ICC U-19 World Cup: Dream start for Bangladesh

Bangladesh enjoyed a good day at office as they vanquished the defending champions by 43 runs in the opening match of the U19 World Cup today.

After putting 240 on the board, Bangladesh never looked back as South Africa lost wickets in regular intervals.

Liam Smith was the highest scorer for the visitors. His 100 came from 146 balls. However, the next highest score in South Africa’s scorecard was 22.

For Bangladesh, Mehedi Hasan and Saifuddin took three wickets each, while Saeed and Saleh captured two each. None of the Bangladeshi bowlers conceded more than 4.28 runs per over, and were rewarded for their discipline.

The last Proteas fell in the 49th over when Tigers captain got the better of Whitehead. South Africa’s tailender managed 13 but couldn’t make any impression on the game.

Mohammad Saifuddin capped off his day with a wicket in the 48th over to bring Bangladesh to the cusp of victory. Philander was lbw for 6.

Mehedi Hasan gave Bangladesh their sixth wicket in the 42nd over when Sayanvala was caught in the deep for 17.

With over nine runs needed to the over, South African batters were desperate for the big hits, and Sayanvala perished going for glory.

Sayanvala managed 17 from 24, but needed to score quickly to lift his team out of the morass.

The fourth wicket stand of 52 between Galiem and Smith halted the slide of wickets, but the pace of scoring was too slow for their liking.

Saeed Sarkar returned in the 34th over and picked his second victim of the game. He clean bowled Galiem for 22 with a ball that gripped the surface.

Galiem faced 36 balls and couldn’t manage to hit even a single boundary in his knock.

With the required run-rate creeping above six, South Africa were dealt another blow when they lost their fourth wicket in the 21st over bowled by Saeed Sarkar.

Moonsamy moved across this crease and tried to work the ball across the line. The ball spun past his inside edge and struck the batter on the front pad in front of middle and off. The umpire raised his finger and sent back Moonsamy for five runs.

South Africa had to rely on ones and twos as Bangladesh bowlers dried up the boundaries with tight spells from both ends.

South Africa were rocked again in the 15th over when their captain de Zorzi was unfortunate to lose his wicket after spending considerable time at the crease.

Saifuddin captured his second wicket of the match when his yorker-length ball outside off was jammed by the Proteas captain. However, the ball spun back and rolled into the stumps.

With de Zorzi’s departure, the visitors were slowly slipping away in the chase, as the required run-rate climbed with every quiet over.

Bangladesh opening bowler Saifuddin knocked back Mulder’s off stump in the ninth over and went off to a wild celebration with the wicketkeeper.

Saifuddin was getting some movement with the new ball, and his third delivery in the over came in after pitching and went between the bat and pad of the batsman.

South Africa found the going quite tough after Mulder went for only eight runs with boundaries hard to come by.

Mehedi Hasan Miraz, captain of Bangladesh gave his team the first breakthrough in the third over with his off breaks when Proteas opener Verreynne was dismissed for one run.

Mehedi’s flighted ball outside off enticed the South African batsman to go for a booming drive. The ball turned just enough to catch the outside edge of Verreynne’s bat to the delight of Bangladeshi players.

Bangladeshi player is delighted after taking a wicket during the warm-up game of ICC U19 CWC in 2016. Photo: STAR

Earlier, South Africa managed to bowl intelligently during the last power-play section of the game to restrict Bangladesh to 240 for 7 in 50 overs.

Bangladesh lost wickets during important junctures of the match, particularly in the death overs that didn’t allow them to score heavily.

Nazmul Hossain was the last man to be dismissed, not before he steadied Bangladesh’s innings with a well-paced knock. He made 73 from 82 balls with four fours and three sixes.

He was the highest scorer in this match, while Pinak and Joyraz got out in the forties.

For the visitors, Wiaam Mulder was the most successful bowler with three wickets for 42 runs in nine overs. Sipamla, Whitehead and de Zorzi picked up a wicket each.

Saeed Sarkar failed to fire late in the innings as South Africa’s Sipamla sent him back in the 46th over to stifle Bangladesh’s scoring rate.

Sipamla’s full delivery was drilled down the ground by Saeed where Moonsamy took a running catch at long-on.

