Bangladesh: A quest for glory. [Mediocre ICC 2005 tale]

[NZTailender]

I am now in charge of Bangladesh, after quitting as NZ cricket supremo.

I've 'skipped' all the Bangladeshi matches so I'm up to past where I last played a game as NZ, to make this story continue on from last

Anyway, here we go.

My first test in charge, somewhat ironically, would also be against Zimbabwe. I'm pleased about this as we have a chance of winning the series.

I'm picking a young squad with a few old experienced players for overseas tours but younger teams for home series, so the future will be bright.
I'm not looking at immediate success but a long term plan to conquer the cricketing world!

So, here's the XII for the home series vs Zimbabwe.

Openers
Nafees Iqbal (21). Bat FC 35 matches 1872 runs @ 34.04. 3 100's and 11 50's.
Ashraful Islam (19). FC 10 matches 405 @ 27.00. 1 century.

Middle Order
Atiqur Rahman (19). FC 12 matches 761 @ 40.04. 1 century 5 50's.
Aftab Ahmed (20). FC 23 matches 1174 @ 30.10. 3 100's 4 50's. Tests 4 matches 172 @ 21.50 1 half-century.
Rajin Saleh (22). FC 50 matches 2969 @ 37.58. 7 100's 14 50's. Tests 13 matches 748 @ 29.92 4 50's.
Ishraq Sonet (18). FC 13 matches 299@ 19.00. 1 half-century.

Wicket-keepers
Arif Ahmed (19). FC 22 matches 1049 @ 29.97. 2 100's 5 50's. 46 catches 8 stumpings. Tests 2 matches 56 @ 14.00. 2 catches.

All-rounders
Manjural Islam (21). 41 matches 1836 @ 33.38. 1 century 9 50's. Tests 7 matches 307 @ 30.70. 1 half-century.
Bowl SLA FC 1239 Overs 3367 runs 131 wickets @ 25.70.

Fast Bowlers
Shafaq Al-zabir (19). LMF FC 20 matches 577 1592 75 @ 21.23.
Rezaul Haque (23). LMF FC 41 matches 1122 2659 129 @ 20.61. Tests 4 matches 121 336 6 @ 56.00.
Anwar Hossain (24). RFM FC 26 matches 905 2692 95 @ 28.34. Tests 1 match 21 95 0 wickets.

Spin
Arafat Sunny (19). SLA FC 24 matches 868 2323 93 @ 24.98.

First XI for the first test vs Zimbabwe.
1. Ashraful Islam
2. Nafees Iqbal
3. Rajin Saleh
4. Ishraq Sonet (c)
5. Atiqur Rahman
6. Arif Ahmed (WK)
7. Manjural Islam
8. Arafat Sunny
9. Rezaul Haque
10. Anwar Hossain
11. Shafaq Al-zabir

Chose the youngest, most inexperienced team I could find. But these guys are going to be stars and I'm on some fairly heavy Chitta-Crack it would seem

Throwing them in at the deep end! Hopefully it won't be an innings defeat. Let's get 'em!

Zimbabwe's line-up for the first test:

1. M Vermuelen
2. S Carlisle
3. G Ewing
4. M Goodwin
5. L Mutyambizi
6. K Went
7. T Gripper
8. N Ferreira (wk)
9. H Streak (c)
10. D Hondo
11. M Mbangwa

 

[_Ed_]

This looks good.

Good luck! I've had a go with Bangladesh and it wasn't pretty, hopefully you'll do better!

 

[NZTailender]

Progress scores:

Bangladesh won the toss and batted.

At Stumps on day 1
Bangladesh 2 for 212
A Islam 26
N Iqbal 96 N.O.
R Saleh 62
I Sonet 15 N.O.
H Streak 1-62
D Hondo 1-67

Bangladesh all out 545.
N Iqbal 163
A Rahman 89
G Ewing 4-88
H Streak 3-142

Stumps Day 3
Zimbabwe 5 for 249.
G Ewing 107 N.O.
S Carlisle 52
M Islam 3-84
A Sunny 2-88

Zimbabwe all out 340.
G Ewing 134
S Carlisle 52
M Islam 5-125
A Sunny 5-135

Zimbabwe followed on.

