Shafiul stars as Bangladesh seal thriller

Bangladesh 227 for 8 (Kayes 60, Shahzad 3-63) beat England 225 (Trott 67, Bell 63) by two wickets

	Tamim Iqbal launched Bangladesh's innings in style© Getty Images

Shafiul Islam raised Bangladesh's World Cup campaign from the dead, as he turned yet another astonishing contest on its head with a breathtaking assault in the batting Powerplay to leave England stunned by their fifth cliffhanger in consecutive contests, and facing their own make-or-break encounter with West Indies in Chennai next week.

In another unbearably tense finale, Bangladesh's ninth-wicket pair of Shafiul and Mahmudullah transformed a futile situation with glorious blaze of strokeplay, as they turned an asking rate of 57 in 62 balls into a glorious victory with an over to spare. The honour of the winning hit went to Mahmudullah, who belted a Tim Bresnan full-toss through the covers for four, to queue pandemonium among the most passionate cricket supporters in the world.

On a sluggish track in which runs had, for the most part, to be grafted, England batted first and were bowled out for 225 - a total that was no better than par, and which owed everything to a chalk-and-cheese stand of 109 between Jonathan Trott and the fit-again Eoin Morgan. In reply, however, and in tricky dew-laden conditions that made the ball tricky to grip - particularly for their cantankerous spinner, Graeme Swann - Bangladesh were on cruise control at 155 for 3 in the 31st over, before a calamitous run-out gifted their opponents a way back into the game.

The man who had the game in the palm of his hand was Imrul Kayes, the less-vaunted of Bangladesh's opening batsman, who slipstreamed Tamim Iqbal during a captivating 38 from 26 balls that put Bangladesh firmly ahead of the run-rate, before settling down to play the holding role with a chanceless 100-ball 60.

Chanceless, that is, except for his sketchy running between the wickets. For it was his ill-advised decision to take a second run to deep square leg that ended a fourth-wicket stand of 72 with Shakib Al Hasan that looked to have broken the back of England's resistance. In the next five overs, as Bresnan and Paul Collingwood applied the emergency brake, Bangladesh were limited to seven singles before Shakib - gasping to lift the tempo after a doughty 58-ball innings - aimed a loose sweep at Swann and was bowled for 32.

Mushfiqur Rahim had been virtually strokeless since the run-out, with two runs from 18 deliveries before the re-introduction of Ajmal Shahzad persuaded him to drive expansively through the covers. But one ball later he edged a beauty on off stump through to Matt Prior, and before another run had been added, he produced another superb delivery to take out Naeem Islam's off stump for a duck.

It was a near-replica of the delivery that had earlier sent Raqibul Hasan on his way in the same manner, and with eventual figures of 3 for 43, Shahzad was England's most successful bowler of the day. In between whiles, however, his line had been all over the shop - a performance that too many of his team-mates had been willing to emulate, not least James Anderson, who had borne the brunt of Tamim's early onslaught, and later served up a dreadful nine-ball first over of the batting Powerplay - including five wides first-ball - to give Bangladesh real belief in the closing stages.

That belief had been ignited by the swinging blade of Shafiul, who turned a bad day for Swann into a dreadful one by leathering his final over for 16, including the only six of the day, over wide long-on. Up until that point, Swann had been more preoccupied with the wet and slippery ball, with Andrew Strauss forced to intervene during a heated row with umpire Daryl Harper, but those blows brought the requirement down to 39 from 48 balls, and brought an abrupt halt to the flow of disgruntled fans who were trooping out of the stadium.

This was the day that Bangladesh had been rehearsing for all through 2010. They got to know England's cricketers and strategies through the course of back-to-back series at home and away, and having ended their run of 20 consecutive defeats with a tight victory at Bristol in their last-but-one encounter in July, they knew they had what it takes to spring a surprise. But, having collapsed in a heap to be bowled out for 58 in their last World Cup fixture against West Indies, the chance to start from the position of rank outsiders seemed to suit their purposes every bit as much as the favourites' tag unsettled their opponents.