Bangladesh lost their fifth wicket in the death overs when the batsmen were desperate to up the ante. Zakir Hasan fell in the 45th over after a handy 45-run stand with Nazmul.

Zakir scored 19 from 25, and turned over the strike to his partner as often as he could.

Tigers skipper Mehedi Hasan was dismissed by his counterpart de Zorzi in the 38 th over, after the batter consolidated the innings with Nazmul.

Mehedi scored 23 from 38 balls with three fours, but helped his side to into the last ten overs of the game with enough wickets in hand to throw the bat around.

When South African bowlers sensed an opportunity to make further in-roads into Bangladesh’s batting line-up, Nazmul Shanto and captain Mehedi Hasan consolidated with sensible batting.

Both Shanto and Mehedi were content to rotate the strike, kept out the god balls and dispatched the loose balls away. Their 50-run partnership in 68 balls gave the hosts hope of a challenging total against the defending champions.

After being the cause of his partner’s dismissal with a bad call, Joyraz followed Pinak back to the pavilion in the 24th over.

The 29-run 3rd wicket stand was beefed up by Joyraz’s knock, but his wicket allowed the visitors to put more pressure on the Bangladeshi middle order.

Joyraz faced 50 balls for his 46. He struck six fours and a six during his stay at the wicket.

South Africa began to dictate terms in the field, mainly by tight bowling and managed to get a crucial breakthrough against the run of play in the 20th over.

Joyraz Sheik took off for a suicidal run after he steered the ball to cover. The ill-judged run left Pinak high and dry as the fielder was alert to the situation.

Pinak and Joyraz managed to consolidate with their 44-run stand, but cannot blame anyone else for the dismissal to end the second wicket partnership.

Pinak got going after a slow start, smashed 43 from 51 balls with four fours and two sixes to his name. 

After spending considerable time at the wicket, Saif Hassan threw away his wicket in a moment of sheer madness.

Saif wanted to hit his way out of frustration, since he was kept quiet by South African bowlers for extended periods of time. Bangladesh opener went down the wicket to a short ball outside off, tried to smash it over cover but only managed a chunky edge to the keeper.

The first Bangladeshi wicket to fall scored six runs from 31 balls, and hardly managed to rotate the strike with Pinak going great guns at the other end.

Pinak accelerated after a slow start, and began to put the bad balls away with relative ease. He was particularly good on the back foot, and had already showed his class with a six over midwicket that screamed from his bat.

After three maiden on the trot, Bangladesh openers began to score with some full deliveries, and looked far more composed than earlier.

With time, both Saif and Pinak became more aware of the loose balls, and pierced the gaps regularly to get things going.

South Africa used spin from the onset, and managed to make it extremely difficult for Bangladesh batters, particularly Saif Hassan to score.

Mehedi Hasan, captain of Bangladesh did not waste any time when the coin fell in his favour, and promptly decided to bat first on the placid track at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong against the defending champions South Africa.

Tigers have shown their superiority with the bat and ball in home conditions over West Indies in January, and kept up the momentum coming into this world cup with resounding victories over Zimbabwe and England in the warm-up matches.

South Africa, led by Tony de Zorzi are among the four teams with England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe to enter this tournament with fresh faces. Lawrence Mahatlane, the former assistant coach of Lions who took over the coaching duties of the Under-19 national team from Ray Jennings last year, was confident that he had the right squad to defend their title.

The Proteas brushed aside Fiji by 283 runs in their first warm-up match, but ended up with a tie against West Indies in the 35-overs game at Fatullah. Their top-order batters have got starts, and the middle order shored up by Zorzi, Moonsamy and Mulder make the defending champions a strong side on paper.

Bangladesh: S Hassan, P Ghosh, J Sheik, NH Shanto, M Hasan, Z Hasan, S Hayet, S Sarkar, S Saha, A Halim, SA Shawon

South Africa: L Smith, K Verreynne, W Mulder, T de Zorzi, R Moonsamy, D Galiem, F Sayanvala, W Ludick, L Philander, S Whitehead, L Sipamla

Bangladesh batsman in action during the warm-up game of the ICC U19 CWC 2016. File Photo: STAR