Mustafizur, Soumya fire Bangladesh to easy win over Ireland

Youngsters Mustafizur Rahman and Soumya Sarkar have shone brightly to help Bangladesh thrash the hosts Ireland by 8 wickets in the tri-nation series.

Mustafizur turned up with a sizzling show as he spearheaded the bowling with 4 for 23 from his 9 overs as Bangladesh skittled Ireland out for a meager 181 at Dublin’s Malahide on Friday.

Soumya (87 not out) then dazzled with the bat, pairing in a solid 95-run opening stand with Tamim Iqbal (47) before sauntering off to the target in the 28th over.

Bangladesh’s performance in the field was proficient as southpaw Sunzamul Islam impressed on debut, returning 2 for 22 from his 5 overs.

Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza took 2-18 from 6.3 overs while Shakib Al Hasan and Mosaddek Hossain chipped in with a wicket each.

With Bangladesh bowlers making regular inroads, Ed Joyce put up a fight with a gritty 46 at the top of the order while Niall O’Brien was the only other Irish batsman to offer some resistance.

After Mashrafe elected to field first, the 21-year-old Mustafizur gave Bangladesh a perfect start by taking out Paul Stirling in the second over with Ireland yet to score.

William Porterfield (22) kickstarted the innings with Joyce, sharing 37 runs for the second wicket. But young Mosaddek got his man with a return catch, making amends for dropping a straight forward catch from Porterfield in the previous over.

Shakib then got the better of Andy Balbirnie (12) with an arm ball after being clubbed for a six in his previous over. With Ireland tottering on 61-3, Mushfiqur failed to hold on to an edge from Niall in the same over.

It allowed Niall and Joyce to carve out a 55-run recovery stand. Mashrafe kept rotating his bowlers in search of a wicket, and Mustafizur got the breakthrough by sending Niall back which triggered a mini-collapse.

Having shepherded his team through almost 29 overs, Joyce followed Niall back to the hutch in the next over when Sunzamul struck in his first over.

Maverick paceman Mustafizur saw the back of Kevin O’Brien (10) and Gary Wilson (6) in successive overs as Ireland lost four wickets for just 20 runs in the slide.

Kevin fell to a brilliant diving catch before Wilson was given caught behind, though replays suggested no bat was involved.

Reduced from 116-3 to 136-7, Ireland went past 150 through a 35-run partnership between George Dockrell (25) and Barry McCarthy (12) down the order.

But Mashrafe struck twice, interspersed by a wicket for Sunzamul, to shut down the Irish innings.

Bangladesh openers began the chase with the ball coming on to the bat. Both Tamim and Soumya put their foot on the gas to shave more than half off the target in the opening stand.

The 24-year-old Soumya was powerful in his strokeplay and gave little opportunity for the bowlers to sneak anything past him, though he was dropped by Niall behind the wicket on 57.

He milked runs on either side of the wicket, smashing 11 boundaries and two big sixes in his 68-ball knock.

Tamim was also on song but placed his shots skilfully in the gaps. The pair’s breezy start powered Bangladesh past 50 in the 9th over. Their 85-ball partnership featured 10 boundaries and two sixes, with Tamim striking six of the fours.

The O’Brien brothers combined to take out Tamim through an edge which brought Sabbir Rahman (35) to the middle.

Having been dismissed playing rash shots in his previous two innings, Sabbir took his time to get in. But once he got in the groove, he struck three sweetly timed boundaries and a six in 34 balls to bring Bangladesh closer to the coast.

Soumya and Sabbir added 76 for the second wicket. Sabbir departed playing another rash stroke with his team 11 runs shy of the target.

Mushfiqur calmly wrapped up the chase with a flick off the pads for a single and capped off a commanding display.

Bangladesh, who now have six points from three matches, will play their last match of the tri-series against New Zealand (8) on Wednesday.

The Black Caps will take on the hosts in their third match of the series next, on Sunday.
 

Brief scores:

Ireland: 181 all out in 46.3 overs (Joyce 46, Stirling 0, Porterfield 22, Balbirnie 12, Niall 30, Kevin 10, Wilson 6, Dockrell 25, McCarthy 12, Murtagh 5*, Chase 0; Rubel 0/41, Mustafizur 4/23, Mashrafe 2/18, Mosaddek 1/21, Shakib 1/21, Shakib 1/38, Mahmudullah 0/13, Sunzamul 2/22).

Bangladesh: 182/2 in 27.1 overs (Tamim 47, Soumya 87*, Sabbir 35, Mushfiqur 3*; Chase 0/55, Murtagh 0/26, McCarthy 1/42, Stirling 0/14, Kevin 1/22, Dockrell).

Result: Bangladesh win by 8 wickets.

Man of the Match: Mustafizur Rahman.