Zimbabwe's second innings.

Zimbabwe 288 all out.
L Mutyambizi 97
H Streak 46
R Haque 3-43
M Islam 2-59

Bangladesh needed 89 for victory.

Bangladesh's second innings.

Bangladesh 2 for 81
A Islam 37 N.O.
N Iqbal 21
D Hondo 1-21
G Ewing 1-23

Match Drawn.

 

[NZTailender]

This looks good.

Good luck! I've had a go with Bangladesh and it wasn't pretty, hopefully you'll do better!

LOL, thanks Ed It isn't pretty for me right now. Ok sure not that bad, even a 100+ partnership...but so bloody slow scoring. As soon as I tuned them up to aggressive..bang..wickets lost LOL.

 

[RKJ]

As if the mighty Mohammad Ashraful cant get a gig in your team he is the best. Good start to the test though for the young lads though.

 

[NZTailender]

As if the mighty Mohammad Ashraful cant get a gig in your team he is the best. Good start to the test though for the young lads though.

He'll definitely make my touring side when Bangladesh go abroad

 

[NZTailender]

Aaaaargh! So close to a wonderful win first up! We just batted too slow. We had a session and 20 minutes to win but we only managed 10 at the end of session 2 and then we were looking good in the final session on day 5 when we lost a wicket, and then another wicket straight away. That was when I tried to up the aggressiveness. With 3 overs left and 16 to get I thought we'll still make it, agressive 5. Maiden over, damnit, and then 6 on the next over! then a couple the final..

In the first innings after the initial quicks spell the spinners started form both ends and I just bowled them out. They ended up with 44 overs and 43.1 overs each and 5 wickets each! The second innings everyone who bowled got a wicket, so that was encouraging.


Our batting in the first innings exceeded what I expected. Even after the slow first day of only 212 runs the second was good because we were only 2 down and we hit out and put on 300 and then some more the next morning from the tail.

But very very positive signs to take into the second test

So an unchanged line up!

1. Ashraful Islam
2. Nafees Iqbal
3. Rajin Saleh
4. Ishraq Sonet (c)
5. Atiqur Rahman
6. Arif Ahmed (WK)
7. Manjural Islam
8. Arafat Sunny
9. Rezaul Haque
10. Anwar Hossain
11. Shafaq Al-zabir

Zimbabwe's XI
1. M Vermuelen
2. S Carlisle
3. G Ewing
4. M Goodwin
5. L Mutyambizi
6. K Went
7. T Gripper
8. N Ferreira (wk)
9. H Streak (c)
10. D Hondo
11. M Mbangwa

Both sides unchanged...

 

[NZTailender]

Zimbabwe won the toss and batted.
Stumps Day 1 of the 2nd Test
Zimbabwe 6 for 282
S Carlisle 117
G Ewing 68
M Islam 5-41
A Hossain 1-60

M Islam takes a hat trick to finish off the innings!!!!!

Zimbabwe all out 330
S Carlisle 117
G Ewing 68
M Islam 8-68
A Hossain 1-60
A Sunny 1-115

Bangladesh all out 219
N Iqbal 70
I Sonnet 53
D Hondo 3-59
H Streak 3-77

Zimbabwe all out 213
K Went 58
M Vermuelen 35
A Sunny 5-53
M Islam 2-25

Bangladesh 9 for 326
R Saleh 108
A Rahman 82
M Islam 58 N.O.
D Hondo 4-80
M Mbangwa 2-34

Bangladesh win by 1 wicket.

Man of the match: M Islam.

 

[Graham]

All the best in this test. Is it a two test series?

 

[NZTailender]

All the best in this test. Is it a two test series?

Yeah I think we can win this one, especially after Manjural's hat-trick!!!

 

[NZTailender]

Bangladesh have 2 and a bit days to get 325 runs. Looking for a big win here!!!

 

[NZTailender]

Bangladesh need 325 runs to win with about 2 and a half days to go! We're going to bat really really slow, I know it

 

[NZTailender]

BANGLADESH PULL OFF THRILLING 1 WICKET WIN!

