NELSON: Tamim Iqbal scored 95 on Thursday to mastermind Bangladesh’s largest successful run chase in One-day Internationals as they defeated Scotland by six wickets to keep alive their World Cup quarter-final aspirations.

Scotland set Bangladesh 319 to win at the Saxton Oval after posting 318-8, an innings built around a record-breaking 156 of opener Kyle Coetzer.

Tamim’s innings of 95 from 100 balls, which was the highest by a Bangladeshi in a World Cup match, and his partnership of 139 with Mohammad Mahmudullah (62) established the strong pace that was necessary for Bangladesh to achieve their target with 11 balls to spare.

Tamim, who became the second Bangladeshi to pass 4,000 ODI runs, was out in the 32nd over when Bangladesh were 201-3, leaving a lot of work still to do, but he had cleared the way: Bangladesh was 191-2 after 30 overs where Scotland had been 152-3.

Mushfiqur Rahim then spurred the Bangladesh chase, which was the second-highest successful run chase in World Cup history, scoring 60 from 42 balls.

Bangladesh were a batsman down after regular opener Anamul Haque dislocated a shoulder while fielding and that made a solid and fast-paced start essential if they were to run down Scotland’s demanding total.

When Mushfiqur was out, with 72 runs still required, Shakib Al Hasan made an unbeaten 52 and Sabbir Rahman added 42 in an unbroken stand for the fifth wicket to guide Bangladesh to their second win at the tournament.

Bangladesh have now beaten Afghanistan and Scotland and shared points with Australia in a washed-out match to take five points and stake a strong claim for a place in the tournament quarter-finals.

But they have tough matches remaining against England and New Zealand and may have to win one of those games to ensure it progresses.

“Our bowlers haven’t bowled well but the good thing is the batters got runs, especially with a big match [against England] coming up,” Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said. “We still have two chances. We will try our level best against England, if not against New Zealand.”

Scotland were disheartened to have lost in a match in which they set so many team milestones.

Coetzer compiled the first century for Scotland in a World Cup match and his 156 — his second ODI hundred — was the second-highest individual total for Scotland in all ODIs, and the highest score by a batsman from an associate _ or second-tier— team in World Cup matches.

He reached his century from 103 balls, eclipsing the previous-highest score for Scotland in a World Cup match, overtaking 76 made by Gavin Hamilton against Pakistan at Chester-le-Street in 1999.

Scotland had confidence of defending their total to achieve their first-ever World Cup win but the Bangladesh run chase was too skilfully managed.

“It’s very tough to take,” Scotland captain Preston Mommsen said after the match. “We did a lot of things right today but unfortunately we couldn’t put the full package together. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t create enough chances to get 10 wickets.”

Coetzer, who struck 17 boundaries and four sixes during his 134-ball knock, swelled the Scotland total in partnerships of 78 for the third wicket with Matt Machan (35) and 139 for the fourth wicket with Mommsen (39).

Scotland’s total was their third highest in ODIs, their highest against a top-tier nation, and marked only the third occasion they have surpassed 300.

Scoreboard

SCOTLAND:

K.J. Coetzer c Soumya b Nasir 156 C.S. MacLeod c Mahmudullah b Mortaza 11 H.J.W. Gardiner c Soumya b Taskin 19 M.W. Machan c and b Sabbir 35 P.L. Mommsen c Soumya b Nasir 39 R.D. Berrington c Mushfiqur b Taskin 26 M.H. Cross c Sabbir b Taskin 20 J.H. Davey not out 4 R.M. Haq c Soumya b Shakib 1 A.C. Evans not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-5, NB-1) 7

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 318

FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-38, 3-116, 4-257, 5-269, 6-308, 7-312, 8-315.

DID NOT BAT: I. Wardlaw.

BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 8-0-60-1 (1nb, 1w); Shakib Al Hasan 10-0-46-1 (1w); Taskin Ahmed 7-0-43-3 (2w); Rubel Hossain 8-0-60-0 (1w); Mohammad Mahmudullah 5-0-29-0; Sabbir Rahman 7-0-47-1; Nasir Hossain 5-0-32-2.

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal lbw b Davey 95 Soumya Sarkar c Cross b Davey 2 M. Mahmudullah b Wardlaw 62 Mushfiqur Rahim c MacLeod b Evans 60 Shakib Al Hasan not out 52 Sabbir Rahman not out 42

EXTRAS (W-8, NB-1) 9

TOTAL (for four wkts, 48.1 overs) 322

FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-144, 3-201, 4-247.

DID NOT BAT: Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Anamul Haque.

BOWLING: Wardlaw 9.1-0-75-1 (2w); Davey 10-0-68-2 (5w); Evans 10-1-67-1; Machan 7-0-45-0; Haq 10-0-49-0 (1nb, 1w); Berrington 2-0-18-0.

RESULT: Bangladesh won by six wickets.

UMPIRES: S.D. Fry and B.N.J. Oxenford (both Australia).

TV UMPIRE: R.J. Tucker (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: D.C. Boon (Australia).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Kyle Coetzer.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2015

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