Walton Tri Nation ODI Series
Final: Bangladesh and West Indies Played at Malahide ,Dublin on 17 May 2019
Brief Scorecard
Bangladesh 213/5 in 22.5 Overs ( SoumyaSarkar 66, Mosaddeq 52* , Mushfique 36, Mahmudullah 19* , Tamim 18 and Mithun 17 ) beat West Indies 152/1 in 24 Overs ( SD Hope 74, SW Ambris 69 ) by 5 Wickets in Duckworth Lewis Method
Supremely confident Bangladesh Cricket team playing brave and fearless cricket achieved its first championship in any tournament featuring more than two teams.
In the rain affected Walton Tri Nation ODI Tournament, Bangladesh overhauled a challenging target of 210 in 24 overs cruising to 213/5 in 22.5 Overs.
Sizzling Soumya (66) was irresistible at the top, majestic Mosaddeq (52*) thrilled the adoring Bangladeshis all over the world with spectacular stroke play. Bangladesh playing very consistent cricket and winning the championship served strong working to the rest of cricket world that they will mean business in the ensuing ICC World Cup.
Our bubbling grand son Zuhaier( Zed) got up early joining me for watching the Bangladesh victory march . He has just started throwing his bat in backyard cricket. Even he enjoyed the scintillating stroke play of Soumy.a ,Mushfique and Mosaddeq terming these ggod stroke , excellent batting .He has just started learning cricket.
Bangladesh won bi lateral ODI series against almost all other full member teams .In Tri Nation or multi Country ODI tournament Bangladesh appeared in the final in 6 previous occasions .At least three times they lost creating opportunities for winning. Apprehensions of match getting rained out grew when rain came down in torrents. Bangladesh would have won the trophy even if the match was abandoned. The final could see high scoring contest if it went to full stretch as West Indies was cruising. Rain impacted on the momentum.
Mashrafee Winning the toss and electing to field ran into breathtaking stroke play of inform Hope and Ambris .the pair raced to 130/0 in 20.1 overs when rain halted the play for several hours . When play started the match was reduced to 24 overs a side. West indies could reach 152 losing Ambris to Miraj. MS Duckworth Lewis set the target to 210 in 24 overs definitely steep for any team in a final.
Few thought in the overcast condition Abu JayedRahi could be of better utility .But in the absence of all rounder Shakib Bangladesh went for the experience . Shai Hope is in the form of his life . If the match went to full stretch he could earn his third century in 5 matches . The rain interruption took the gloss out of West Indies batting . In 3.5 overs they could add only 21 runs losing the wicket of Ambris. Mustafiz leaked as many as 50 runs in his 5 overs . Hope remained not out scoring 74 ,Ambris scored 69.
Bangladesh had no choice but going for all out attack right from the word go. Soumya played yet another brilliant innings of 66 in 41 deliveries striking 3 sixes and 9 fours .Tamim was less aggressive .He could not exploit the drop catch and got out scoring 18. Shabbir getting opportunity for batting at three failed getting LBW to S Gabriel without scoring . Two consecutive blows by Gabriel could not impact on Bangladesh batting. Dynamic Mushfique playing conventional sweep , unconventional reverse sweep and slap shot over the wicket keeper kept the momentum going . Soumya ,Mithun and Mushfique left setting the stage for a very entertaining batting display by Mosaddeq . His unbeaten 52 in 24 deliveries had 6 exquisite sixes and two sparkling boundaries racing Bangladesh horse across the finishing tape in style. Veteran Mahmudullah also provided admirable support . Bangladesh won easily by 5 wickest in 22.5 overs . A brilliant batting display by spirited team tigers . Very rarely a team has dominated all through the tournament never looking to loose . Absence of Shakib was hardly felt.
Bangladesh winning the tournament in emphatic fashion has issued warning to all the other teams of the world .Tigers would be hard nut to crack. They are already tagged as the “DARK HORSE OF ICC WORLD CUP T20.”
The greatest assurance of this final win is that without major contribution of Fabulous four the young guns Soumya and Mosaddeq won it . If Bangladesh can address few areas like bowling at the start and in the death and top order carrying through after good start they would challenge any team.
Bangladesh looked undoubtedly much better prepared team than West Indies in all departments of the game. The players under question Soumya ,Liton , Mosaddeq and Rahi all justified their selection . Soumya was brilliant through out the tournament .Liton played once and impressed .Mosaddeq won the final for Bangladesh. Rahi bowled superbly against Ireland grabbing 5 wickets haul. A fully confident Bangladesh would now go to England and Wales setting their sight to top four of ICC World Cup 2019.
BDST: 1043 HRS, MAY 18, 2019
AH
