Mashrafe Mortaza: The New Captain of the Team

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has been named the new captain of the Bangladesh cricket team. He is supposed to lead the tiger team from now starting with the series against West Indies.

Though officially Ashraful’s term was to end after this series, his bad performance as a captain and as a player (for a long time) has forced the BCB officials to make this change.

Mr. Mashrafe Mortaza, We want to see some wins.

T20 World Cup 2009: Bangladesh vs. Ireland

This was the 2nd match of T20 World Cup 2009 for Bangladesh which was played on 8 June, 2009. After losing to India, Bangladesh had to win against Ireland- and it was quite possible. But the Tigers!!!! failed again. I'm not in the mood to write the match review. you can go to Bangladesh vs. Ireland and see the review and scorecard. Sorry, just not in the mood.


I am a fan of Tiger Cricket... still.

T20 World Cup 2009: Bangladesh vs. India

This was the first match of T20 World Cup 2009 for Bangladesh. This match was played against the current world champion India.

The match will began at 17:00 GMT or 11:00 PM local time (Bangladesh).

Toss: India
India: 180/5 in 20 overs
Bangladesh: 155/8 in 20 overs
Result: India won by 25 runs

India’s inning: India’s first wicket partnership helped them a lot to achieve their total of 180 runs. Gautam Gambhir scored a fifty. Irfan Pathan played a got attacking inning. But more importantly, Yuvraj’s superb knock with 4 sixes launched India at a higher level at the bottom part of the inning. Without his contribution, I don’t think that India would have crossed 165. Yuvraj also took 2 breath taking catches.

Fall of wickets: 1-59 (RG Sharma, 7.2 ov), 2-112 (Dhoni, 14.3 ov), 3-140 (Gambhir, 16.6 ov), 4-157 (Yuvraj Singh, 18.1 ov), 5-169 (Raina, 19.3 ov)

Bangladesh’s inning: Even though the run rate was above asking rate for a few overs, Bangladesh never managed to look strong. Especially because no good partnerships were building up. There were 8 fours and 8 sixes in this inning. But clearly that wasn’t good enough to win against the world champion India. Both Tamim Iqbal (stumped) and Ashraful (caught) looked good at the beginning, but they both got out because of their carelessness. Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riad and Mashrafe Mortaza also couldn’t do much today. They came, played a few shots and got out. Raqibul Hasan played his natural game today which is far from okay when T20 is concerned. He has got to play a little more attacking cricket. Junaid Siddiqe played a good attacking inning. He scored 41 in 22 balls. If he could stay at the wicket for a little longer, things might have been different. Naeem Islam also played a moderately good innings in the end. He should come up the order in place of Raqibul Hasan. He along with Mushfiqur Rahim was not out in the end.

Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Tamim Iqbal, 2.3 ov), 2-55 (Mohammad Ashraful, 5.4 ov), 3-74 (Shakib Al Hasan, 8.1 ov), 4-77 (Junaid Siddique, 8.5 ov), 5-95 (Mahmudullah, 12.4 ov), 6-111 (Mashrafe Mortaza, 14.4 ov), 7-121 (Raqibul Hasan, 16.2 ov), 8-154 (Naeem Islam, 19.5 ov)

Improvements which might come in handy:
1. Batsmen must learn to make big partnerships.
2. Raqibul has to be replaced.
3. Winning attitude should be there till the last ball.

A tiger fan's reaction: It was a 50-50 chance for both teams till the middle part of the game. But as soon as Bangladesh started to lose wicket, it seemed like they have lost all of their desire to win and the confidence. This is not right. They have to chase down the total with all the force if they want to make an impression over t20.

Next Tiger Match: June 8, 2009 vs. Ireland (Tiger Fixture)


**NOTICE: Recently I have noticed that a website is stealing from my blog and publishing the match reviews exactly the same. They are not even linking back to my blog. I am a devoted blogger and i spent hours collecting info and putting together a post. I feel really bad when someone steals from me and publishes the same content as if it belongs to them. I am not announcing the name of the site (because I am not a fowl person) right now. I request that website to stop this injustice and remove the article which was stolen from here.**

Practice Match T20 WC: Bangladesh vs. Sri Lanka

On the last practice match Bangladesh is facing Sri Lanka. Prior to this match Bangladesh has won against Scotland and Holland, lost against New Zealand and Australia. But all the matches were entertaining.

Toss: Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat.
Bangladesh: 151/6 in 20 overs
Sri Lanka: 152/6 in 19.4 overs
Result: Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets

Bangladesh’s inning: The tigers had a really unsteady start. They lost 2 quick wickets. Ashraful (16 in 15) also got back in the 7th over when the team total was 50. Though Shakib Al Hasan made a little effort it was not enough. He got out scoring 23 in 17 balls. The partnership of Raqibul Hasan (38* in 40) and Mushfiqur Rahim (34 in 28) helped Bangladesh a lot. In the end, Mashrafe was "not out" at 9 in 5 balls. Jayasuria, Maharoof, Mendis took one wicket each. There were two stampings and a run out.

