Tigers ready for all

The ICC Twenty20 World Cham-pionships are already underway and the Bangladesh team gets going today believing that anything and any result is possible.

Their opening match against the West Indies at the Wanderers is as crucial as cricket games come, especially for the West Indies who must win to stay in the competition. Victory for Bangladesh on the other hand would ensure they are not catching an early flight back home and a chance for more heroics in the Super Eight stage.

The match starts at 2pm Bangladesh Standard Time.

The Tigers trained for three hours at the Wanderers in the morning and it was a relief for captain Mohammad Ashraful that those nursing injuries all came out okay from the practice.

Tamim Iqbal, who has a moderate fracture on his left index finger batted and fielded without any noticeable discomfort and key spinner Abdur Razzak also showed no side effects from a strapped left hamstring and was his usual self while bowling.

Yesterday was Razzak's only second practice session following the muscle strain suffered during the warm-up game against Scotland on September 8.

"It is very good that we had all the players fit for selection for this important match. We have had a nice preparation phase leading up to this competition and now the real game begins and we have to be at our full strength," said Ashraful.

Bangladesh have left out Nadif Chowdhury, Mahmudullah Riyad, Junaed Siddique and Ziaur Rahman from the starting line up. Nadif will be the 12th man. Tamim and his prolific Chittagong partner Nazimuddin will open the batting with Aftab Ahmed, Ashraful, Shakib Al Hasan and Alok Kapali completing the top order.

"All our preparation has been directed towards this moment. I have been scoring runs in the warm-up matches and hopefully that will continue. I have faced the Pakistan attack that I consider among the best in the world and that has given me a lot of confidence. But in Twenty20 you cannot say that this is a good bowling side and this is not. The West Indies are experienced in this form of the game but I will play my natural game," said Nazimuddin who has top-scored for the Tigers in three out of their five warm-up matches.

The Bangladesh side watched the opening match of the tournament popularly called T20 here at the Wanderers on Tuesday afternoon and felt the amazing atmosphere.

Sitting in the stands side by side with the colourful multicultural and diverse crowd was an occasion to behold. The packed Wanderers roared to every South African wicket taken or run scored and at every overs break groups of dancers would delight the crowd by getting on stages made for them and move their bodies to the beat of the booming music. They also saw West Indies score 205 batting first thanks to the first T20 century by a rampaging Chris Gayle and yet his team losing with nearly three overs to spare.

"Obviously Gayle is their key batsman. But we are not targetting any particular player. In T20 you may get a major player out early but then someone else might turn up the heat when you least expect. All the players in their side are good cricketers and we are a good team also. We just have to play our natural game and stay focused in all three departments. The outfield at the Wanderers is like a carpet so balls will come fast. So the fielders also have be on their toes all the time," said Ashraful.

SQUAD
Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Aftab Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Alok Kapali, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (Vice Captain), Farhad Reza, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel. 12th man: Nadif Chowdhury.

Mashrafe cautions Tigers

Bangladesh vice-captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza served a warning for his teammates to learn from the mistakes of their disappointing six-wicket defeat to Kenya in the last ICC World Twenty20 warm-up game on Sunday.

"It is a very disappointing result and it should serve as a warning to us that we can not let our standards drop for even one moment. In this form of the game a match can be lost in the blink of an eye," the pace spearhead told the TigerCricket.com.

But he still believed that the Tigers are very much capable to show better performance in the tournament proper which starts today.

"We know that we are a capable team with strong players and if everyone does his job then we can get a good result against the West Indies. That should be our priority and we have to learn from the wrongs in this match so that we don't repeat them again," he added.

Bangladesh will play their first match against West Indies on September 13 and take on hosts South Africa on September 15 in their last Group A encounter.

The Tigers, however, will desperately looking forward to see Abdur Razzak match-fit before the opening tie as the key left-arm spinner was nursing a minor strain on his left hamstring.

Razzak did not travel with the team to Benoni on Sunday as he underwent a rehabilitation programme designed by the team physio.

Tigers tamed

Bangladesh suffered a jolt just before the tournament proper when they crashed to Kenya by six wickets in the last warm-up game ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 Championship.

The brittle batting cost the loss at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday, which enabled the Kenyans not only to avenge their five-wicket defeat at home in a four-nation tune-up tourney last week but also snapped the Tigers' recent supremacy over them.

Since their 2003 World Cup defeat to Kenya, interestingly also on South African soil, Bangladesh won all their seven one-day internationals against the ICC associate members.

Kenyan skipper Steve Tikolo's decision to bowl first on a lively strip paid off when Mohammed Ashraful's men, who blew Scotland away in the first warm-up game on Saturday, were bundled out for 116 with twenty-two balls to spare.

The Bangladesh batting has had been all but a one man show in the last four build-up encounters with young opener Nazimuddin dazzling in an otherwise poor top-order show.

