Tri-series, Match 4, IRE v BAN Review: Bangladesh register first win on tour

When Ireland had faced Bangladesh in the tri-series opener a few days ago, the two sides had left the venue disappointed. It was a disappointing start to the series as the match was washed out. In the next couple of games, both teams ended up facing defeats at the hands of New Zealand. Now, they were up against one another for the 4th game of the series.

Coming into the game, both sides looked for their first win of the series. Bangladesh won the toss and had opted to bowl first. Ireland had a horrid start to their innings as Paul Stirling was dismissed for a duck in the very second over by Mustafizur Rahman. Skipper William Porterfield came into to bat at number 3 and joined Ed Joyce at the crease. The two senior players joined hands to bail out the hosts from trouble.

Porterfield perished after having scored a quick 22 off 25 balls with 3 fours and a six to his name. Mosaddek Hossain Saikat was the wicket-taker on the occasion. Andrew Balbirnie could not do much and headed back to the pavilion after scoring 12 runs to leave Irish side reeling on 61/3. Centurion from the previous game, Niall O’Brien then added 55 runs for the 4th wicket with Ed Joyce at the crease, O’Brien became Mustafizur’s second wicket on the night after having scored 30 off 42 deliveries.

Meanwhile, Joyce, who had looked set at the crease, also perished in quick succession with a fighting 46 to his name that came off 74 balls. Sunzamul Islam was the beneficiary on this occasion. Wickets kept tumbling in clusters since then as no Irish batsman could show resistance. George Dockrell, who had come in at number 8, chipped in with a crucial cameo of 25 runs with 50 balls. His efforts saw Ireland finish with 181 after being bowled out in 46.3 overs. Mustafizur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers with 4/23 to his name in the 9 overs that he bowled.

Sarkar guides the run chase

In the run chase, the Bangladesh side were led from the front by their openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar. Both batsmen had lost out on scoring opportunities in the previous game after getting good starts against New Zealand. This time around, they took the attack to the opposition right from the word go. They attacked the opposition bowling and made them look very ordinary.

Tamim and Sarkar put on a 95-run stand for the opening wicket off just 83 balls. It was the O’Brien brothers who combined together to break the partnership. Tamim was caught by Niall O’Brien off the bowling of Kevin O’Brien on 47 that came off 54 balls in the 14th over. In walked Sabbir Rahman to join Sarkar at the crease. Sabbir looked in fine form as Sarkar continued his good show too.

Sarkar notched up his fifty in quick time. It was his second consecutive fifty and the sixth in his ODI career. Rahman departed with Bangladesh needing 11 more runs to win. He scored a quick 35 off just 34 balls with 3 fours and a six. In the end, an unbeaten 87 off 68 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes saw the Bangladeshi side register a thumping 8 wicket win in the match.

Brief Scores:

Ireland 181/10 in 46.3 overs (Joyce 46, Niall 30, Mustafizur 4/23, Mortaza 2/18)

Bangladesh 182/2 in 27.1 overs (Sarkar 87*, Tamim 47)

Check full scorecard here.