TigerCricket.com...Story of Rising Bangladesh from bottom to the top

[habib]

BCB has kept its faith in the same Team management, for the World cup T20 in England.
Here is the detail of BCB Management team:

They are going to announce a squad of 15 for T20 world cup, for which Bangladesh is considered as the weakest team.

[habib]

BCB has announced the squad for T20 World cup 2009,in England.A Kapali,on his return from ICL,has been named as the captain for playing the most first class matches(78) and S Al Hasan, young allrounder, is named as vice captain.
Here is the detail of selected 15 players:

All players are aged between 20-26.So quite a young side to face a big challenge.The surprize package was dropping M Ashraful(previous captain)

[habib]

T20 match against India

Bangladesh was in Group A with India and Ireland. The very first match was against India,defending champions and the strongest team.Bangladesh team Manager,coach and captain decided to play with 4 seamers and of course captain and vice captain both were in final Xl as allrounders.
R Saleh and S Islam were making T20 debute, and it was a big occasion for them to make a debute in a world cup match.
Here is the detail of both team players:

Bangladesh won the toss, and A Kapali decided to field first.Indian's started carefully and Bangladeshi bowlers bowled well in the beginning.In the 4th over, M Mortaza took 2 wickets(Both openers were given LBW) and India was under pressure with 2/22 at the end of 4th over.Fall of R Sharma in the next over gave Bangladesh more upper hand.A Kapali decided to use all 4 overs of his front line seamers in one spell.And at the end of 8 overs, India was 49/3.
In the 9th over, S Rasel took 2 wickets in two consective balls.Dangerous Y Singh was caught behind at 20.M S Dhoni was the next one to go as he was given LBW on the very next ball.In 14th over S Raina was run out and at that time India was 6/74.
At the end of 16 overs, India was 94/7.
Things were very much under control and now it was time for some spin as A Kapali and S Al Hasan bowled last 4 overs.They failed to take any wicket but they were economical.India made 119/7 in 20 overs.Y Pathan was top scorer with 38*.M Mortaza and S Rasel took 2 wickets each.
Here is the Indian batting card:

In 12 overs, Bangladesh was 0/53.They kept wickets in hand but Indian bowlers bowled really well to keep the asking rate 8.3 per over in last 8 overs.in last 5 overs Bangladesh needed 45 runs to win with an avg of 9 runs per over and they were having 9 wickets in hand.S Nafees was bowled at a crucial time by Jedeja at 30 of 54 balls.I Pathan got Tamim Tqbal at 41 and Y Pathan got S Al Hasan in the next over.Match was in interesting phase with Ban required 20 runs of last 2 overs with 7 wickets in hand.In the 2nd last over, I Pathan got Nazimuddin and he went for 7 runs only.Bang now needed 13 of the last over.But I Sharma bowled a superb over in which he went for 3 runs only and 2 wickets as well .Bangladesh were so close to the victory but they just could not handle the pressure and there openers batted very slowly which put extra pressure on the middle order batsmen to score runs quickly.
Here is the Bangladesh score card:

Y Pathan was man of the match for making 38* and taking one wicket as well.Here is the final score card of the match:

[habib]

Ireland vs Bangladesh

Next match was against Ireland.Bangladesh was playing with the same side which played against India.
Here is the detail of both teams:

Bangladesh lost the toss and they were put in to bat first.Both openers were aggressive this time and they were 0/32 in first 5 overs.But then in the 6th over they lost 2 wickets in two consective balls.A Kapali came after 2 quick wickets but he was stumped in the very next over.Then Nazimuddin and S Nafees batted well to put a reasonable total on the board.Both scored fifties.B Rankin took 3 wickets.
Here is the batting card of Bangladesh team:

M Murtaza continued his good form and got the wicket of J Bray in the 2nd over.In 4 overs,Ireland was 1/28.Then A Kapali decided to bring spin from both ends.In 6 overs,Ireland was 1/43.In 8th over S Al Hasan got Porterfield and Ireland was 2/60 in 8 overs, requiring another 87 with an avg of 7.3 per over to win.In the 11th over Kapali got the dangerous man K O'Brien.He made 41 of 33 balls.Spinners bowled 8 overs in a row and in last 8 overs Ireland was needed another 62 runs with 6 wickets in hand and at an avg of 7.7 runs per over.
At this point Kapali brought his main man back into the attack and M Murtaza immediately got the wicket of A Botha.But after that Bangladesh lost the control again as S Rasel was hit for 19 runs in his 2 overs.Another hope was given when, S Islam got 2 wickets in one over and both were of set batsmen N O'Brien and T Johnston, in 17th over.
In last 3 overs Ireland was needed 23 runs and they were having only 3 wickets in hand.M Alam was not used yet and he was given ball in the 18th over.He went only for 5 runs.18 were required now of 12 balls.S Islam took one wicket in his next over and went for 8 runs.Ireland needed 10 runs in the last over to win and M Alam was to bowl the last over.
Absolute thriller it was.
Started with a wide ball, showed that bowler is really under pressure.But he bowled beautifully and gave away only 8 runs in that over with a leg bye 4 on the last ball.
Bangladesh won by just 1 run.
Here is the batting card of Ireland:

Bangladesh won the match just by one run and S Nafees was man of the match for his brilliant 57.Here is the final score card of the match:

A very close match and I could hear my heart beat while playing it.

