XI had relied on star batsmen LA Carseldine who batted well for his 92 (115), which included 15 fours and 1 six.

There were not too many other Qld batsmen to put there mark on the game except JR Hopes with 53 (79) and CD Hartley with 20 (43). All the other batsmen failed to get into double figures. Qld in the end were all out for 201.

Bangladesh's chase was also of sub standard as the touring party kept losing consistent wickets, however they did manage to pass the home sides score by 2 runs, thanks to a few handy contributions by the batsmen. Alok Kapali 55 (98), Mohammad Ashraful 39 (77) and Khaled Mashud 38 (82). J Hopes was the pick of the Qld bowlers with figures of 4-35 of 18 overs with 4 maidens.

So with the visitors having the slimmest of margins they tried to dominate the 2nd innings and that they did, DM Payne 52(71) and LA Carseldine 31*(60) were the only ones to put a mark on the scorecard as they where bundled for a miserable 176. A lead of only 174. Alok Kapali took 4-27 off his 10 overs and really ripped through the locals top and middle order.

Could this be the first victory on tour for the visitors?

The Qld XI stuck to the game plan and in a magical finish won by the smallest of margins. 29 runs were all that separated the 2 sides, with Bangladesh falling oh so short of that first tour win. Hannan Sarker 33 (103) and Habibul Bashar 33 (62) where the only 2 to get amongst the small total. The bowlers to take advantage were MacKenzie with 3-28 off 11 and Simpson with 2-15 off 7.5.

All in all a sub standard match for both sides, however showing that some talent is ready to flourish and prove themselves in the Australian tour.


Posted by Rob