Riyad, Kapali hitting fine

All-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad made the most of the two Twenty20 practice matches held at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

The young right-hander smashed an unbeaten 39 off 35 balls in the first game with the help of two sixes and a four and then remained unbeaten on 33 that also contained a four and a couple of sixes in the second game as Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's Green overshadowed Mohammad Ashraful's Red side by 3 runs and 5 wickets respectively.

The Tigers returned to action after a 2-day break to play the matches, split into two groups, along with some other players and they are expected to play more matches in the next two days before leaving for Kenya to participate in a four-nation Twenty20 tourney.

Alok Kapali also returned among the runs making 42 and 23 respectively for the Red team but it was newcomer Ziaur Rahman who lived up to his big-hitting ability as he smote four over boundaries and two fours during his 29-ball 48 to ensure Green side's five-wicket victory in the first match.

Zia also contributed 10-ball 18 that featured two fours and a six in his team's three-run win in the second match.

Captain Mohammad Ashraful was satisfied with his team's preparation for the upcoming Twenty20 World Championship but he wants more runs from his top order to improve the overall total.

"I am satisfied with the progress but still we have to put more runs on the board. It's nice to see some of our top order batsmen getting runs," observed the young skipper.



SCORES IN BRIEF
Red: 133 for eight in 20 overs (Mushfiqur 8, Tamim 0, Kapali 42, Ashraful 8, Nadif 37, Forhad 23, Razzak 0, Rasel 2, Nazmul 1 not out; Mashrafee 2-14, Zia 1-31, Sharif 2-28, Shakib 0-13, Riyad 0-23, Enamul 0-12, Aftab 1-12)

Green: 137 for five in 18.1 overs (Junaed 6, Nazimuddin 10, Aftab 7, Shakib 4, Riyad 39 not out, Zia 48, Mashrafee 19 not out; Rasel 1-10, Forhad 2-20, Razzak 1-38, Kapali 0-27, Rubel 1-12

Result: Green won by 5 wickets.

Green: 140 for nine in 20 overs (Nazimuddin 41, Junaed 3, Aftab 11, Shakib 14, Riyad 33 not out, Mashrafee 0, Ziaur 18, Dhiman 1, Sharif 11, Enamul 0; Rasel 1-32, Forhad 1-16, Ashraful 3-21, Kapali 1-24, Razzak 2-42

Red: 137 for nine in 20 overs (Tamim 10, Kapali 23, Mushfiqur 13, Ashraful 30, Nadif 3, Forhad 12, Razzak 0, Rasel 11 not out, Nazmul 6, Tamim 12 not out; Mashrafee 2-28, Ziaur 1-32, Sharif 0-8, Enamul 1-32, Aftab 0-21, Shakib 4-12)

Result: Green won by 3 runs.