[habib]

Bangladesh qualified for super 8

Due to the last win over Ireland,Bangladesh qualified for super 8 round and was placed in a group with Pakistan,South Africa and Sri Lanka.Here is the screen shot of super 8 teams and their groups:

[habib]

Bangladesh vs SAfrica

Oh My GOd!
I am surprised by the performance of Bangladeshi team, its normal game and they are just outstanding looking at their previous records.And this match was even a bigger upset than knocking out India in World cup when they defeated India.
Looking at the performance, once again decided to play with the same team.Bangladesh lost the toss and S Africa put Bangladesh to bat first.A Kapali(the new captain) was the top scorer with 41.Bangladesh made 143/8 in 20 overs.M Morkel was the best S African bowler with 4/22.
Here is the Bangladeshi score card along with the bowling card of S Africa:

The target was very good looking at the bowling conditions and Bangladeshi bowlers bowled well to defend it.S Islam took the wicket of G Smith in the very first over.H Gibbs and J Duminy then batted well but as soon as Kapali introduced the spin,S Africans started to lose their control over the game.A Kapali took 3/22 in his 4 overs while S Al Hasan took 2/15 in his 4 overs.S Africa made 118/7 in 20 overs.
Here is the S African batting card along with the detail of Bangladeshi bowling card:

An easy 25 runs victory over s Africa but still man of the match was M Morkel for his bowling figures of 4/22.
Here is the final score card:

I know many of you would be surprized,I am too.I even rechecked to make sure its normal game.lolz

[habib]

Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh

Next match was against Sri Lanka.Bangladeshi players were in top form and were very confident after defeating S Africa in the last match.They were hoping to give yet another upset.
The side was same.And here is the detail of both teams final Xl players:

Bangladesh lost the toss and were put to bat first.Openers fall early but captain and vice captain stick to the task and batted well for a partnership of over 50 between them.A Kapali made 25 while S Al Hasan made 38.After their departure,Bangladeshi batting collapsed and they could make only 116/9 in 20 overs.F Maharoof took 3/18.
Here is the detail of Bangladeshi batting card:

Although the target was small but the Bangalies gave a great fight to defend the total.Sangakara was the biggest hurdle in their way who made 41.MJayawardene made 29 and after their departure, Bangladesh was able to put pressure on Sri Lankans.Spinners particularly bowled well.They took the match to 20th over but it was not their day as Sri Lanka got the target in 19.2 overs with 4 wickets in hand.S Al Hasan and M Alam took 2 wickets each.
Here is the Sri Lankan batting card:

Sri Lanka won the match by 4 wickets and f Maharoof was man of the match.Here is the final score card of the match:

Bangladesh lost the match as expected but they have shown the potential yet again by giving a close fight.

[habib]

Pakistan vs Bangladesh

Next match was against Pakistan and it was important for Bangladesh to win it for qualifing to the next round.
Bangladesh side was same as in all World cup matches.Bangladesh lost the toss again but this time Pakistan decided to bat first.Bangladeshi bowlers were impressive with the ball as the restricted Pakistan to only 145.Pakistan was all out in 20th over.M Alam,A Kapali,S Al Hasan and S Islam took 2 wickets each.S Al Hasan was most impressive with 2/3.K Akmal was the top scorer with 54.
Here is the score card of Pakistani team:

In batting, Bangladesh failed and the top order could not impress much.Bangladesh was 4/40 in 5 overs with their inform batsmen A Kapali,S Al Hasan and S Nafees back in the pavillion.Nazimuddin and R Saleh batted well and scored 39 and 43* respectively.Bangladesh made 123/5 in 20 overs.S Tanvir took 3/23.
Here is the Bangladeshi score card:

The Match took few twists but in the end Pakistan won the match easily by 22 runs.K Akmal was man of the match for making 54.
Here is the final score card of the match:

[habib]

Bangladesh reached semi finals...making history

Bangladesh's good luck continues as they qualified for the semi finals based on their run rates.Here is the group position after super 8 matches:

It reminds me of Kenya who was in the semi finals one time.

