Bangladesh put on a display of disciplined batting to secure a win over New Zealand in a rain-shortened match at Lincoln Green - the side's first official warm-up match ahead of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup. Rain delayed the start of play with the umpires concerned about a wet outfield, and play began at midday with the match reduced to 45 overs a side.
Batting first, some heavy hitting in the middle order took New Zealand through to a respectable tally. Tom Lathan and Jimmy Neesham put on 94 for the second wicket, taking the long handle to the Bangladesh attack and making the most of the ground’s compact boundaries. Both scored half centuries, while Corey Anderson top scored with 62, combining with skipper Craig Cachopa to add 50 for the fourth wicket.
Medium pacer Kamrul Islam was the best of the Bandgladesh bowlers, taking two wickets at an economy rate of just 3.44.
Bangladesh got off to the worst possible start in reply with Anamul Haque bowled first ball by Jimmy Neesham. But the batsmen soon settled and looked comfortable as they kept ahead of the required run rate.
Amit Majumder and Saikat Ali also peppered the boundary regularly, putting on 99 for the second wicket. Left-hander Muminul Showrav showed a lot of class with some excellent strokeplay to score 66, taking Bangladesh to 229 in the 40th over when rain forced the players from the field. Having stayed ahead of the run rate throughout, Bangladesh won on the Duckworth-Lewis calculation.
Score summary:
New Zealand: 242-6 in 45 overs (Corey Anderson 62, Jimmy Neesham 60, Tom Latham 51; Kamrul Islam 2-31)
Bangladesh: 229-4 in 39.1 overs (Saikat Ali 72, Muminul Showrav 66, Amit Majumder 47, Mahmudul Hasan 37 n.o)
* Bangladesh won by 36 runs (D-L Method)
In other warm-up matches today, Australia scored the biggest team total of the day – 314 – en route to beating the West Indies in another rain-affected match. Nic Maddinson top scored for the Australians with an accomplished 72.
South Africa were dominant over Canada, posting 247 for six before putting a stranglehold on the Canadian batting, restricting them to 154 for nine in 50 overs. South Africa’s opening bowler Graham Hume took an impressive three for eight.
Elsewhere, India won over a valiant USA, England despatched Papua New Guinea, Ireland beat Afghanistan, South Africa dominated Canada and Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe.
