ICRC T20: Bangladesh brush aside India

Bangladesh brushed aside India in their last group match of the ICRC T20 tournament for people with physical disabilities by seven wickets at BKSP today.

The ninth match of the tournament saw Bangladesh come back to the winning ways, after two defeats on the trot against Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier.

India won the toss and decided to put up a total on board, but suffered the worst possible start when Saurabh was out in the first over to Rasel.

After the fall of their 2nd wicket inside the power-play overs, Kunal and Anshul began to repair the early damage with selective stroke-making.

Their partnership of 57 runs placed India in a descent position, however things began to go horribly wrong for the visitors after Anshul was dismissed.

Bangladesh skipper Alam Khan delivered a double-wicket over, and Drupam tightened the screws from the other end.

Drupam ended with 2 wickets for only 15 runs in his 4 overs.

From 91/2, India collapsed to 95/6 and lost all momentum for a big total with their batters all back in the pavilion.

The last-ditch desperate hitting got India some runs, as they stumbled their way to 115 after the loss of eight wickets.

Kunal’s 45 was the highlight of the below-par Indian innings. He stood his ground, fought on while his mates fell around him at regular intervals.

Bangladesh captain had a good day with the ball in his hand. He took the most wickets, three for the innings for 23 runs in 4 overs.

Chasing a smallish total, Bangladesh openers were quite nervous, particularly Sujan who ran himself out for 2 in the 2nd over.

The scoreboard looked worse few balls later when Alam was dismissed at the score of 19, and India sniffed a chance to get back into the match.

That semblance of a chance was snuffed out by Amin Uddin and Shahriar Shamim. The dynamic duo brilliantly dictated terms to the Indian bowlers with bold, intelligent batting.

The third wicket partnership of 65 runs between the pair took Bangladesh to the cusp of victory, and removed any nerves in the dressing room for good!

Amin Uddin, who had a good outing in this tournament, would’ve been disappointed to be run out for 45 runs. He faced 43 balls and struck three boundaries in his match-winning knock.

Thankfully for Bangladesh, Shahriar stayed at the wicket till the end and saw his team triumphantly end the group phase.

He was unbeaten on 42 from 50 balls, and he hammered a four and a six to the delight of the home crowd at BKSP.

Bangladesh won the match quite comfortably in the end with eight balls to spare and seven wickets in the bag.

The final of the ICRC T20 tournament will be contested between England and Pakistan on September 10, 2015.