A Kapali said:
"I wish my father would be alive to see all this"
He also said
"We are very positive and we ll give a good fight once again no matter we win or lose"

[habib]

Semi Final: England vs Bangladesh

Big match for both teams and specially for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh was playing with the same side.
And unfortunately they lost the toss again and were England decided to bat first.
Bangladesh started well by picking the importany wicket of K Pietersen in the 2nd over.R Key was 2nd to go in the 3rd over with England's score only 2/20.In 12 overs England were 2/63 and it was the time for spin bowling.With the introduction of spin England became aggressive but they also lost quick wickets.S Al Hasan took the wickets of Collingwood and O Shah while A Kapali took the important wicket of Ravi Bopara who made 51 in 45 balls.At this time England were 104/5 in 16 overs.England made 133/7 in 20 overs.S Islam and S Al Hasan took 2 wickets each.
Here is the batting card of England along with Bangladesh's bowling card:

Bangladesh started things slowly.S Nafees,T Iqbal and S Al Hasan scored almost run a ball.But they kept their wickets in hand.In last 4 overs Bangladeshwas required runs with an avg of 10/over.A Kapali was out on first ball but it was Nazimuddin who played very aggressively and scored 31 of 16 balls to take Bangladesh into the finals.S Nafees was unbeaten on 48* of 52 balls.J Anderson took 2/29.
Here is the Bangladeshi batting card:

Bangladesh won the match and proved a better team than England by winning a historical match by 7 wickets.S Al Hasan was man of the match for his allround performance.He scored 29 runs of 31 balls and also took 2 wickets.
Here is the final score card of the match:

I was sure that this will be the end of Bangladesh but they are surprizing me in each and every match.It would be interesting to see them in tests though.

[Tom Guntrip]

Brilliant! You must be a T20 genius Habib!

[habib]

Final T20 World cup 2009:Pakistan vs Bangladesh

The final was between Pakistan and Bangladesh.Pakistan was the favourite bcz they had defeated Bangladesh in super 8 match.Bangladesh was playing with the same side.
Pakistan won the toss and they decided to field first.
It was not a good start at all by Bangladesh(May be bcz of the pressure of a big final).T Iqbal was the first one to go and in form S Al Hasan was the 2nd to go.At the end of 3rd over, Bangladesh was 2/14.Both wickets were taken by Y Arafat.In the 7th over, S Nafees's resistance was over and one again it was Y Arafat to provide Pakistan with a breakthrough.At the end of 7 Bangladesh was 3/36.A Kapali played a captain's inn and scored 63* of 51 balls.Due to his inn Bangladesh was able to make a total of 5/135.Y Arafat took 3/15.
Here is the batting card of Bangladeshi team:

Pakistan made a good start by hitting S Islam for 13 runs in the very first over to shake the confidence of Bangladesh.11 runs in the next over with a dropped catch of A Shehzad created problems for A Kapali and he decided to bring S Al Hasan in the 3rd over only.He provided the important break through in his 2nd ball when A Shehzad was caught in the gully by the captain himself.Double bowling change worked again as M Alam took the wicket of Y Khan and bowled a maddin over.In the 6th over,M Alam took the wicket of S Butt as well and put pressure on Pakistanies.At the end of 6 overs Pakistan was 3/43.But after that M Ul Haq and F Alam batted well to take the score to 3/98 in 14 overs.At this time captain decided to bring himself in and he immediately struck getting the wicket of M Ul Haq who made 33 runs.In last 2 overs Pakistan needed 18 runs with F Alam still on crease on 42*.M Murtaza bowled 19th over which was very dramatic.On the very first ball,F Alam was out and on the 3rd ball K Akmal was also out.But the new man in S Malik hit 2 consective fours to turn the match again.And in the last over Pakistan needed only 7 runs.
S Rasel was to bowl the last over.On first ball S Malik took the single, and on 2nd ball S Afridi was caught behind.On 3rd ball,S Tanvir waS lucky for not given LBW, and on the 4th ball he hit a fantastic cover drive for four.On the 5th ball, a thick edge gave batsmen to take 2 runs and thus Pakistan won the T20 world cup.
Bangladeshi players were in a shock and were really disappointed.
Here is the score card of Pakistani batting:

The most exciting match ever I had played.Pakistan was a better team at the end and they won the match by 3 wickets.A Kapali was man of the match for making 63* with the bat and taking 1/4 with the ball.
Here is the final score card of the match:

An outstanding performance by the tigers.They were so close and still so far but I would say qualifing for the finals and giving tough time to all opponents is still like winning world cup for this young team who was not given much importance before this World Cup but they proved their talents.This World Cup would give Bangladesh a confidence to perform in other formats too.

[habib]

Performance Chart of Bangladesh in World Cup T20,2009

Just to analyze the performance of Bangladeshi players in World cup,here is the batting details and avg by Bangladeshi players:

To the surprize of me and may be many of you, here is the bowling details and avg of Bangladeshi bowlers in T20 World cup:

[habib]

Brilliant! You must be a T20 genius Habib!

thanks for ur comments.

[habib]

Test Sries against India... Dec 2009

BCB has announced 12 man squad for playing first test match against the visitors "India".The selection is based on the performance of players in current first class season and partially on the performance of players in recent T20 World cup campaign.
So here are the lucky ones:

Opener T Iqbal is dropped bcz of his poor form and J Siddique has been included in the team who probably will open with S Nafees.In the middle order R Saleh is dropped and N Islam has been given a chance based on his performance in recent first class matches where he scored with an avg. of 73 in 5 first class matches.
A Kapali has been named as the captain for all formates of the game based on his brilliant captaincy in recent T20 World cup while S Al Hasan will be his deputy.
M Ashraful is not included bcz he averaged just 21 in the recent first class matches.