2nd Natwest Series ODI - Ban vs Aus (sophia gardens)

[Hondo]

yeah I certainly hope so. They will be feeling like on top of the world right now, and if they play smart like today they should be able to beat any team in the world. They might now even like their chances against England in the next match. I personally think they should be left alone and let them get on their own two feat. You can already see that they are finally doing this, only more harm can be done if they are removed from the top group.

[yubeingfunny]

I think their main fault was not being ruthless enough, they should possibly have set a higher score to start with.

The Aussie preperation didnt seem that great - it took til the 5th ball of the 49th over for them to realise that the Bangladeshi batsmen in general dont like the shorter ball, now i'm sure anyone who had seen the series against England could have pointed that out to them!

[Zainub]

I also think batting first was a questionable decesion. It was swinging around in the morning, with cloud cover around, there wasn't as much movement when B'desh batted. Who knows how B'desh would have fared given they had batted first instead. I'm not taking any credit away from B'desh, I though they were brilliant in every facet of the game, and looked the better side of the two on the day, but Ponting's decesion was, to say the least, unusual.

[Ernest]

Well Hondo, I would like to see the ICC official, who dared takes ONI staus from Bangladesh now

[Paoli]

May I firstly start in giving my unwavering congratulations to the Bangladeshi side. 18th June is now an official public holiday

Where do we start? Mashrafe Mortaza started brilliantly by picking up Gilchrist's scalp for a duck second ball, and, even though this was a good start for Bangladesh, it was a predicted one-off. However, in the fifth over, Tapash got Ponting LBW.

Then, however, it seemed as if Australia were going to run all over the minnows. Hayden began to open his shoulders, marching his way to 37 before 17-year old Nazmul Hossain bowled him. Again, this seemed to be it. Martyn and Clarke scored at basically a run a ball until Martyn holed one out in the 42nd over. Then, Mashrafe caught Clarke off Tapash as the score went to 190-5. But a brilliant partnership of 59 at more than a run a ball saw Australia to 249-5. I was definitely expecting at least 350 when Punter sent the Bangladeshis in. However, my dad and I were watching the game, and I turned around to him and said, "Mate, if the Aussies are only getting 249, Bangladesh will get about 80".

To their credit, they played beautifully. Nafis Iqbal was out early however, and I called it quits at about 2am with Bangla at 3/120 requiring eight an over. Ashraful, Congratulations son, definitely a bona fide batsman who I'd like to have in Zimbabwe, made an even 100. Also, this was probably the first captains knock that Habibul Bashar played; yes, it was only 47, and he was run out stupidly, but I don't think any other player was capable of repeating his fete.

The highlight for me though, was Aftab Ahmed smacking Gillespie for six on the first ball of the last over when Bangladesh needed 7. Then the scampered single; is there any better way to win a game?

Congratulations Bangladesh, you've put the Aussies to shame. All we've beaten is a bunch of 40-somethings and county trundlers in the 20/20 match and Leicestershire. Somehow, I can't see us winning the One-Dayers. Those who were saying that Bangladesh have gained nothing from this tour are wrong; In recent years, the West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe have failed to beat Australia after lengthy test tours and VB Series. Earlier this year, Pakistan only won one ofthe matches. Bangladesh have now come away with arguably the biggest mantle in cricket; bragging rights against the best team.

[Trescothick]

Originally Posted by Paoli69

The highlight for me though, was Aftab Ahmed smacking Gillespie for six on the first ball of the last over when Bangladesh needed 7. Then the scampered single; is there any better way to win a game?

True.. That was lovely to see: Just watching the excitement on the batsmens face! What a brilliant hit as well! It wasn't a Bad ball!!

[Doink]

I first got the news from the daily paper, I didnt believe it so I logged onto CricInfo and I still dont believe it! Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed and Bashar batted very well. Amazing stuff. But I am still of the view that Bangladesh need to play against the A-sides of the Test playing nations to improve. Beating the Aussies is a great achievement and for the moment its time for them to uncork the champagne!