Bangladesh stun England, level One-Day Series; Jonathan Trott Dismissed by Shafiul Islam in Last Over
They might be considered minnows in world cricket, but the Bangladesh cricket team can be very competitive when they are in the mood. Unfortunately for England and fortunately for the visiting side, the Bangladeshis were in their unusual ruthless mood when the two teams met in Bristol on Saturday, for the second One-Day International of the three-match series.
For most of the English fans present at the stadium, or watching the match live on TV, the target of 237 was not only reachable but also easily achievable, especially after their recent exploits against world champions http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. However, the mighty English side failed to count on the unpredictability factor, which can be found in abundance in teams from the Asian subcontinent.
Bangladesh managed to win the thriller by 5 runs, but it was the way they bowled and fielded that surprised the hosts and shocked the rest. The captaincy of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Kieswetter-c51708, Michael Yardy and Ajmal Shahzad).
It was a tired and flat performance from the hosts, who last month defeated Australia for the first time in 13 years. However, it took them less than 13 balls to lose the battle against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747. The visitors outclassed the English side despite a courageous 94 by Jonathan Trott, who didn’t get any support from the middle-order. Only Paul Collingwood was unlucky amongst the home batsmen, since he was adjudged leg before to a delivery that touched his bat before hitting the pad. But then, he was lucky not to have been given caught behind first ball.
Ian Bell, who fractured his foot while going for an unreachable catch at square-leg in the tenth over of Bangladesh’s innings, came to bat at number 11 with a runner. His act should have made the middle-order batsmen feel ashamed of the way they swung their bat and threw their wickets. Until Stuart Broad showed signs of maturity by adding 43 runs with Trott, all the English batsmen could do was hit the ball straight to fielders or miss it altogether.
The one obvious difference between the English and Bangladeshi batting was that of patience. Imrul Kayes, who scored 76 valuable runs for his side, stayed at the crease for nearly 3 hours, facing 111 balls and hitting just 4 boundaries. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jahurul-Islam-c1624 also stuck by for an hour each, and scored patiently. On the other hand, the English batsmen failed for the first time this year, but they couldn’t have chosen a more inappropriate match. The only player who braced the spin and swing that came was Jonathan Trott, playing just his 5th One-Day match. He lost the battle in the final over when the side needed 6 runs, and he also required the same for his maiden century. He mistimed a slower delivery from Shafiul Islam, which ended in the hands of Jahurul Islam behind the wickets, ending his innings and the match in Bangladesh’s favour.
The match was a total mismanaged affair for the hosts. They chose to field on a bouncy pitch, yet fell prey to it themselves, especially when the Bangladeshi spinners used it effectively in their favour. If England ever missed Graeme Swann in the side, it was today, because without him in the side, it was all up to the pacers, who did their best, but it eventually wasn’t good enough.
They were also bitten by the 'drop-catch' bug that is always present when the Pakistanis are fielding. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajmal-Shahzad-c42489, who took three wickets, dropped two catches in the field, while Luke Wright got it all wrong twice as well. The two will now face each other in the third and final match of the series on 12th July at Birmingham, and both teams will be looking forward to clinch the series with a performance that can be termed as memorable and convincing.
Tags: