Bangladesh set for Group A decider against Oman after Ireland abandonment

Barnaby Read 22:25 11/03/2016
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  • Bangladesh and Oman will go head-to-head for a place in the tournament proper.

    Group A will be decided in a winner takes all match between Bangladesh and Oman on Sunday after rain dominated proceedings on Friday.

    After the opening match between Oman and Netherlands was abandoned without a ball being bowled, Bangladesh managed just eight overs of their innings against Ireland before a thunderstorm set in and the curtains came down on a frustrating day in Dharamsala.

    It leaves Ireland level with Netherlands on one point and Bangladesh and Oman at the top of the table on three.

    Ending his side’s participation in the tournament, Ireland captain William Porterfield was left frustrated by the team’s performances despite the weather’s influence here.

    “I’m bothered we’re out the competition, it’s a world competition and we want to be here and want to be in the next round. We’re obviously disappointed,” said Porterfield after previously shrugging off Ireland’s inexcusable errors in their brief fielding stint.

    When play did get going the match was reduced to a 12 over a side affair, which the Irish failed to get to grips with.

    They missed a huge opportunity in the very first over as Soumya Sarkar skied Tim Murtagh to Andy McBrine, who shelled the chance as it dropped out of the floodlit dark Dharamsala sky.

    Four balls layer it looked as if the long rain delay and defeat to Oman had left Ireland desperately bereft of confidence as an attempted run-out was sloppily backed up and cost four over throws.

    Rubbing salt into the wound, Iqbal followed up by hitting Boyd Rankin for six over fine leg and then down the ground for four in consecutive deliveries.

    Iqbal was in the mood, evidently buoyed by his unbeaten 83 in the first game and seeming like a man possessed as he took the game to the Ireland attack.

    Both teams looked to be playing different games, one hell bent on domination, the other going through the motions.

    By the time Soumya was dropped for a second time by Rankin, the Irish were looking sorry for themselves and by the end of that over Bangladesh had raced to 52 without loss after just 4 overs.

    Soumya finally ran out of lives in the next over, swinging wildly as he ran past an Andy McBrine delivery and was routinely stumped by Niall O’Brien.

    The Ireland keeper couldn’t do the same shortly afterwards, this time dropping the ball with Iqbal this time allowed to scamper back into his crease as O’Brien fumbled.

    The Bangladesh opener eventually fell in the softest of fashion, pushing George Dockrell straight into the hands of Porterfield, who later admitted Iqbal was in supreme touch during his 47 run knock from just 26 balls, an innings consisted of 3 fours and 4 sixes.

    “He’s obviously taken a lot of confidence from the last game where he got 80-odd and set his side up for a winning total,” said Porterfield.

    “He played with a lot of freedom and struck it pretty cleanly from the off.”

    It seemed the weather was the most annoyed with Iqbal’s wicket as the rain fell hard enough for the players to be dragged off and the covers put on as Mother Nature protested the end of an innings that finally brought the stadium into life and out of its frozen time lapse shot yet to be sped up.

    Alas, the picture remained a still one as the HPCA Stadium returned to the all too familiar blue drapes of the covers that sealed the pitch for the majority of the day.

    It culminated in a thunderstorm that crackled around the stadium and ensured an end to proceedings.

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