BRISBANE, July 5: Bangladesh took only seven wickets in their three-day tour match against the Australian Cricket Academy but still managed to snatch a two-wicket win on Saturday.
Bangladesh, who made 232 for seven declared in their first innings, edged to victory with 232 for eight in 72 overs after they were set a target of 230 from a maximum of 73 overs.
Captain Khaled Mahmud hit the winning boundary through mid-on and was unbeaten on 28 with Anwar Hossain on one.
Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore said while the performance was an improvement on last week’s 29-run defeat by a Queensland Academy of Sport side, there were still “glaring areas to improve on.”
“Generally speaking, we batted better and there were some encouraging signs and I thought we bowled okay in patches.”
Mohammad Ashraful and opener Hannan Sarkar put on 71 for the third wicket but Sarkar fell for 23 at 107 for three, followed two runs later by Sanwar Hossain (2) and Ashraful himself at 134 for five.
Ashraful was caught behind by Luke Ronchi off the bowling of pace man Steve Magoffin for 61 in the 45th over, ending two hours of resistance which included eight boundaries and two sixes.
All-rounder Alok Kapali hit eight boundaries in his 44 and put on 43 for the sixth wicket with wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud who made a valuable 28.
Medium-pacer Peter Worthington ensured a tight finish after taking three for 31 from 12 overs.
The Academy resumed on their overnight score of 99 for four, leading by 125 runs after scoring 258 for three declared in their first innings.
Academy captain Aaron Nye declared at 203 for four.
Nye hit an unbeaten 89 while Callum Ferguson was two runs short of his half-century when the innings closed.
Bangladesh will play a Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI in a four-day match starting in Darwin on Thursday.
The first Test of the two-match series against Australia starts on July 18.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY (1st Innings) 258-3 decl.
BANGLADESH (1st Innings) 232-7 decl
AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY (2nd Innings, overnight 99-4):
S. Meuleman c Tareq b Mashrafe 29
S. Williams c Hannan b Mashrafe 3
A. Nye not out 89
P. Worthington b Tareq 4
L. Ronchi lbw b Rafique 22
C. Ferguson not out 48
EXTRAS (LB-8) 8
TOTAL (for four decl, 49 overs) 203
FALL OF WKTS: 1-14, 2-41, 3-45, 4-72.
BOWLING: Anwar Hossain 9-3-36-0; Mashrafe bin Mortaza 10-3-31-2; Tareq Aziz 10-1-52-1; Mohammed Rafique 7-3-21-1; Alok Kapali 7-1-34-0; Mohammad Ashraful 1-0-7-0; Khaled Mahmud 5-2-14-0.
BANGLADESH (2nd Innings):
Hannan Sarkar c Nye b Wor’ton 23
Javed Omar c Ronchi b Cleary 14
Habibul Bashar c Ronchi b Cleary 17
M. Ashraful c Ronchi b Magoffin 61
Sanwar Hossain b Wor’ton 2
Alok Kapali c sub b Magoffin 44
Khaled Mashud c sub b Ferguson 28
Khaled Mahmud not out 28
Mashrafe c Cleary b Wor’ton 1
Anwar Hossain not out 1
EXTRAS (LB-10, NB-3) 13
TOTAL (for eight wkts, 72 overs) 232
FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-36, 3-107, 4-109, 5-134, 6-177, 7-211, 8-224.
BOWLING: Cleary 16-4-45-2 (3nb); Duval 4-1-21-0; Worthington 12-4-31-3; Magoffin
15-3-64-2; Ferguson 13-4-35-1; Nye 12-4-26-0.—Reuters