Breezy knocks by Mithun Ali and Mominul Haque in the third and final Twenty20 inspired Bangladesh A to a 3-0 series sweep over the Bangladesh national team in the T20 Challenge Series.
Mithun’s whirlwind knock of 67 from 30 balls and Mominul’s quickfire 23-ball 55 guided Bangladesh A to an eight-wicket win against the national side at Mirpur on Saturday.
In pursuit of Bangladesh’s 188-9, the Bangladesh A side coasted to victory losing just two wickets with 21 deliveries to spare.
Bangladesh A were never in trouble chasing the target as they went off to a flying start, courtesy their openers Marshal Ayub (25 off 20) and Mominul with the duo putting on 74 runs inside the seventh over.
Left-handed batsman Mominul dominated the opening stand with 55 runs from the 74-run partnership coming from the southpaw’s bat. He blasted nine fours and two sixes as Bangladesh spinner Abdur Razzak felt the heat as early as the fifth over.
Razzak was belted for 20 runs by the Bangladesh A openers with the required run rate coming down significantly.
Even though the openers departed in the ninth over, Mithun and Sabbir Rahman (37 off 27) then garnered 103 runs for the unbroken third-wicket partnership as Bangladesh capitulated to their third successive defeat in the three-match series.
Mithun smashed no less than half a dozen sixes and three boundaries and he was duly adjudged the man of the match.
Bangladesh used seven bowlers in order to stifle their opponents but they could not up with any answers to Mominul and Mithun’s onslaught with Bangladesh A finishing on 190-2 in 16.3 overs.
Al Amin Hossain was the pick of the bowlers with 2-28. National pacemen Mashrafee bin Murtaza and Rubel Hossain went wicketless while national spinners Razzak and Sohag Gazi also returned empty-handed.
Earlier, Bangladesh posted a competitive 188-9 in their 20 overs after some useful knocks by Shamsur Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim and Razzak.
Shamsur struck a fine 12-ball 37 while national captain Mushfiq hit 38 runs off 24 deliveries. Razzak, coming in to bat at number nine, added some late impetus to Bangladesh’s innings by scoring 36 runs from just 15 deliveries.
The Bangladesh A bowlers though made sure the opposition did not run away with the game by registering a 200+ score. The A side bowlers took wickets at regular intervals to keep Bangladesh’s score below 200.
Muktar Ali (3-21), Arafat Sunny (2-35), Elias Sunny (2-33) and Bangladesh A skipper Nasir Hossain (2-40) shared the nine wickets to fall.
The only sour note of the game came in the dying stages of Bangladesh A’s chase, as national opener Shamsur injured his ankle while fielding.
-With New Age input
