This coming Friday, at the same ground where they went down against a rampant India, Bangladesh will take on a team that had risen above its own reputation in the last World Cup. Bangladesh, chastened by India in front of its home crowd, will not be the same force in the coming matches, and Ireland will think themselves more their equal than simply a nagging threat. If ever Ireland could feel like they had a chance to stamp themselves into the reckoning, as they did when they ousted Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup, it would be now, over the drained spirit of the Bangladeshis.
The wicket at the Sher-e-Bangla behaved irrationally in some ways in the India-Bangladesh encounter. When Virender Sehwag struck the first ball of the tournament for four, he was made to stand tall by the ball’s lifting trajectory off the pitch, but as the innings wore on, the bounce got slower and lower till Gautam Gambhir was bowled by a virtually soporific ball. Ireland’s lack of spinners is offset by their abundance of slow medium-pacers, who find their calling in stopping tracks where slowness, of the ball, begets more slowness, off the track.
Bangladesh:
It seemed as though Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal had swapped bats in the last match. Tamim, usually the ever-ready biffer, poked and struggled in the beginning while Kayes took the attack to the bowlers. Kayes could not last too long, while Tamim took a useful lesson in biding one’s time to build an innings. No surprises in how he and Captain Shakib Al Hasan were the two stalwarts taking up the batting challenge. While Junaid Siddique was a mix of being loyal to the crease and keeping an eye upon the target, Mohammad Ashraful’s experience was sorely missed in the middle order. However, as his form has given him a paltry 62 runs over the last two seasons, he is not likely to be brought back.
If, on Saturday, the batsmen had not risen to save Bangladesh’s blushes, the insipid bowling performance earlier would have appeared magnified and demoralized the team further. When you see that Shakib, having gone at 6.10 runs per over and picked up one wicket, was one of the more economical bowlers, you get a sense of how innocuous the rest of the unit was. When your entire bowling quarry goes at over 7 runs an over, it’s hard to prune the weeds, but Suhrawadi Shuvo has done more as a spinner than Naeem Islam and he could be an option.
Ireland:
Ireland opener William Porterfield has been in sublime touch over the warm-ups played over the last couple of weeks, scoring two fifties. Ed Joyce, who played for England four years ago, has injected his professionalism into the no. 3 spot, and has been scoring freely over the last four games, with two 40s and a 50. All-rounder Andrew White, who has not been thrown the ball of late, has been giving handy contributions with the bat. Andre Botha was impressive against Zimbabwe, amongst the wickets as well as a scoring steadily.
Boyd Rankin, almost a secret weapon for the kind of wraps he has been put under over the past few games, will supply the pace otherwise lacking in the medium-pace-heavy Irish attack. Kevin O’ Brien can handle the new ball and is known to provide the breakthroughs. Trent Johnston and Alex Cusack have been steady, bowling nagging deliveries, and could trouble a Tamim, who would like the ball to come on to the bat. George Dockrell, Somerset’s pick for a slow left-armer, will provide for the Irish what Shakib and Abdur Razzak do for their team.
Form guide:
Bangladesh: LLWWW
Feb 19, 2011 - Lost to India by 87 runs
Feb 16, 2011 - Lost to Pakistan by 89 runs
Feb 13, 2011 - Defeated Canada by 9 wickets
Dec 12, 2010 - Defeated Zimbabwe by 6 wickets
Dec 6, 2010 - Defeated Zimbabwe by 65 runs
If Bangladesh’s experience of defeat has taught them anything, it is resilience. They will approach this match afresh and seek to win back some confidence before they meet the West Indies, who may or may not have had a good run as of March 4.
Ireland: WLLLW
Feb 15, 2011 Defeated Zimbabwe by 4 wickets
Feb 12, 2011 Lost to New Zealand by 32 runs
Feb 8, 2011 Lost to Kenya by 3 wickets
Feb 6, 2011 Lost to Zimbabwe by 6 wickets
Sep 30, 2010 Defeated Zimbabwe by 20 runs
Ireland stayed close on New Zealand’s heels as they attempted to chase down a massive 311 in Nagpur. They appear to be on the up, having gone on to force a win against the Zimbabweans in the next game, with some valuable contributions from the middle order.
Likely teams:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan (c), Raqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain.
Ireland: William Porterfield (c), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O’Brien (wk), Andre Botha, Kevin O’Brien, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston, Andrew White, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin.
Players to watch:
Tamim Iqbal, against India, had to resort to playing an innings which went against his nature. Will the wobbly pace at which the Irish bowlers operate spur him on or cow him down?
Andre Botha has picked up 6 wickets in 4 warm-up games, kind of overhauling his haul of 5 wickets he got in the last World Cup (the aforementioned games being unofficial of course). He also top-scored against Zimbabwe in the only match Ireland won in the warm-ups. This South African-born player, not snapped up by England, can be expected to shine for Ireland on Friday.
Prediction:
Bangladesh at home can be fooled only by the best. So unless you boast a Sehwag in your team, you will have to play by their rules in their backyard. They will be hard to beat. But you never know with the Ireland team. They took one and all by surprise defeating Pakistan, and last week, ran a huge New Zealand total close. Although they have not had the most successful run into the tournament, with the Shamrocks, a rocky start is but a sham!
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