Bangladesh players stretch during a training session at the Clontarf Cricket Club Ground in Dublin on Monday. — Courtesy photo
Bangladesh will take confidence from their clinical performance against West Indies when they take on Ireland in their second match of the tri-nation one-day international tournament at the Malahide ground in Dublin today.
The match will start at 3:45pm Bangladesh Standard Time and will be televised live by GTV and Maasranga TV.
The Tigers could not have expected to start the tournament in a better way than with an eight-wicket win over West Indies in their Tuesday’s opening game at the caste avenue.
Bowling first in the match, Bangladesh spinners choked West Indies in the middle overs before skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza completed the fight back to restrict West Indies to a gettable 261-9.
Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar then put a record 144-run opening stand to set up the base for a commanding win, which lifted the morale of the side after a disappointing loss in the warm-up match.
‘Everyone will feel more confident now I’m sure because we don’t have clinical performance in too many matches,’ all-rounder Sakib al Hasan told reporters on Wednesday ahead of Ireland game.
‘The whole team’s performance was very good, everyone contributed. It’s a great thing for the players. Naturally, you can tell how confident everyone is by just looking at them.
‘Before the first match many might have had confusions but now I think it will lessen,’ added Sakib.
Sakib’s performance was crucial in the West Indies game as he played his first 50-over match in more than six months.
The all-rounder, who had to sit out during most of the recent matches in Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament took very little time to get back in the groove once he joined the national team set-up.
‘Of course it feels good. I played a match almost after six months for the national team. There was nervousness, but as I had performed in the practice match I was confident,’ Sakib said.
‘But doing well against West Indies and such a bowling attack was definitely a relief. The start has been good now we have to continue it,’ he said.
Sakib, who claimed 1-33 before playing an unbeaten knock of 61, however, did not take single credit for the convincing win, rather hailed his bowling partnership with Mehedi Hasan.
Mehedi earned the first breakthrough after an 89-run opening stand with his second ball before maintaining pressure on West Indies batsmen to complete his 10 overs with 1-38.
‘I feel that the turning point in the match was our bowling partnership. At that time we bowled 7-8 overs without conceding a lot of runs and taking two wickets. I feel that it was a very big turning point,’ said Sakib.
‘The way they had started at one stage we thought they are going to score 300-320. There I feel we two played a very vital role. Then the others backed us up,’ he said.
Sakib, who is also the vice-captain of the side, however is aware that the situation could be different against Ireland, especially with the weather turning more cold and raining in Dublin.
Bangladesh had to cancel their practice session on Wednesday due to rain though Sakib said they will find one or other way keep them warm.
‘If you are very involved in the match you won’t feel the cold that much,’ he said.
Ireland have little to lose after being thrashed by West Indies in the tournament opener. They could do little to stop West Indies to record a 196-run win after John Campbell and Shai Hope put a record opening stand but a spirited show against England before the tri-series must give them some courage.
Bangladesh played two matches against Ireland in Malahide, with rain washing out the first match and Tigers recording an eight-wicket win in the other game.
Source: New Age.
