‘We get down during partnerships’

It still feels surreal that Bangladesh have won their first-ever Test series against Pakistan 2-0 and that too on Pakistan soil.

The Tigers scripted the epic with a six-wicket win in the second and final Test in Rawalpindi yesterday, a week after their 10-wicket triumph in the opening Test at the same venue.

The watershed moment came when Bangladesh, set 185 for a memorable series sweep, reached the target in the fifth afternoon, with Shakib Al Hasan (21 not out) hitting the winning runs -- a boundary down the covers off leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed.

Mushfiqur Rahim, who struck a monumental 191 in the first Test, was at the other end unbeaten on 22.

If the first Test win was a statement of perseverance from the Tigers, the second Test was a captivating story of coming back from a precipice to the pinnacle, something witnessed very rarely in the history of Test cricket.

Reduced to a hopeless 26-6 in their first innings on the third morning in reply to Pakistan's 274, Bangladesh appeared to be in a similar situation of throwing up a good initiative they had done many times before.

However, a record 165-run stand between Liton Das and Mehedi Hasan Miraz for the seventh wicket irrevocably turned the game on its head before the pace trio of Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, and Taskin Ahmed put Bangladesh in pole position to win the game from the jaws of an embarrassing defeat.

In a rare demonstration of aggressive pace and swing bowing, which has been a hallmark of their more illustrious opposition, the pace trio shared all Pakistan wickets for 172 runs. Hasan was the wrecker-in-chief with 5-43.

Lanky right-arm pacer Nahid was a treat to watch with his pace and precision. The 21-year-old had top batters like Babar Azam, Shan Masood, and Saud Shakeel nibbling at those short-pitched deliveries to finish with 4-44.

Taskin took the other wicket to make sure Bangladesh pacers took all 10 opposition wickets in a Test innings for the first time.

The series win against Pakistan will go down as the best achievement for the Tigers in the longest format for not just the weight of the opposition, but also for the positive changes in mindset and improvements in all three departments of the game.

The biggest change is the coming of age of a pace bowling unit capable of putting sustained pressure. While Nahid provides raw pace, Hasan has that uncanny ability to move the ball both ways. With Taskin and Shoriful Islam, who missed the second Test due to a niggle, providing depth and Ebadot Hossain on a recovery trail, Bangladesh's pace unit appears to have turned into an important cog in an otherwise historically spin-dominated attack.

The shining light of the series was all-rounder Miraz. Coming in to bat at number eight, he featured in two match-winning partnerships -- 196 runs for the seventh wicket with Mushfiqur in the first Test where he scored 77, and 165 with Liton in the second Test where his contribution was 78.

Miraz finished with a series haul of 10 wickets and deservedly won the player of the series award.

An ageless Muhsfiqur provided that solidity in the middle-order with the bat. His 191 in the first Test was a masterclass from a master batter.
Liton has also lived up to his potential as a true successor to Mushfiqur. His 138 in the second Test might not be full of beans, but an innings of maturity under pressure.

The ground fielding, apart from those four dropped catches, was excellent and the fitness level of players in four gruelling days under scorching heat was commendable.

In the two Tests, Bangladesh were certainly the better side.

However, going into their next assignment later this month against India, the Tigers still have some areas to improve on, especially with the top-order batting.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto has been going through a lean patch with the bat and so has been Mominul Hoque, whose best in the series has been a half-century. Besides, against the quality attack of India, the openers Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan need to come up with a more compact defence to give Bangladesh solidity at the top.

Though Shakib was brilliant with the ball, he struggled with the bat. He was having some issues with his left eye [Central Serous Chorioretinopathy] and it was quite noticeable while he was batting and fielding. The team management needs to look into this issue considering the fact that Shakib bats in a key position for the team.

Despite having areas for improvement and the obvious challenges going forward, this series victory will further the confidence of the team that they can be competitive in the most demanding format of the game, not just at home but also away from home.

The last time Dharamsala hosted a one-day international in 2017, India's mighty batting line-up was dismissed for a paltry 112 by Sri Lanka, but Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha expects the tracks at the venue to assist big totals in the World Cup.

India's fall was down to swinging and seaming conditions at the picturesque venue surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and Hathurusingha said before Bangladesh's game against Afghanistan on Saturday they will take a late call on their playing side.

"The wickets look really good for one-day cricket. I thought very firm wicket, nice covering of grass," Hathurusingha said in a press conference. "I think it's a really good sporting wicket.

"I'm expecting some high scoring on this ground. The combination we will decide tomorrow morning and see the wicket again, because the curator said he'll do a little bit of work today as well on that wicket."

Hathurusingha understands it is still early days in the showpiece tournament but said Bangladesh have set themselves the target of reaching the semi-finals and backed the team to achieve that goal.

The South Asian side's best performance in the World Cup was a quarter-final appearance in 2015 and reaching the Super Eights in 2007.

"Yeah, we all want to win the World Cup... if we win four-five games, we give ourselves a chance to get to the semi-final - that is our first aim," Hathurusingha said.

"I think we have a good enough team to do that."

