Warm-up provides some answers

If the Bangladesh team management were looking for some answers ahead of the three-ODI series against England, the 14-man BCB XI squad provided some yesterday during a four-wicket loss to England in the warm-up match at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah yesterday.

During the recent Afghanistan series there was much hand-wringing over Bangladesh's inability to score 300-plus, which was thought of as an absolute necessity against an England batting unit in red-hot form. Tied into that concern is the uncertainty over Tamim Iqbal's opening partner.

In that light, the most important takeaway from the practice game was Imrul Kayes's blistering reminder that he can be a force at the top of the order with a 91-ball 121 that propelled BCB XI to 309 for nine after skipper Nasir Hossain elected to bat first. The major talking point ahead of this match was first-choice opener Soumya Sarkar's form, and another failure when he was hurried by Woakes into edging behind for seven coupled with Imrul's imperious batting may turn the tide against the struggling opener by the time of the first ODI on October 7.

England started the chase of 310 like a house on fire, racing to 72 inside the first nine overs before fast bowling rookie Ebadat Hossain had Jason Roy caught on the square leg fence. Ebadat, who shot to fame after winning a pace bowling competition, was on song throughout his five overs, adding the wicket of James Vince to finish with two for 26.

Opening for the BCB XI yesterday, Imrul Kayes hit a blistering 91-ball 121 as he set the tone for his side in a practice match against England. The batsman showed off his wide arsenal of shots, hitting the ball all over the field for his 11 fours and six sixes. However, his efforts went in vain as England chased down a challenging target of 309 with four wickets to spare. PHOTO: FIROZ AHMED

Vince's wicket with the score on 99 in the 13th over put the brakes on England's scoring which in turn brought more wickets. Al-Amin Hossain came in for some stick early on, but came back to clean bowl Ben Stokes. Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Sanzamul Islam and Shuvagata Hom took one wicket each to have England at 170 for five. Skipper Jos Buttler (unbeaten 80 off 64) and Moeen Ali (51-ball 70) then put on a 139-run stand in only 16.5 overs as England romped home with 23 balls to spare.

Earlier, from the first ball of the innings bowled by Chris Woakes, which he creamed through cover for four, Imrul set the agenda to dominate on an easy-paced pitch. But the man who has been preferred to Imrul for the position of Bangladesh's opener, Soumya Sarkar, struggled at the other end. He pottered around for 12 balls for seven runs before edging behind.  Imrul had raced to 26 by then.

Nazmul Hossain Shanto of under-19 fame then matched Imrul shot for shot in an 85-run second wicket stand that lasted 15.5 overs, with the youngster contributing 36 off 46. Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, a late inclusion into the BCB XI squad, then came in and hit a 57-ball 51 with five boundaries.

Imrul, meanwhile, was brutal in his punishment of anything short or over-pitched, with his driving through the off side being a highlight. His colleagues in the Bangladesh side may have struggled against Afghanistan's leg-spinners, but England leggie Adil Rashid was singled out for particularly harsh treatment by the left-handed opener.  Imrul's innings came to an end in the 29th over when he was bowled by Woakes after having hit the England pacer for two sixes earlier in the over.

Imrul's departure brought a 71-run stand in just eight overs with Mushfiqur to an end, but the latter kept up the attack with a 69-run partnership with skipper Nasir, who spent the Afghanistan series warming the bench. Nasir hit a 45-ball 46 with four boundaries and a six. After Mushfiqur was caught behind off Ben Stokes in the 41st over however, the wheels came off and BCB XI could only manage 49 runs for the loss of six wickets in the final 10 overs.