With the honourable exception of the fit-again Morgan, England simply did not look comfortable at any stage of the day. After losing the toss and being asked to set the agenda, they shipped three tame wickets in the space of their first 17 overs, as they dribbled along to 53 for 3, and though Trott was admirable in grinding out a 99-ball 67, it was Morgan's departure for 63 to a fine catch by Kayes at backward square that derailed their ambitions of a 250-plus total. Their batting Powerplay once again proved problematic, with 33 runs and two wickets coming in five overs, and from 162 for 3 with 11 overs remaining, England were bowled out for 225 with two balls of their innings remaining.

The left-arm spin of Abdur Razzak was especially impressive. It was he who stunted England's ambitions with his first-ball removal of Matt Prior (who produced one of the most doziest dismissals of the tournament to date, when he set off for a single with the ball already nestled in Mushfiqur's gloves) and he did not concede a single boundary until Ravi Bopara larruped the third ball of his final over through the covers. Even then, Razzak had the last laugh, as two balls later Bopara tried the same trick and picked out Naeem Islam in the covers.

England's own trump spinner couldn't come close to matching the efforts of Bangladesh's quartet. Right from his first over, Swann was troubled by the dew-sodden ball and struggled to locate the flight, line and length that had proved so devastating in a similar situation against South Africa last week. England regained a small measure of control when the umpires agreed to a ball-change after 21 overs, and Swann was instantly in the thick of things with a tidy fourth over that went for two runs. However, the more notable aspect of the over was Swann's petulance when called for a leg-side wide that might have brushed Shakib's pad. Aside from the extra run, it was a sign that England were getting very seriously rattled. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Shafiul secures Bangladesh vital victory

Bangladesh 205 (Tamim 44, Botha 3-32, Johnston 3-40) beat Ireland 178 (Shafiul 4-21) by 27 runs

	Mohammad Ashraful sparked Bangladesh's fightback with two wickets © Getty Images

Bangladesh's bowlers held their nerve to atone for the failures of their batsman, as the pluck of the Irish proved insufficient to overcome the most fervent atmosphere of the World Cup so far. In a gripping, low-scoring encounter at Mirpur, Bangladesh flirted with disaster as they squandered a flying start from Tamim Iqbal to crash to 205 all out, and when Ireland reached 93 for 3 at the halfway mark of their reply, they were well on course for a hugely deserved victory. However, six wickets for the Bangladeshi spin quartet set the stage for a flying finish from Shafiul Islam, who claimed 4 for 21 in eight hostile and reverse-swinging overs, to seal a wildly acclaimed victory by 27 runs with five overs to spare.

The result was tough on the Irish who, like the Netherlands earlier in the week, gave the match their all and deserved a Test-playing scalp as their reward. But the belief and unity of the Bangladeshis had to be seen to be believed, as they dusted themselves down after a chastising performance with the bat, and set about defending their meagre total with skill, tenacity and some sublime commitment in the field. Mohammad Ashraful, whose mercurial batting once again let him down when the heat was on, proved a revelation with the ball, as his spin-bowling all-sorts picked up two vital wickets inside the first 19 overs, and whose subsequent celebrations imbued both his team-mates - and perhaps more crucially, a rammed and expectant Mirpur crowd - with belief.

There will be many higher-profile fixtures than this in the coming weeks, but few could prove as pivotal to the fortunes of two teams who exceeded expectations four years ago in reaching the Super Eights in the Caribbean. Ireland's hopes of playing in the 2015 tournament hinge on their ability to produce this sort of performance in each of their next five matches, to convince the ICC that they deserve their place at the top table. But more immediately, Bangladesh's victory gives them a real chance of pushing for a quarter-final place that their form in home internationals suggests could be attainable.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Bangladesh started the match with the same aplomb with which they finished, bringing their fans to their feet in a thrilling first four overs, in which Tamim's blistering volley of strokeplay lifted the score to an imposing 41 for 0. However, Ireland are a more resourceful side than meets the eye, and the early decision to reduce the pace on the ball slowly but surely changed the tide of the contest. Trent Johnston and John Mooney drew the sting of the innings with their unrelenting line and length, but it was left to the teenaged spinner George Dockrell to inflict the telling blows.

Dockrell twirled straight through his ten overs, claiming 2 for 23 with a performance brimful of guile. His agonisingly slow pace through the air left all the batsmen groping in their defences, scared of taking on the long straight boundary for fear of being beaten in flight, and his two dismissals were carbon-copies of one another - a crease-bound Mushfiqur Rahim paddle-swept to Andrew White at short backward leg to end a doughty innings of 36, before Ashraful followed suit for 1 in the very next over.

