Australia blow away Bangladesh by 10 wickets

Australia made light work to see off Bangladesh in their rain affected super eight encounter at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. After restricting Bangladesh to 104-6 in 22 overs, Australia raced to the victory in just 13.5 overs without losing any wicket. Wet outfield caused by overnight rain forced a curtailed match of 22 overs a side.

In-form Aussie opener Matthew Hayden remained unbeaten on 47 runs and his opening partner Adam Gilchrist scored a fluent 59 runs in 44 balls in the 106 run partnership. Bangladesh wasted the only opportunity when young wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim misjudged an outside edge from Gilchrist of the bowling of Tapsh Baisya which went for a boundary.

Glenn McGrath led Australia to 10 wicket victory © Cricinfo

Australia made a terrific reply and raced to 50 in just 6.4 overs, spinners reduced the run flow but failed to cause any damage in the Australian innings and they reached the target with more than 8 overs to spare.

Earlier, a disciplined bowling display from Australia led by Glenn McGrath restricted Bangladesh to a meager 104-6 in the stipulated 50 overs. McGrath took 3 wickets for 16 runs to reduce Bangladesh to 25-3 and Bangladesh never recovered from that position.

Bangladeshi top order batsmen played too many shots too early and that caused their downfall. Dashing opener Tamim Iqbal was first to go when he was deceived by a slower from Nathan Bracken. McGrath immediately removed Shahriar Nafees by a beautiful Yorker and Bangladesh lost the momentum required to post a competitive total.

Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraful played some beautiful shots but failed to carry on and went cheaply which effectively blown away the opportunity to crate any upset against Australia.

Habibul Bashar played a patient innings of 24 taking 43 balls which slowed Bangladesh progress remarkably. A 36 ball 25 from Saqibul Hasan and some late hitting from Mashrafe Mortaza lifted Bangladesh score to 104.

Nathan Bracken continued his impressive form in the tournament and picked 2 wickets for 20 runs, Shaun Tait who was the most expensive among Australian bowlers picked 1 wicket for 28 runs.

There were plenty of drama and uncertainty before the start of the match as overnight rain resulted in a wet outfield with a number of patchy areas. After an unscheduled delay of about 5 hours and six bouts of inspection the match was finally started at 14:30 local time (18:30 GMT) and was curtailed to 22 overs a side.

Two big quagmires on the boundary's edge were the main area of concern for umpires in every inspection. Poor ground management and lack of initiatives from WICB caused resulted in longer delay than expected.

First, the ?super sopper? broke down and then the grounds men lacked resources to make the field ready for play. Some ground staff even tried to soak water by jumping on pieces of sponges. The efforts were inadequate to say the least and as the sun was shining and there were good wind, the field was finally left to the nature?s will to dry up.

Fearless Bangladesh ready to face rampant Australia in Antigua

An intrepid Bangladesh begins their world cup super eight campaign against in-form Australia today at Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua. Bangladesh team has shown no intention to succumb to the fear factor of facing raging Australia and are determined to pull off another surprise like they did in Cardiff in 2005.

Current holder Australia is back in its best after drubbing tournament favorites South Africa and West Indies in previous two matches. On the way to the record hattrick world cup crown they are aiming to brush Bangladesh aside while Bangladesh camp has shown a lot of character ahead of the clash and are ready to embrace the champions. Australia has scored over 300 runs in their last six ODI and they 83 run defeat they inflicted on South Africa is the lowest margin of their victory.

Fearless Bangladesh ready to face rampant Australia © Cricinfo

After Australia captain challenged the oppositions to put them in after winning toss, Bangladesh captain Bashar vowed to follow their own game plan to interrupt winning trot of the Aussies. Bashar insisted that Bangladesh will make the life of the world champion's difficult to secure the win.

"We're not finished yet, it is not going to be easy; it will be very tough. But we believe it is not an impossible task. We had a good win against New Zealand, another against India - and we strongly believe that if we play well together on our day we can beat anyone" said Bashar in an interview with Prothom Alo, a Dhaka based daily.

The youthful Bangladesh wants to enjoy their game against the tournament favorites and feeling no pressure ahead of their toughest encounter of the tournament. Mohammad Ashraful, the hero of Cardiff win against Australia promised positive cricket on the field and Mashrafe Mortaza, the center point of Bangladeshi bowling vowed to unsettle the dominant Aussie top order to take the command. These optimisms can only show the part of the morale of Bangladesh team who qualified to the super eight after toppling India.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting rubbished speculations of a Cardiff replay and believes the cricket they are playing will be good enough to outperform Bangladesh. Australia in current form can easily demolish the young Bangladesh side but taking them lightly can turn into a costly affair as Bangladesh has already established them as the "Surprise Packet" of the tournament.

Australians are a bit concerned about the batting form of Michael Hussey and he may get a promotion in batting order in today's match. Bangladesh is most likely field the same team that played against India.

Australia (probable) Adam Gilchrist (wk), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Mike Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait.