When Bangladesh came into bat on the 4th day (the 3rd day ending after Zimbabwe got bowled out?) We batted slow. Agonisingly slow. 53 runs were added in the first session, and 60 in the second.
We lost A Islam for 9, followed by captain Sonnet for a duck then Iqbal for 20. Things looked very shakey.
Then Saleh and Rahman combined for a 182 run partnership for the second wicket. At stumps on day 4 we looked to be cruising! 4 for 224 with just 100 remaining to get.

The first ball on day five Rahman is out for 82.

Next over, Saleh is out for 108.

Now things are looking down.
M Islam is in with the keeper Ahmed. Ahmed falls for 11 (partnership 25), Sunny for a duck and we're looking to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Cricket's a funny old game, eh?
And it just gets funnier.

Manjural Islam, who took a hat trick on his way to 8 wickets in the first innings with another 2 in the second, combines with Haque for 19 runs, then Hossain for only two. Last wicket and we need 55.

I thought we were gone.
S Al-bazir scores 14 from 46 to help Manjural win the game. Manjural Islam hits 58 from 163 and wins us the test that moments ago looked all but lost.

Of course, he gets man of the match. This guy is a star.

The test is won. The series is won. With this confidence we're looking foward to the next series.

 

[_Ed_]

Great win! Good stuff.

 

[NZTailender]

Game 1 of the 3 match One Day International series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Not expecting as much from these as the tests. I'm really looking to build a test team.

Bangladesh XI
1. Nafees Iqbal
2. Ashraful Islam
3. Rajin Saleh
4. Ishraq Sonet (c)
5. Atiqur Rahman
6. Arif Ahmed (WK)
7. Manjural Islam
8. Mohammad Ashraful
9. Rezaul Haque
10. Syed Rasel
11. Anwar Hossain

New players brought in:
Mohammad Ashraful (21). LS. One Day Bat 71 959 @ 14.53. 5 50's. Bowl 200 1022 35 @ 29.20. One Day Int. Bat 37 564 @ 16.11. 4 50's. Bowl 50 306 8 @ 38.25
His current domestic one day record edged him in, with an average of 19 @ 27.53.

Syed Rasel (21). LFM. One Day Bowl 260 1059 53 @ 19.98.


Zimbabwe's XI
1. M Vermuelen
2. S Carlisle
3. G Ewing
4. M Goodwin
5. L Mutyambizi
6. K Went
7. N Ferreira (wk)
8. H Streak (c)
9. G Brent
10. R Price
11. D Hondo

 

[NZTailender]

Argh! We nearly won! With three runs to get on the last ball of the day, R Haque got bowled out attempting a sweep shot. We needed 16 off the last over and managed 13. Good laugh.

Zimbabwe 9 for 207 after 50.
S Carlisle 60
H Streak 33 N.O.
R Haque 3-36
A Hossain 3-53

Bangladesh 8 for 205 after 50.
I Sonet 68
A Rahman 48
D Hondo 3-31
R price 2-40

Zimbabwe won by two runs.

Man of the match: S Carlisle

 

[NZTailender]

Unchanged line up for the 2nd One Dayer. Again it came down to the last over! Zimbabwe got there in the end...

Bangladesh 9 for 189 from 50
M Islam 50
A Ahmed 47
I Sonet 44
G Ewing 4-41
R Price 2-33

Zimbabwe 4 for 190 from 49.5
G Ewing 77 N.O.
L Mutyambizi 36
M Islam 2-23
R Haque 1-33

Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets.

Man of the match: G Ewing

 

[NZTailender]

Hurrah! A consolation win in the final one dayer.
Again, unchanged lineups...

Bangladesh 8 for 209 from 50
I Sonet 94
A Ahmed 41
D Hondo 5-38
G Brent 2-46

Zimbabwe 182 all out from 44.3
G Ewing 48
S Carlisle 35
M Ashraful 6-57
M Islam 3-36

Bangladesh won by 27 runs.

Man of the match: M Ashraful.

 

[_Ed_]

Good performance in that series, Sonet looks a class player.

 

[NZTailender]

Thanks Ed!

Sonet is great. Only 18 and I threw the captaincy on him. Even though he averaged only 19 in FC. He's going to be in my squad for a while now.