Not the practice Tigers wanted

Bangladesh’s first warm-up match of the 2022 World Cup did not go as planned as Afghanistan thrashed them by 62 runs in Brisbane on Monday.

Batting first, Afghanistan managed to put 160-7 on board, and in reply, the Tigers crumbled as they could only manage 98-9 in their quota of 20 overs.

Bangladesh were without Liton Das in this game as a precaution as the batsman was suffering from a thigh injury. Among the other players, only Shoriful Islam did not participate in any form of the match.

Batting first, Afghanistan started steadily as their powerplay churned out only 39 runs losing a wicket, which Taskin Ahmed took. Afghan opener Hazratullah Zazai (15) tried to pull the pacer, but only found Mosaddek Hossain at the boundary.

Bangladesh were close to restricting Afghanistan to a low total, but a 17-ball storm from Mohammad Nabi, where he scored 41 by hitting one four and five sixes, took them to 160-7.

In reply, in Liton’s absence, Mehidy Hasan Miraz was back to opening and he failed to show the impact the team has been looking for. He held on to one end and watched the chaos unfold at the other.

Fazalhaq Farooqi, Afghanistan’s left-arm pacer, wreaked havoc as he first dismissed Najmul Hossain Shanto for 12 off nine deliveries, before getting skipper Shakib Al Hasan for one and then Afif Hossain for a golden duck.

In between, Soumya Sarkar was stumped for one off four deliveries off the bowling of Mujeeb-ur-Rahman.

Meaning, Bangladesh were 28-4 by the end of the powerplay, and in the first ball after, Yasir Ali Chowdhury was out for a golden duck to Fareed Ahmad.

Nurul Hasan Sohan was the next to go after scoring 13 off eight deliveries as he was the second scalp of Fareed.

Mehidy was finally dismissed in the 11th over after scoring 16 runs off 31 deliveries, meaning he ended with a strike rate of 51.61.

Mosaddek Hossain tried for a bit, but it was in vain before he got out to Mohammad Nabi for 29 off 33 deliveries, where he hit two fours and two sixes.

In the ending overs of the innings, Mustafizur Rahman played 17 balls to score 10 and stayed unbeaten to ensure that Bangladesh were not bowled out.

This was by no means ideal preparation for Bangladesh ahead of their T20 World Cup, especially when teams such as Namibia and Scotland have been showing great promise.

They will have another shot at changing things around at the same venue on Wednesday, when they will take on South Africa.