And the Chittagonian's quick dismissal for five runs meant his side succumbed to the lowest total in the ongoing Africa trip despite his opening partner Tamim Iqbal offered some resistance during his 56 off 41 balls that contained one six and eight boundaries.

Dashing left-hander Tamim, however, got no support from the other end as Aftab Ahmed was the second highest scorer with 17. Nadif Chowdhury was the other batsman to reach the double digit with 12.

The top order was even put to the test by a team like Uganda in Kenya, where Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's late rally rescued them but there was no such act in the match.

The form of skipper Ashraful was more frustrating as the right-hander continued his poor run scoring only one on the back of an unimpressive aggregate of 60 runs in the previous four games.

Thomas Odoyo dismissed big hitters Nazimuddin and Aftab to set the tone on way to take 2-21 and he was backed up by fellow right-arm pacer Nehemiah Odhiambo, who took 3-37.

Kenya batted sensibly to achieve the small target as the Obuya brothers -- David and Collins -- added 41 in eight overs for the opening wicket while Tikolo provided the acceleration during his 36 off 38 balls that helped his side reach home with one ball remaining.

Ashraful picked up two wickets for 19 runs.

Bangladesh will play their first match of the World Championship against West Indies on September 13 and hosts South Africa on September 15 in their final Group A encounter.



SCORES IN BRIEF
BANGLADESH: 116 all out in 16.3 overs (Tamim 56, Nazimuddin 5, Aftab 17, Ashraful 1, Shakib 2, Kapali 3, Nadif 12, Mushfiqur 2, Mashrafe 5, Forhad 3 not out, Rasel 4, extras 6; Odoyo 2-21, Odhiambo 3-37, Onyango 2-19, Bhudia 2-24).

KENYA: 117 for 4 in 19.5 overs (Obuya 21, C Obuya 16, Mishra 16, Tikolo 36, Odoyo 13 not out, Obanda 9 not out, extras 6; Rasel 1-22, Ashraful 2-19, Forhad 1-19).

Result: Kenya won by six wickets.

Toss: Kenya.

Nazim blows Scots away

Young batsman Nazimuddin enhanced his reputation as an opener with a blazing half-century as Bangladesh recorded a comprehensive six-wicket victory against Scotland in an ICC World Twenty20 warm-up match at the SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.

The 22-year-old Chittagonian provided a rare instance of consistency for the Tigers in the lead-up to the tournament proper that begins on Tuesday when he smashed an unbeaten 74 to steer Bangladesh to 148 for 4 to overtake Scotland's 145-8 with four overs yet to be bowled.

The right-hander clobbered nine fours and three sixes during his 42-ball essay and his hometown partner Aftab Ahmed struck a run-a-ball 33 with the help of five sweetly timed boundaries.

Nazimuddin suddenly hogged the spotlight after he had been drafted into the playing eleven against Kenya in the four-nation tune-up tourney following a last moment injury of Shakib Al Hasan and the young batter made no mistake to take the opportunity with both hands.

He just carried his form from the Kenya tour where he started with a match-winning 43-run knock against the hosts and then played a magnificent 81-run innings against Pakistan to all but confirm his place in the playing eleven in the championship.

Chasing the decent Scottish total, Bangladesh lost their first wicket in the very first over when dashing left-hander Tamim Iqbal continued his poor showing with a 6-ball 8, but Aftab joined his divisional teammate Nazimuddin to ensure the comfortable victory.

The Chittagonian pair added 87 runs for the second-wicket stand to tear the Scotland attack apart.

Although captain Mohammad Ashraful (4) and fit-again Shakib (8) fell in quick succession, Alok Kapali remained not out on nine to see the Tigers home without any further damage.

Earlier, Scotland thrived on a well-paced 54 by Navdeep Poonia to put up a respectable total on the board after deciding to bat first. The 21-year-old right-hander, who played 14 one-day internationals, hit four boundaries and two sixes in his 43-ball innings before being trapped leg before wicket by Ashraful.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak caused the early damages by sharing the new ball with Syed Rasel as he sent back both openers with the scoreboard reading 20-2. Pace spearhead Mashrafe Bin Mortaza also captured two wickets but was too expensive giving away 42 runs in four overs.

Shakib claimed two for 28 runs.

The Tigers take on Kenya in the second and final warm-up match today.

Bangladesh won by 6 wickets

Bangladesh beat Scotland- ICC world cup twenty20 warm-up match


Bangladesh won by 6 wickets (with 24 balls remaining)

SCO Vs BAN
SCO 145/8 Over -20 ; Poonia 54 (43), Hamilton 21(19); Razzak 6/2, Shakib 28/2, Mashrafe 42/2
BAN 148/4; Over - 16 ; Tamim 8 (6), Aftab 33 (27), Ashraful 4 (7), Shakib 8 (7), Nazimuddin 74* (42), Alok 9* (9); RT Lyons 2/21
BAN won by 6 wkts. (ICC World Twenty20 Warm-up match at Centurion in Pretoria; Date: 08 Sep 07 )