An all-round performance from Rishad Hossain steered Bangladesh to an impressive start of their New Zealand tour with a 26-run win over the New Zealand XI in the warm-up match on Thursday.
Held at the Bret Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, Bangladesh, having the chance to bat first posted a challenging total of 338 runs for 10 in the stipulated 50 overs match and later booked the host for 308 runs to win the match by 26 runs.
There was no toss of the match, and each team had 12 players in their squad when the Tigers were offered to bat first.However, the Tigers being offered to bat first made an impressive start with the opening stand, scoring 47 runs when their 50 came from 7.4 overs.
Rishad Hossain, who came at seven, played a rapid 87-run inning from 54 deliveries, clubbing 11 fours and four sixes before being caught by Jacob Bhula off Samrath Singh.
Apart from Rishad Hossain, three batters got 50 each when the top four batters scored double digits.
Openers Tanzid Hasan and Anamul Haque Jr., who made a flying start, scored 58 and 33 runs, respectively. Tanzid played 46 balls in his 58-run innings, cracking five boundaries and four sixes. Anamul scored 33 runs from 26 deliveries with four fours and a six before being out with the scoreboard showing 47 runs.
Soumya Sarkar joined Tanzid Hassan, and in the second wicket partnership, they played a vital role in exhilarating the run rate, scoring 101 runs from 87 balls (12.3 overs).
Soumya Sarkar, who returned to the national squad after a long interval, scored 59 off 56 balls, hitting eight boundaries and a six.
Litton Das, a regular opener who batted at fourth and joined Soumya Sarkar after Tanzid’s departure, scored 55 runs from 63 deliveries; he also hit five boundaries and a six.
However, Bangladesh finished their innings after throwing a challenging target of 339 runs to win for the hosts, New Zealand X1.New Zealand X1, chasing the big target, saw an early setback, losing two wickets in quick succession for 32 runs, and were in trouble, losing four wickets for 80 runs by 16.4 overs. But a couple of magnificent innings from number three and sixth batters Bharat Popli and Sandeep Patel raised hope for the hosts team to win the match.
Bharat Popli scored a fabulous 92 runs on 90 balls when he struck 13 boundaries. Sandeep Patel, who also turned into a huge threat for the visitors, was sent back by Afif Hossain, but the hard-hitter batters scored 89 runs from 77 deliveries with 11 fours and a six.Among the rest of the five batters, Joey Field tried to fight when he remained unbeaten with 33 runs, but their innings folded for 308 runs.
Bangladesh will start their three-match ODI series on December 17; the second and third matches will be held on December 20 and 23, while their T20 series will be held on December 27, 29, and 31st.