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Batsmen fashion B’desh’s biggest run chase

Chasing 319 to win, Bangladesh cruised to a seemingly stiff target with 11 balls to spare, riding on four individual fifties by Tamim Iqbal (95), Mahmudullah (62), Mushfiqur Rahim (60) and Shakib Al Hasan (52 not out). After opener Iqbal and No. 3 batsman Mahmudullah (62) laid the foundation for the chase with a 139-run stand and Rahim provided the support in the middle, it was Hasan, who brought up the win with a four off Iain Wardlaw in the 49th over at the Saxton Oval.

Earlier, opener Kyle Coetzer hammered a career-best 134-ball 156 to power Scotland to 318 for eight but it wasn’t enough in the end as Bangladesh chased down the target to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive. Chasing 319, Bangladesh lost an early wicket in Soumya Sarkar who was dismissed by Davey in the second over after the pacer induced a faint edge.

However, Iqbal and Mahmudullah produced a brilliant 139-run partnership to recover from the early jolt and keep their chase on track. Wardlaw broke the partnership in the 24th overs when he disturbed Mahmudullah’s stumps with a toe-crushing delivery to reduce Bangladesh to 144 for two.

Iqbal then joined hands with Rahim as the duo brought up the 200 for Bangladesh with a 57-run partnership in 48 balls for the second wicket.

But just then, Iqbal lost his wicket, five runs short of a well-deserved century, when he was trapped in front of the wicket by Davey. Bangladesh called for an review which was turned down. Rahim and Hasan then added another 46 runs for the fourth wicket in 39 deliveries, before the former was sent packing by Alasdair Evans in the 38th over as Bangladesh slipped to 247 for four. Needing another 72 runs in 12 overs, Hasan and new batsman Sabbir Rahman (42 not out) piled up the runs with consummate ease in 10.1 overs.

Bangladesh celebrate ‘best’ victory

Bangladesh held a double celebration Thursday, beating Scotland with their “best” run chase and closing in on a World Cup quarterfinal berth. Their 322-4 to overhaul Scotland’s 318-8 with 11 balls to spare was the second highest successful run chase in World Cup history behind Ireland’s 329 to beat England in 2011. The win kept Bangladesh in the top four in Pool A along with New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Australia and they need to beat either England or New Zealand in their final two matches to be guaranteed a berth in the quarter-finals. Opener Tamim Iqbal, who scored 95 off 100 deliveries to lead the run chase against Scotland, said their plan was to shut out thoughts of trying to overhaul a 300-plus total.

“The coach said that we should bat like we’re batting first and not to think about the total. We chased down a similar kind of score two or three years back against Zimbabwe and we batted in a similar way. So rather than thinking about the scoreboard, we were just enjoying the wicket. The wicket was fantastic and the outfield was really quick,” Tamim said. Captain Mashrafe Mortaza said the performance was better than when they scored more than 300 against Zimbabwe. “Because in the World Cup there is always pressure. So I think that is the best one,” he said.

SCOREBOARD


Scotland innings 
KJ Coetzer c Soumya Sarkar b Nasir Hossain 156, CS MacLeod c Mahmudullah b Mashrafe Mortaza 11, HJW Gardiner c Soumya Sarkar b Taskin Ahmed 19, MW Machan c & b Sabbir Rahman, PL Mommsen* c Soumya Sarkar b Nasir Hossain 39, RD Berrington c †Mushfiqur Rahim b Taskin Ahmed 26, MH Cross† c Sabbir Rahman b Taskin Ahmed 20, JH Davey not out 4, RM Haq c Soumya Sarkar b Shakib Al Hasan 1, AC Evans not out 0; Extras (lb 1, w 5, nb 1) 7; Total (8 wickets; 50 overs) 318; FoW 1-13, 2-38, 3-116, 4-257, 5-269, 6-308, 7-312, 8-315; Bowling Mortaza 8-0-60-1,  Shakib 10-0-46-1, Taskin 7-0-43-3, Rubel 8-0-60-0, Mahmudullah 5-0-29-0, Sabbir 7-0-47-1, N Hossain 5-0-32-2

Bangladesh innings  
T Iqbal lbw b Davey 95, S Sarkar c †Cross b Davey 2, Mahmudullah b Wardlaw 62, M Rahim† c MacLeod b Evans 60, S Hasan not out 52, S Rahman not out 42; Extras (w 8, nb 1) 9; Total (4 wkts; 48.1 overs) 322; FoW 1-5, 2-144, 3-201, 4-247, Bowling I Wardlaw 9.1-0-75-1, JH Davey 10-0-68-2, AC Evans 10-1-67-1, MW Machan 7-0-45-0
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