If the game between England and the Netherlands had shown what was possible from the World Cup, the Bangladesh v Ireland game sparked it into life, confirming the suspicion that low scoring matches are often more entertaining than those in which bat dominates ball. Certainly the best ODI that I’ve seen in the flesh was the tie between England and Australia at Lord’s when both sides made just 196, but I digress.
Ireland are unusual among the minnows in that their bowling is often stronger than their batting. In Trent Johnston they have a canny seamer with a history of success in ICC competitions, Boyd Rankin is regularly playing first class cricket in England, although the conditions didn’t suit him in Mirpur and they have a credible trio of spinners the pick of whom, eighteen year old George Dockrell, may well find himself snapped up by England in the fullness of time. The batting has its moments – the captain William Porterfield, Niall O’Brien and, of course, Ed Joyce, are all handy performers – but the suspicion is that if they are to beat a test playing nation then it will be by bowling them out cheaply and then gradually overhauling the total. It’s what happened against Pakistan in 2007 and for a time it looked as though it might happen again here.
Certainly, Bangladesh will be concerned by their failure to get more than 205. Tamim got them off to a flying start but once he had departed, making the score 68-3 at better than a run a ball, the rest of the batting stagnated in the face of accurate but hardly devastating bowling. Shakib briefly threatened to take the innings away from Ireland, but once he had been snared by Botha the rest of the innings was a bit of a struggle, as can be seen from a quick glance at the strike rates of the Bangladeshi batsmen.
Ireland’s reply threatened a shock for a long time – at both 75-2 and 151-5, with time on their side, they were favourites, but Shafiul Islam delivered a devastating spell that caused the last five wickets to fall for just twenty seven, leaving the Irish twenty seven runs short of what would have been a famous victory. The game may have lacked the spectacular hitting of the opening game, but it was deeply absorbing. Bangladesh will feel relieved that they have their first win of the tournament and will look forward to the challenges that await while Ireland will see it as a chance missed, although it will have done their confidence the world of good. They may yet have a say in how this group pans out.
Saturday brought another good game, and this time the favourites weren’t able to turn things round. As I said in the preview it is a longstanding cliché that Pakistan are somewhat unpredicatable but here, inspired by Misbah Ul Haq and Shahid Afridi, the two men who have been charged with turning Pakistani cricket around, they recorded a memorable victory.
They weren’t without their moments of farce, mind you. The run out of Mohammed Hafeez was one of the more cretinous pieces of cricket that you’re likely to see and some of the fielding was execrable, allowing Sri Lanka to get closer than they should. Kamran Akmal is the epitome of this side – at times he looked liked the cymbal toting seal who kept wicket in England last summer, but he also pulled off two smart stumpings, one of which finally tilted the game Pakistan’s way.
The star, though, was Shahid Afridi, who took his tally of wickets to nine in two matches. Murali had earlier given a masterclass in parsimony on a decent pitch, but Shahid was a force of nature. When the muse is with him he can be devastating, and this was undoubtedly one of his good days. If he can sustain his form then Pakistan will be a force to reckon with, while Sri Lanka look slightly short of the quality that has made them strongly fancied. It will be fascinating to see how the two sides develop over the next few weeks.
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