Ireland's commitment in the field was unstinting. Ed Joyce and White pulled off a direct-hit run-out apiece, the first to remove Junaid Siddique for 3 - a dismissal which undermined Bangladesh's early momentum following the loss of the opener Imrul Kayes to an expert leg-side stumping from Niall O'Brien - and the latter to extract Raqibul Hasan for 38, at precisely the moment he looked set to guide the tail to a comfortable 200-plus total. But the one telling shortcoming was the performance of their quickest bowler, Boyd Rankin. His nine overs went for 62 - the most expensive analysis of the day - including a poor final over that went for 11.

Smart Stats Bangladesh's 27-run win was their first over Ireland in World Cups and their fifth in seven matches against Ireland. Ireland had beaten Bangladesh by 74 runs in their previous meeting in World Cups. This was only the eighth win for Bangladesh in ODIs in Mirpur after batting first. They have lost on 13 occasions after batting first. Shafiul Islam's 4 for 21 is the best bowling performance inWorld Cups by a Bangladesh bowler surpassing Abdur Razzak's 3 for 25 against South Africa in 2007. The fifty of the Bangladesh innings came up in just 5.4 overs which is the fastest time to a fifty for any team in this World Cup so far.

Pace off the ball was the secret on this deck, at least until such time as the Irish tail was exposed to Shafiul's old-ball wiles. He was given just the one over with the new ball in Ireland's innings, before Shakib turned to the spin pairing of Abdur Razzak and Naeem Islam. The tactic paid dividends in the sixth over of the innings, when Paul Stirling yorked himself while advancing to Razzak, and was stumped by Mushfiqur as the ball dribbled off the pads and past his off stump.

With the pressure intense in spite of the small target, Ireland's captain, Will Porterfield, set himself to make the most of every scoring opportunity. He had launched the innings in confident style with a second-ball drive off Shafiul through point, and he added a second four when Naeem dropped short at the end of his third over. But Shakib, Bangladesh's captain and senior spinner, struck with his first delivery, as Porterfield attempted a flick off the back foot, and instead popped a simple catch to Raqibul at short midwicket.

O'Brien, however, was the right man to enter the fray. He was the hero of a tense run-chase in Jamaica four years ago, when Ireland stunned Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup, and two fours in the same Shakib over were the perfect tonic for his team's frayed nerves. In partnership with the England veteran, Joyce, he picked off the singles and gnawed away at the target, before Joyce, on 16, attempted to drive against the spin, and popped a simple chance to Ashraful.

Ashraful celebrated as if the match was already won, which it self-evidently was not at 75 for 3 in the 19th over. However, the belief in the Bangladesh team was picked up on by the crowd, and the roof was raised six overs later, when White, on 10, played a lazy pushed drive from deep in the crease to be bowled through the gate.

It was a dismissal that increased the Irish jitters ten-fold, but it was nothing compared to the dismissal of O'Brien three overs later. With a rock-solid 38 from 52 balls to his name, he was tempted to put too much bat through a lofted clip into the leg side, and Tamim at deep square leg hurtled in to snaffle a brilliant low catch inches from the turf. At 110 for 5, Bangladesh were right back in the contest and O'Brien's self-recriminations were revealing. With an asking-rate of four an over, there was simply no need for such risks.

His brother Kevin, however, chose his big shots more judiciously - at least at first. An up-and-under six over long-on was the first and only maximum of the match, and he added two more kitchen-sink clumps in Ashraful's ninth and final over, which went for 14. But at 151 for 5 in the 37th over, when all that was required was a cool head and an exchange of singles, O'Brien was suckered by Shafiul's short ball, and launched a pull straight to the substitute, Suhrawadi Shuvo, at square leg.

