Bangladesh failed to sign off their preparations with a win as they went down by five runs to Ireland in their thrilling last warm-up match before the ICC World Twenty20 on Monday.
It was a sweet revenge for the Irish side, who lost all their three T20 matches at home against Bangladesh in July, after they rode on Paul Stirling’s 71 to post a challenging 164-6 in their 20 overs before the Tigers were restricted to 159-9 in their allotted overs.
In-form Mohammad Ashraful (seven) was dismissed cheaply in the second over before Tamim Iqbal and Sakib al Hasan gave them a hope of achieving the required target by adding 63 runs together for the second wicket.
The left-handed duo, Tamim and Sakib, clobbered fours and sixes all around the ground in their 37-ball partnership which was broken when Tamim was caught and bowled by Alex Cusack after scoring 35 from 28 balls.
Sakib, who recently started to bat at number three, continued to play in his attacking style which fetched him a fifty off just 19 balls and even when he got out on 52 off 23 balls Bangladesh were well on course for getting the win with the scoreboard reading 105-3 in just 10.5 overs.
But no contribution at all from Mushfiqur Rahim (seven), Mahmudullah (seven) and Nasir Hossain (one) gave their Irish opponents the edge.
Mashrafee bin Murtaza (17) and Ziaur Rahman (26 from 22 balls) were repairing the damage in slow pace and it was working as they required just 12 runs off the last two overs, but things messed up eventually when Mashrafee departed with 10 runs still to get.
Elias Sunny came in and failed to enrich the scoreboard in the five balls he faced in the 19th over which resulted in more pressure as Bangladesh still needed 10 runs off six balls.
The stage was set for Zia to showcase his big-hitting ability but he too fell in the last over as the Tigers finished five runs away from victory.
Earlier, Ireland couldn’t have asked for a better start as their skipper William Porterfield (17) and Stirling added 46 runs within five overs.
Stirling’s 41-ball onslaught contained five fours and as many sixes as Ireland raced to 100 inside 11 overs. However, Sakib’s double-wicket haul in the 17th over kept the Irish from scoring a bigger total.
Sakib grabbed 2-21 while Mashrafee took 2-33 off their four overs.
The World T20 begins today in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, placed in Group D, will play their first match of the tournament against New Zealand on September 21.
BRIEF SCORES
Ireland 164-6 in 20 overs (Paul Stirling 71, Ed Joyce 39, Mashrafee bin Murtaza 2-33, Sakib al Hasan 2-21) v Bangladesh 159-9 in 20 overs (Tamim Iqbal 35, Sakib al Hasan 52, Kevin O’Brien 3-24, Trent Johnston 2-25, Alex Cusack 2-28)
Result: Ireland beat Bangladesh by five runs
-With New Age input
