Bangladesh began their campaign in the ICRC T20 Cricket Tournament for people with disabilities in style as they defeated seasoned England by 14 runs in one of the two opening matches at the BKSP on Friday. A fine all-round performance from Drupam Patranabish Tirtho guided Bangladesh to a thrilling win in front of some jubilant home supporters as the hosts restricted England to 103-7 after putting a challenging 117-8.
In the other match of the day, one-handed Matloob Qureshi ignited the show with his unbeaten half-century as Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by eight wickets with four overs to spare.
Matloob scored unbeaten 55 runs as Pakistan reached 121-2 in 15.6 overs after Afghanistan were dismissed for 118 in 18.4 overs.
Bangladesh v England
Left-arm spinner Tirtho picked up 3-12, including two wickets in last overs, helping the hosts start their mission on a right note as England crumbled against his turn and bounce in an unfamiliar hot and humid condition.
The tie was originally set for Wednesday after the tournament’s inauguration at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium but heavy rain forced the authority to revise the schedule.
Asked to bat first, Bangladesh put on a fighting 117-8 before Tirtho backed by some sharp fielding and disciplined bowling by others left the Englishmen awe-struck.
Chasing 118 to win, England lost an early wicket but Jamie Goodwin and Callum Flynn brought the innings back on track putting 41 runs for the second wicket.
Apurbo Khan broke the resistance by sending Goodwin (31) back but Flynn still posed some threat.
Tirtho began his trickery through removing Flynn (33) that also brought back Bangladesh back in the game and they slowly took control of the match by pushing England towards defeat.
Earlier, Apurbo Kumar Paul (22) and skipper Alam Khan (19) held Bangladesh innings together before Tirtho (17) and Monirujjaman (14) ensured that their bowlers had a defendable total in scoreboard.
‘I just concentrated on my line and was keen not to give away runs knowing that it would put them into pressure,’ Tritho, who was born with just two fingers in his right hand, said after the match.
Pakistan v Afghanistan
Pakistan’s Matloob lived up to his reputation of first ever international centurion of disabled cricket, hit the first fifty of the tournament to steer his side for a simple win over Afghanistan.
One-handed Matloob scored an unbeaten 55 off 46 balls with the help of eight fours as Pakistan made a light work of chasing down Afghan’s 118 all out with eight wickets and more than four overs to spare.
Pakistan skipper Hasnain Alam provided man-of-the-match Matloob ample support sharing 76 runs in the opening stand before he was dismissed for 35.
‘It was initially difficult but just concentrated on not losing my wicket,’ Matoob told New Age after the match.
‘The wicket was fine but it was slow that required some adjustment,’ he said.
Earlier, Rao Javed grabbed 4-21 and Umaiz ur Rahman chipped in with 3-12 as Pakistan restricted Afghans to a manageable total after winning the toss and opting to bowl.
Mohammad Ullah top scored for Afghans with 43 runs.
Pakistan will face hosts Bangladesh in their second match today.
Brief Scores
Bangladesh v England
Bangladesh 117-8 in 20 overs (Apurbo Kumar 22, Alam Khan 19, Drupam Tirtho 17; Callum Flynn 2-32) v England 103-7 in 20 overs (Callum Flynn 33, Jamie Goodwin 31; Drupam Tirtho 3-12) Result: Bangladesh beat England by 14 runs.
Pakistan v Afghanistan
Afghanistan 118 in 18.4 overs (Mohammadullah 43, Obaidulla 31; Rao Javed 4-21, Umaiz Ur Rahman 3-12) v Pakistan 121-2 in 15.4 overs (Matloob 55 not out, Hasnain 35) Result: Pakistan beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets.
-With New Age input