From that moment on, Ireland's hopes began to evaporate. Naeem nailed Mooney for an eight-ball duck, as he tried a flat-footed cut but edged into his stumps, and three balls later, the obdurate Andre Botha played all round a full-length delivery that crashed into his leg stump. With Shafiul on a roll, surfing the crowd's delirium and zipping the ball at pace from a full length, the tail were unable to resist. Bangladesh's World Cup campaign is up and running. Ireland's, despite their best endeavours, must start all over again against England next week. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Tamim steers Bangladesh to series win

Bangladesh 189 for 4 (Tamim 95, Siddique 56*) beat Zimbabwe 188 for 6 (Taibu 64, Ervine 46, Shakib 3-58) by six wickets

Tamim Iqbal missed out on a hundred but put Bangladesh on course to victory © Associated Press

Tamim Iqbal's explosive 95 blew away Zimbabwe on a slow Chittagong pitch on which the visitors had limped to 188 for 6, giving Bangladesh a six-wicket victory and a sixth-consecutive series win over Zimbabwe. On a track where the rest of the batsmen managed ten boundaries, Tamim clattered seven sixes and five fours after starting cautiously and surviving some anxious moments. Despite three of the top five batsmen contributing 13 runs between them, and Junaid Siddique taking 105 deliveries to reach a half-century, Tamim's charge allowed Bangladesh to canter to victory as they took the series 3-1.

He had curbed his natural attacking instincts after Imrul Kayes fell to the fourth delivery of the chase, before opening up with a pull over square leg off Chris Mpofu in the seventh over. Mpofu's next over was an example of how the chase progressed - in sporadic spurts amid fortuitous let-offs. Tamim went for his favourite heave down the ground off the first delivery, but got an inside-edge that went just past the stumps for a boundary. The third delivery was lifted cleanly over long-off for six, before Mpofu made a mess of a straightforward chance as Tamim chipped a slower one in the air.

Tamim continued to take his chances, treating the spinners with disdain and repeatedly targeting the area between deep midwicket and long-off. He also played-and-missed in between, highlighting the slow nature of the pitch though it had quickened up a touch compared to when Zimbabwe were batting. Flicks and drives just cleared the infield, but what stood out in Tamim's effort was the urgency with which he approached the modest target, in stark contrast to Zimbabwe's batsmen who had crawled at around two an over for more than half their innings.

Siddique's effort was far scratchier as he struggled to find the gaps. But Tamim's briskness at the other end meant he could get away with working the ball around. Elton Chigumbura rotated his bowlers but it didn't have any effect on Tamim, who reached his half-century in the 20th over off 61 balls. Zimbabwe didn't help themselves as Tamim was left off once again, Tatenda Taibu failing to catch the bottom-edge off Ray Price. Tamim responded by moving from 50 to 95 in 34 deliveries, smashing five more sixes before falling while attempting yet another six, holing out to Graeme Cremer who took a diving catch running in from the deep midwicket boundary. By then, however, Bangladesh needed only 50 off 21 overs.

Taibu and Craig Ervine had earlier put on Zimbabwe's highest partnership of the series but their progress was painfully slow, before a late charge in the batting Powerplay took the visitors to 188 on a surface that didn't turn much. Only nine boundaries were hit - six of them in the final six overs - partly because of the low and slow nature of the surface and the damp outfield, but largely due to the lack of intent Zimbabwe displayed.

The first boundary came in the 24th over when Taibu stepped out and lifted Naeem Islam over mid-off. The batsmen showed more purpose after that and the duo had added 95 before Ervine fell, going for another reverse-sweep and getting a top edge that Mushfiqur Rahim gobbled up. Taibu, who made his first half-century of the series, continued to hustle between the wickets. From 137 for 4 after 44 overs, Zimbabwe took 42 off the batting Powerplay, using the lofted shot over the infield to good effect.

Zimbabwe's downward spiral had continued in the morning after Chigumbura opted to bat, and their confused state was typified by some mindless running. Bangladesh usually rely on their spinners to contain the runs but today their quicks, Mashrafe Mortaza and Shafiul Islam, did that job by being on target right from the start.

Zimbabwe helped Bangladesh with repeated attempts at self-destruction, the first of which came as early as the first legitimate delivery of the match, also the first free-hit of the series. Brendan Taylor pushed a full swinging delivery to extra cover and rushed more than halfway down the pitch before he glanced at Hamilton Masakadza, who was rightly rooted at the non-striker's end. Suhrawadi Shuvo had already swooped down on the ball, and waited for an instant before aiming at the striker's stumps and scoring a direct hit.

Mortaza deserved some rewards for his efforts, and soon trapped Masakadza and Dabengwa leg-before. Zimbabwe had slipped to 21 for 3, and the 11th over was already on. They never really recovered after that, and Tamim's blistering knock in his first series after wrist surgery shut them out completely. -Cricinfo