Afghanistan lost to Bangladesh the last time the teams faced off in the Asia Cup last month, but skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi can draw confidence from a 2-1 series win over them earlier in the year.

"We've played a lot with each other," Shahidi said.

"Sometimes we won, sometimes they won. In the Asia Cup, they beat us in the last game that we played with them - but we are totally ready here.

"We have had meetings, we prepare ourselves and we know them very well, so we will play accordingly and we will try our best as a team to bounce back in this game against them."

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s World Cup career was brought to an inauspicious end as the Tigers saved their worst performance for their final 2019 World Cup match, which they lost to Pakistan by 94 runs at Lord’s yesterday.

Although on paper it was a dead-rubber match, with Pakistan needing to win by an outrageous margin to find a semifinal place and Bangladesh already booted out of the race by their 28-run defeat to India on Tuesday, the Tigers had much to play for.

A win would have extended a dominant run against Pakistan to five successes on the trot and would also have given Bangladesh the fifth spot in the table. But their failings throughout a campaign that impressed outsiders came back to haunt them with a vengeance, resulting in Pakistan benefitting from a poor fielding effort and scoring around 30 or 40 runs more than what seemed to be a par score on a slowish track. For once in the tournament, Bangladesh’s batting could not put a positive spin on a defeat as the Tigers folded for 221 in just 44.1 overs in chase of 316. It was Bangladesh’s lowest total in eight matches of this edition.

The only positive for Bangladesh from the match, and it has been the same for much of the World Cup, was Shakib Al Hasan’s continued brilliance with the bat. The left-hander top-scored with 64 and that saw him make it back to the top of the tournament’s run-scorers’ list. He also became the only batsman after Sachin Tendulkar in 2003 to have seven 50-plus scores in a World Cup. Having finished on 606 runs, he is also the third batsman in World Cup history -- after Tendulkar and Matthew Hayden -- to go past the 600-run mark in a single edition of the mega event.

Mustafizur Rahman also picked up his second five-wicket haul on the trot, which shot him up to second in the tournament’s wicket-takers’ list, but that he gave away 75 runs while doing so spoke volumes of Bangladesh’s plight in this tournament -- a bowling and fielding unit that has just not been up to scratch.

In chase of a total that seemed manageable, especially after Bangladesh had cantered past West Indies’ 321 in Taunton on June 17, the disheartening aspect was the lack of fight displayed by the Tigers in the chase. Tamim Iqbal’s underwhelming World Cup met a tame end when a brilliant off-cutter from Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 11th over snuck through his defence and disturbed the furniture, dismissing Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer for eight off 21 balls. Soumya had departed earlier, hitting Mohammad Amir straight to point in the sixth over. That it was not going to be Bangladesh’s day was evident when Mushfiqur Rahim -- the other man in form -- inside-edged a Wahab Riaz delivery onto his stumps in the 18th over to leave the score on 78 for three.

Shakib persisted, seemingly batting on a different wicket than his teammates, and put on 58 for the fourth wicket with Liton Das, but Liton’s second soft dismissal in a row, check-driving Afridi to cover, was followed swiftly by Shakib’s dismissal, caught behind off the same bowler in the 33rd over.

With their talisman back in the hut and the score reading 154 for five, the fight had left the Tigers completely. Mahmudullah Riyad, coming back into the side after missing the match against India because of a calf muscle tear, scored 29 as Mosaddek Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin came and went. Mahmudullah was eighth out to Afridi, who completed a five-wicket haul with a swinging yorker that bowled Mahmudullah off his toes. Mashrafe came in and gave the crowd something to cheer about with sixes off Shadab Khan and Afridi, but was stumped off the former in the 44th over. Afridi then did not waste any time, bowling Mustafizur with a yorker to end up with figures of six for 35 -- Pakistan’s best individual figures in a World Cup.

Earlier, Pakistan’s innings was based around a 157-run second-wicket stand between centurion Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam. Babar, however, was given two lives in successive overs. Mosaddek Hossain dropped him off Mustafizur at point in the 26th over when the batsman was on 57 and then Mushfiqur Rahim failed to get a glove to an edge in the following over off Mosaddek’s bowling.

Instead of halting a threatening partnership that was yet not past the century mark after seven overs and leading up to Babar’s life had produced just 24 runs, Bangladesh conceded 43 runs in the five overs following Mosaddek’s miss. Mohammad Saifuddin was taken for two boundaries in the 32nd over but he broke through with the last ball, trapping Babar in front for 98-ball 96.

Imam then picked up the pace and reached his seventh ODI century off 99 balls, but was out to a freak dismissal off his next ball, when he stepped on to the stumps while flicking Mustafizur off his hips to be out hit-wicket in the 42nd over.

The score was then on 246 for three and Mehedi Hasan Miraz  -- the only Bangladesh bowler to make use of the slow conditions and keep a lid on the scoring -- made it 248 for four in the next over by getting Mohammad Hafeez caught at deep square leg.

Mehedi ended with figures of one for 30 from 10 overs -- no one else other than Shakib conceded runs at less than six an over. Mustafizur dismissed Haris Sohail to bring up his 100th ODI wicket in his 54th match.

