Champions Trophy 2017

Tigers suffer shambolic defeat

 

Bangladesh suffered a humiliating 240-run defeat to India in the last warm up game before the Champions Trophy on Wednesday.

After losing the previous match despite making 341, the Tigers fans were looking forward to an assuring display, but Bangladesh batsmen staged one of their worst performances, getting bundled out for 84.

Regular skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and opener Tamim Iqbal did not feature in the game, but the team will still be asked questions for this horrific display.

Chasing 325, Bangladesh were three wickets down on 11 and when the score got doubled, the number of wickets got doubled, too.

All the top seven batsmen barring Mushfiqur Rahim failed to reach double digits and it was young guns Mehedi Hasan Miraz (24) and Sunzamul Islam (18) who saved their team from an even bigger embarrassment.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav were equally lethal and economical, both bagging three wickets for 13 and 16 runs respectively, to cause the havoc.

Earlier, stand-in Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan invited their opponents to bat first after winning the toss at Kennington Oval.

Rubel Hossain removed Rohit Sharma in the second over to vindicate the decision while Mustafizur Rahman sent Ajinkya Rahane back four overs later to leave India on 21 for 2.

Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik then stepped up, adding 100 in the third wicket to steady the ship before Sunzamul Islam made the former give a catch to Mehedi Hasan Miraz.

Dhawan made 60 in 67 balls while Karthik slammed 94 in 77 deliveries, his innings studded with eight fours and a six, before retiring out.

Pandya then hammered 80 off just 54, thanks to six fours and four sixes to take his team past 300.

Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja added 31 and 32 respectively.

Rubel Hossain was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh, bagging three wickets, while Sunzamul Islam claimed two.

Bangladesh play hosts England in the very first game of the Champions Trophy on Thursday, and the Tigers faithful can only hope their team won’t repeat these two games’ mistakes in the competitive matches.