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Junaid Siddique, 1.6 ov), 2-17 (Tamim Iqbal, 2.3 ov), 3-50 (Mohammad Ashraful, 6.3 ov), 4-53 (Mahmudullah, 6.5 ov), 5-72 (Shakib Al Hasan, 9.6 ov), 6-142 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 19.1 ov)

Sri Lanka’s Inning: Even though Sri Lanka won the match it was a 50-50 chance till the last over. Jayawardene (43 in 28) played a wonderful inning on behalf of Sri Lanka. Mashrafe (4-0-30-2) and Shakib (4-0-18-2) took 2 wickets each. Shakib was really economical today. Rubel Hossain (3.4-1-26-1) and Razzak (3-0-28-1) took one wicket each.

Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Dilshan, 4.4 ov), 2-71 (Jayasuriya, 8.4 ov), 3-110 (Sangakkara, 12.3 ov), 4-113 (Jayawardene, 13.5 ov), 5-136 (Mubarak, 17.4 ov), 6-143 (de Saram, 18.3 ov)

Improvements that might come in handy:
1. Top order batsmen must be a little more petient.
2. Tamim should show a little more maturity.

This was the last practice match for Bangladesh. Bangladesh will face India in their first match of Twenty20 World Cup 2009 on June 6, 2009. By the look of the Tiger team we can definitely tell that the match will be worth watching. (See the full fixture)

All the best.

**NOTICE: Recently I have noticed that a website is stealing from my blog and publishing the match reviews exactly the same. They are not even linking back to my blog. I am a devoted blogger and i spent hours collecting info and putting together a post. I feel really bad when someone steals from me and publishes the same content as if it belongs to them. I am not announcing the name of the site (because I am not a fowl person) right now. I request that website to stop this injustice and remove the article which was stolen from here.**

Practice Match T20 WC: Bangladesh vs. Australia

Today Bangladesh has played against the Giant Australia in the 4th practice match (warm up match) before the beginning of Twenty20 World Cup 2009. Before moving on to the review of this match, it is worth mentioning that, prior to this match Bangladesh has won against Holland and Scotland convincingly. So the moral was really high.


Toss: Australia won the toss and chose to bat first
Australia: 219/9 in 20 overs
Bangladesh: 181/7 in 20 overs
Result: Australia won by 38 runs

Australia’s innings: Australia started the inning magnificently. Watson (52 in 23) and Haddin (47 in 29) took Australia to 100 in just 8 overs. But they both fell to batting all-rounder Mahmudullah Riad. Later Mahmudullah picked up Symonds (27 in 14) and Ponting (14 in 12) in the 13th over. The final figure for Mahmudullah Riad was 4-0-37-4-9.25. Shakib (4-0-31-1) and Mashrafe (4-0-44-1) took the wickets of M Hussy (18 in 13) and M Clarke (35 in 18). Star of the previous match Rubel Hossain was very expensive today (3-0-44-0).

Fall of wickets: 1-100 (Watson, 8.1 ov), 2-102 (Haddin, 8.3 ov), 3-143 (Symonds, 12.3 ov), 4-144 (Ponting, 12.6 ov), 5-196 (M Hussey, 17.3 ov), 6-204 (Clarke, 18.2 ov)

Bangladesh’s inning: Bangladesh was of to a flying start thanks to Tamim Iqbal (21 in 9). But he fell to Lee in the 4th over, the next over Junaid (12 in 8) got out to Johnson. Even after both the openers were down in just 4 overs the Tigers didn't lose their courage. Tiger Captain Mohammad Ashraful and best all rounder of the world Shakib Al Hasan played a good yet attacking inning. But I really hoped that Ashraful (26 in 24) and Shakib (54 in 29) would play a little longer. After Shakib Al Hasan got out, things started to move slowly for Bangladesh. Raqibul (8 in 8), Mushfiq (11 in 14) and Mashrafe (1 in 4) failed to leave a lasting impression over this match. Mahmudullah Riad (28* in 26) and Naeem Islam (3* in 1) were not out in the end.

Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Junaid, 2.2 ov), 2-34 (Tamim, 3.2 ov), 3-92 (Ashraful, 9.1 ov), 4-132 (Shakib, 13.1 ov), 5-149 (Raqibul, 15.2 ov), 6-177 (Mushfiq, 18.5 ov), 7-178 (Mashrafe, 19.3 ov)

Improvements that might come in handy:
1. Both teams will have to work on their bowling.
2. Mashrafe has to find his form.
3. Middle order of the Bangladesh Team has to perform better.

A fan's reaction: Even though Bangladesh lost in this match, the match was really entertaining. The tigers batted really well. If they could just manage a little more, the match would have come in our favor. So, no hard feelings. Better luck next time.

Bangladesh will play the next practice match (warm up match) against Sri Lanka tomorrow. (see the full fixture)

All the best.

**NOTICE: Recently I have noticed that a website is stealing from my blog and publishing the match reviews exactly the same. They are not even linking back to my blog. I am a devoted blogger and i spent hours collecting info and putting together a post. I feel really bad when someone steals from me and publishes the same content as if it belongs to them. I am not announcing the name of the site (because I am not a fowl person) right now. I request that website to stop this injustice and remove the article which was stolen from here.**