Bangladesh team is First Tiger in ICC world CUP 2011

BANGLADESH team 2011

Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mushfiqur Rahim (WC), Shakib Al Hasan (C), Raqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain

IRELAND  Team 2011
William Porterfield (C), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien (wk), Andrew White, Kevin O'Brien, Andre Botha, John Mooney, Trent Johnston, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin

           Tigers keep hopes alive  Bangladesh beat Ireland by 27 runs in a cracker to keep alive their chances of reaching quarter-finals.

Bangladesh bowlers rallied when the game appeared to be slipping away from them and fought hard to pull off the huge victory.

Seamer Shafiul Islam took four for 21 off his eight overs to end up with the best figures by a Bangladeshi at a World Cup. His sterling effort came after the spinners took early wickets to leave Ireland struggling.

Trent Johnston was the latest to go, trapped lbw by Shafiul Islam for his third wicket to leave his team on the brink of defeat.

Andre Botha played around a full ball on the leg stump from Shafiul and was bowled.

Naeem Islam put John Mooney, 0 off eight balls, out of his misery when the batsmen dragged a wide ball on to the stumps. Kevin O'Brien (37) pulled a short Shafiul delivery straight down the throat of substitute fielder Suhrawadi Shuvo at deep square-leg.

Before that, captain Shakib Al Hasan had his brother Niall O'Brien (38) back in the hutch courtesy of a brilliant diving catch from Tamim Iqbal, who ran in from the boundary to cling on with his fingers just milimetres from the grass.

Mohammad Ashraful struck for a second time when he snared Andrew White (10) who played back to one and missed.

Shakib had struck with his first ball of the evening—a leg-stump delivery which held up off the pitch, with William Porterfield (20) flicking it straight to Raqibul Hasan at short midwicket for a simple catch.

Ed Joyce (16) got a thick leading edge attempting to play Mohammad Ashraful through the leg side, chipping the ball up for a simple return catch.

Pail Stirling was the man out when Mushfiqur Rahim whipped off the bails as the Irishman misjudged a full Abdur Razzak delivery. The ball rolled along the ground to the wicketkeeper, who broke the wickets with the burly opener well out of his ground.

Earlier, Bangladesh batting imploded on a slow and low pitch at Mirpur for 205 all out in 49.2 overs. The dreadful batting by the co-hosts and sharp Irish fielding saw Bangladesh fail to last full 50 overs.

But the Tigers were off to a blazing start with Tamim Iqbal flaying the Irish bowlers all around. But the fall of Imrul Kayes (12), stumped brilliantly by Niall O'Brien and Junaed Siddique (3) run out, slowed them.

Some disciplined medium-pace bowling and plucky fielding helped the Irish wrest the initiative in their crucial Group B encounter at Mirpur.

Bangladesh's batting mainstays Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan both fell to soft shots, to the complete shock and silence of the packed crowd and with them went the chances of a big total. As the pitch slowed down and the ball got softer, Irish bowlers bowled intelligently and the batsmen played safe against the spinners. Mushfiqur Rahim (36) and Raqibul Hasan (38) tried to rebuild the innings but found the job beyond them.

Some of the batsmen brought about their own downfall.

Less than five minutes after Mushfiqur Rahim perished to 18-year-old left-armer George Dockrell with a misjudged sweep shot, Ashraful played an identical shot against the spin into the hands of Andrew White at short fine leg.

Dockrell was the star who gave the ball plenty of air and bowled accurately. He bowled his first and last overs maidens, for an impressive match return of two for 13 off 10 overs — but the total of 206 was still a tricky chase.

Captain Shakib Al Hasan (16), dropped in the 15th over, failed to make his let-off count, as he played too early to spoon a simple return catch to Andre Botha, who also claimed the wicket of Tamim Iqbal.

Tamim, trying to up the tempo after the Tigers slowed down a bit losing two wickets in quick succession, sliced an Andre Botha delivery at point to William Porterfield to leave the fans absolutely dumbstruck. The vice-captain smashed seven fours for his 43-ball 44.

Anre Botha took three for 32 and Trent Johnston three for 40.

The Tigers needed to wrap up the game for any realistic chance of making the quarter-finals and that is what they tried to do.

Bangladesh lead the head-to-head against Ireland 4-2. The Irish beat the Tigers at the Super Eights stage in 2007 but then lost 3-0 in a series in Dhaka in 2008.

Bangladesh were beaten by Ireland at the 2007 World Cup and at the 2009 World Twenty20.

Ireland, flying the flag of Associate member countries, have nine players from 2007 and contains batsman Ed Joyce, who played 17 one-dayers for England before opting to compete for the land of his birth.

Umpires: 

Aleem Dar (PAK) and Rod Tucker (AUS)

TV umpire:

Billy Bowden (NZL), Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)