Bangladesh claimed a three-wicket win over Ireland despite a record-breaking, career-best hundred for Harry Tector on Friday.
He drove Ireland past 300, but a century in response from Najmul Hossain Shanto allowed the Tigers to complete victory in a nervy finish.
Rain in the morning delayed the toss until 12.30pm, with the game reduced to 45 overs a side, and Ireland bounced back from an early wobble to post an imposing total.
Coming in at 16-2 after both openers fell early, Tector stitched a recovery stand with Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie, and while wickets fell regularly through the middle overs, he found a willing ally in George Dockrell to provide a turbocharged finish.
The cold, cloudy conditions through the day made batting early on no straightforward task, and Hasan Mahmud made inroads with the new ball. Paul Stirling inside-edged behind, given out on review, while Stephen Doheny sliced a thick edge to point.
Ireland regrouped, with Balbirnie content to play the supporting role as Tector took charge. Each began quietly, inching the score carefully to 31-2 after 11 overs. A four and six in the same Shoriful Islam over from Tector wrestled the initiative back somewhat, but it was three sixes in four balls off Taijul Islam that truly put Ireland back in charge. The third and biggest of those, walloped over deep midwicket, brought up Tector’s half-century off 54 balls.
Balbirnie fell soon after, edging Shoriful behind, but Lorcan Tucker immediately looked to up the ante. He stroked his third ball through the offside, found the fence again two balls later, and crashed another boundary in the next over. One ball after that he fell, another attacking stroke bringing his downfall as he picked out deep square, and while Tector continued to make merry, smashing Shoriful out of the ground, the departure of Curtis Campher for eight, pinned lbw by Taijul, suggested another rebuild might be needed.
Instead, Tector and Dockrell put on a rollicking century stand, matching each other stroke for stroke and pushing the Ireland total skyward. Tector brought up his fourth ODI century with a single before smashing consecutive sixes off Taijul. Dockrell then struck consecutive sixes in the next over, adding another maximum a few deliveries later for good measure.
Tector fell a ball after crunching his 10th six – a record for Ireland in an ODI innings – and departed to an ovation with a career-best 140 to his name. Dockrell matched his own top score for Ireland, also bringing up 1,000 ODI runs during his innings, while Mark Adair got in on the act with two late sixes as Ireland ended on 319-6.
It looked a significant score, though the small playing area and slick conditions presented a challenge to the bowlers. Ireland started their effort in the field strongly, with Adair carrying his form with the bat into his opening spell, Tamim Iqbal chipping to square leg in the fourth over.
Having kept Bangladesh to nine runs in the first four overs, a counter-attack followed, with wickets not deterring the tourists. Litton Das crunched Josh Little for four and six before being nicked off by Graham Hume, and Shakib Al Hasan stroked five boundaries in his 26 before spooning a catch off Campher to cover.
That brought Towhid Hridoy to the crease, and he and Shanto put together the partnership that took the game away from Ireland. Their stand of 131 in 17 overs kept the required rate in check, with each hitting three sixes. When Hridoy pumped Hume for 10 runs in two balls and Shanto brought up a maiden ODI hundred soon after, it seemed as if Bangladesh might canter home. But Ireland battled back, to their credit, ensuring the sizeable crowd were treated to a tense finish.
In the same over as Shanto’s century moment, Dockrell brought up a milestone of his own, Hridoy holing out to bring up his 300th wicket for Ireland across formats. Shanto deposited Campher over the sight screen, but then pulled him to Tector in the deep, holding on despite almost slipping as the ball flew towards him.
With two new batters in, Ireland had hope. A sparky cameo from Mehidy Hasan Miraz was ended by Dockrell, a back-foot lbw shown to be just clipping on review, and from there, the game tightened significantly as boundaries dried up.
Ireland thought they had Mushfiqur Rahim soon after, only for the tightest of run-out calls to save him. Had Zing bails been in operation, he may have been dismissed after being sent back by Taijul, but the TV umpire couldn’t confirm if either bail was removed by the time he regained his ground. With a run a ball needed, Josh Little pinned Taijul lbw before Shoriful found four straight down the ground.
The final over arrived with five runs needed, and two dot balls ratcheted up the tension further. Adair then erred, but it looked as if Mushfiqur had too. A high full toss was pulled straight to the fielder in the deep, and the ground held its breath.
However, after an umpire review, the ball was deemed too high, with a no ball and a free hit the result instead. Mushfiqur retained the strike, the batters having not crossed before the ball was caught, and he audaciously scooped the extra delivery to the rope to spark raucous scenes.
The third and final ODI of the series, and the last game of Ireland’s Cricket World Cup Super League campaign, takes place on Sunday, May 14th at the same venue.
