A 50-over game lasting only three hours isn’t the best advertisement for a season opener, but that is what happened as the national side trounced the GP-BCB National Cricket Academy by six wickets in the opening game of the BCB Cup yesterday.
There were hardly any demons in the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium wicket as the youngest lot in the competition rolled over for just 75 runs in 20.4 overs. Bangladesh took only 19 overs, but lost four wickets in their pursuit of the measly target.
Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam had a field day, changing lengths at will and troubling the Academy top-order with their pace and bounce. Shafiul began the rot by cutting through Anamul Haque’s defences in the third over before Rubel joined in, trapping No 3 Mominul Haque for a duck and the other opener Myshukur Rahman for 18.
Mushfiqur Rahim, leading the national team, took a splendid diving catch to remove Sabbir Rahman before the spinners took out the next four wickets. Sohrawardi Shuvo, fighting to retain his spot in the national team for the West Indies series, took three wickets before Rubel ended the Academy innings in little over an hour.
Rubel ended up with a four-wicket haul from 7.4 overs, taking full advantage of the Academy batsmen’s peculiar frailty against the short ball, even on a wicket that had the usual freshness of the early season.
Tamim took the opposition on but the left-hander’s flashes were slightly out of sync as he missed more than he connected. Even then, five boundaries and a six in a 37-ball 36 was shaping up to a half-century but a terribly executed pull shot had him bowled by Alauddin Babu.
The all-rounder also took the wicket of Imrul Kayes who gave Tanvir a catch at slip. Later, the Tigers lost two more — Shahriar Nafees and Shuvogoto Hom — with the left-hander falling to a beauty from Sohag Gazi.
The off-spinner beat his divisional captain with a fine off-break. Alok Kapali however slammed a six and three fours in his run-a-ball 22 to take the Tigers to what turned out to be a facile win.
BRIEF SCORES
GP-BCB NCA: 75 all out in 20.4 overs (Tanvir 24 not out; Rubel 4-22, Shuvo 3-10, Shafiul 2-26).
BANGLADESH: 79-4 in 19 overs (Tamim 36, Kapali 22 not out; Alauddin 2-15).
Result: Bangladesh won by six wickets.
-With The Daily Star input