In the 48th over, he surprised everyone and perhaps even himself when he took a brilliant catch, diving to his left and plucking the ball one handed inches off the pitch, to dismiss Shadab Khan off his own bowling.

Like he had done against India, Mustafizur took two wickets in the last over, dismissing Imad Wasim -- whose 26-ball 43 gave Pakistan the late-overs momentum -- and Mohammad Amir.

Like against India, however, it proved to be too little too late as Bangladesh’s fielding and bowling in the early stages cost them one last time.

If you look back, since 2015 we have played with a rhythm. We have played three pacers regularly in the ODIs and at times we have included four pacers in the line-up. So you can't base on the Test side and decide that you have to play like that. I will stick to playing three pacers and I want to play with it, that's confirmed. 

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza

Bangladesh ODI skipper 

When Mashrafe Bin Mortaza walks out to the middle with his troops to play his 200th ODI -- an achievement indeed for a cricketer who virtually needed a miracle to make it this far following one injury after another -- at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today, will all the fans embrace his success and his failures in the same manner as they did before?

This question may sound a bit off-putting but still many were curious about whether a bad spell from the inspirational captain or a defeat would create a negative noise from those who have criticised his venture into politics.

The man in charge however looked fully focused on signing off from his last cricketing mission this year in high spirits and the 35-year-old made it clear during the pre-match press conference yesterday that a good showing in today's first of a three-match series is important to achieve that.

There are reasons to put the home side ahead of the visitors -- their record against the Caribbean outfit, their overall ODI success this year that has seen them win 11 of 17 matches, a growing ability in the 50-over format, the rhythm the players are enjoying after their success in the Test series and, of course, the home advantage.

Despite all of these things, Mashrafe reminded of the 'muscle power' that the opponents possess, their fast bowlers' threat and their ability in shorter version games. He also stressed the need to properly read the mysterious Mirpur in the day-night contest with the dew-factor looming.

"No way can we think about a whitewash when we are yet to start the series. The first match is important. West Indies have muscle power and that is a factor. In this kind of format one or two [players] can change the game and they have some players who can destroy you. We have to be careful of that. The shorter format always suits them," Mashrafe said in an attempt to dilute any over-enthusiasm over a 3-0 whitewash, such as the one the Tigers enjoyed in their last meeting in July-August in the West Indies.

It is always good to keep the hype in control and Mashrafe did that as usual, but many will still believe that the Tigers will be favourites in this series if they can follow their captain's words: "the homework and its hundred percent execution must be in place, then a repeat of an away series success is not a high demand from them."

And, as Mashrafe said, the availability of two stalwarts -- Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal -- came as a relief to the team.

"It is huge advantage that both Shakib and Tamim are in the team. Returning from injuries, Shakib adjusted after the Test series but Tamim may take time despite his extraordinary innings in the practice match. Tamim may get better or worse as everyone needs time when returning from injury," Mashrafe said.

The skipper also gave some indication over his line-up, confirming the presence of three pacers, and when everyone was guessing who would partner Tamim to open the innings from among the three other in-form openers, he hinted that they would all be fielded in different positions.

With everything seemingly in his favour, Mashrafe is now looking to the mantra: 'All's well that ends well.'

England head coach Trevor Bayliss knows his side must shut out the noise of an expectant nation as they prepare for a first World Cup final in 27 years.

The host nation produced an inspired display to complete an eight-wicket victory over Australia at Edgbaston on Thursday and will meet New Zealand at Lord’s tomorrow.

With the showpiece event also being broadcast on a free-to-air platform following an agreement between rights holders Sky and Channel 4, expectations will be elevated even further.

Australian Bayliss, though, has called for calm as England look to go one better than they did in their last World Cup final appearance in 1992, when they lost against Imran Khan’s Pakistan in Melbourne.

“We had a chat in the changing room (at Edgbaston) afterwards and realised we have not won anything yet,” Bayliss told BBC radio.

“There is going to be a lot of noise around ‘you guys are now the favourites’, and all this type of thing -- we can’t listen to any of that.

“We have just got to concentrate on the way we have gone about our cricket over the past four years and what has got us to this point and go through our process.”

After Australia were all out for 223 in 49 overs, England opener Jason Roy struck a superb 85 from 65 balls as he put on yet another big stand with Jonny Bairstow to break the back of the run chase.

Roy was fined for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision after he was wrongly given out caught behind. Bayliss, though, feels the 28-year-old can soon put the incident behind him.

“I think it shows the passion Jason has got for the game, and it is such a big game as well, when he was on the verge of scoring a hundred,” the England head coach said.

“He will learn from that and go on to bigger and better things, I am sure.”

The Surrey batsman is expected to be in contention for a place in the Ashes squad but Bayliss was giving little away, keeping his focus on the one-day format.

Bayliss said the return of live international cricket to traditional free-to-air television for the first time since the 2005 Ashes was “an opportunity to influence another generation of young cricketers”.

The 56-year-old is set to step down at the end of his current deal in September, no matter what the summer brings.

“I have always been a believer that four or five years is long enough, whether you are doing well or not,” he said. “It is time for a new voice for the boys, to hopefully take them to another level.”