Bangladesh (probable) Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Saqibul Hasan, Aftab Ahmed, Habibul Bashar (captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Abdul Razzak, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafee Mortaza, Syed Rasel.

Umpires - Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Billy Bowden (New Zealand).

Ponting Wary of Improved Bangladesh

Australian captain Ricky Ponting showed his awareness about the potential challenge from a youthful and improved Bangladesh in their super eight clash at Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua on March 31.

Ponting admitted that Bangladesh has made a dramatic progress in their cricketing ability over the last couple of years and they can pose significant threat to major oppositions.

"Bangladesh has progressed quite dramatically, they could have almost won the first Test match over there (last year )", Ponting said recalling the memories of famous Fatullah test in Bangladesh.

According to Ponting the young Bangladesh side can only progress upwards from their current position and they are in the right direction under Dav Whatmore.

Fans cheering Bangladesh win against Australia in Cardiff. © Cricinfo

"You just have to look at some of the younger guys in their side now, and see how they played against India early on, they're definitely a nation on the way up, and they've got good, exciting young players. Dav Whatmore is doing a fantastic job with them," added Ponting while talking to AAP ahead of Bangladesh tie.

He particularly picked dashing opener Tamim Iqbal as one of the most aggressive player of Bangladesh side and Australians are analyzing his strengths and weaknesses to get him cheaply.

"The young left hander (Tamim Iqbal) who got 51 early on in the tournament looked particularly aggressive and we've got some footage."

Australians have a lot of knowledge about the young Tigers as two of their coaching staff worked with Bangladesh U-19 squad with current bunch of players. Australians are using their experience to find out tactics to tame the Tigers.

"(Centre of Excellence senior coach) Richard McInnes and (Australia strength and conditioning coach) Justin Cordy worked with a lot of the Bangladeshis when they were over there so we have a bit of information on them."

Bangladesh will be banking on the memories of toppling Australia in Cardiff in 2005 and after qualifying from group of death they are keen to progress further.

There are no injury worries in Bangladesh side and they have declared 12 men squad for the Aussie clash and included young exciting fast bowler Shahadat Hossain for the first time in the tournament.

Bangladesh fans want Whatmore to Stay until 2011 World Cup

Bangladesh is celebrating their historic success in the World Cup 2007. After defeating India in their World Cup opener, people all over Bangladesh celebrated the Tigers success in jubilant mood. Their celebration reached a peak when Bangladesh defeated Bermuda in the final group match to reach the second stage for the first time in their cricketing history.

Dav Whatmore took the helm of Bangladesh Cricket after their infamous debacle in world cup 2003. In his 4 year tenure with Bangladesh, he completely transformed a losing lowly Bangladesh side into a much competitive cricketing nation. Bangladesh registered 32 of out their 35 ODI wins under Dav Whatmore.

Like the world media, most of the fans acknowledge that Whatmore is the man behind the resurgence of Bangladesh cricket and want him as Bangladesh coach until the 2011 world cup in which Bangladesh is a co-host. Whatmore's current contract with Bangladesh expires in June.

Bangladesh fans want Whatmore to stay until 2011 © Cricinfo

In a recent survey conducted by BanglaCricket.com fans online discussion forum, more than 70% of participants want Whatmore to stay until next world cup while about 20% want him for at least another 2 years. This is a clear indication of the current frame of mind of Bangladesh fans.

"Whatmore is doing a good job with the team so far and he has changed the atmosphere of the dressing room. He has earned respect and love among Bangladeshi fans," said Shahriyar Rahman, who lives in Canada and is a passionate follower of Bangladesh cricket.

His voice was echoed by Borhan Zabed, a company executive in Bangladesh: "Dav has got the vision to take Bangladesh a long way. He is in the middle of moulding Bangladesh into a world beating side. We need his service for another 3-4 years to reach the level of top teams".

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is also taking initiatives to keep him after the world cup. "He is doing a fantastic job with Bangladesh. He is in contract with us until June this year and we are in the process to review it. Hopefully he will stay with Bangladesh Cricket," said a top (anonymous) BCB official while talking to a national Daily Shamokal.

Fans are concerned about recent interest from Indian media about Dav Whatmore as India coach. Whatmore was linked to Indian hot seat before Gregg Chappel took the charge and Whatmore eventually renewed his contract with Bangladesh in 2005.

"India is desperately looking for a coach to replace Chappel. Whatmore is definitely in their short list. I want BCB to act faster and make arrangements so that Whatmore stays with Bangladesh Cricket", said Raihan Mahmud, a Dhaka University student while celebrating the Bangladesh success with thousands of students. Everyone in the crowd supported him and chanted slogans for Dav Whatmore.

After reaching super eight stage of world cup, Ahmed Bashir a moderator of BanglaCricket, summed up the current emotion of Bangladesh fans, "I want him to stay as long as it takes him to Take BD among the top-4 teams in the world!!"

In the current scenario, Whatmore is definitely under media spotlight but he is concentrating on the rest of the world cup mission of the Tigers. He is not getting overjoyed by his boys super eight progress and believes Tigers can produce more surprises in the second round.

World cup success is nothing new to Whatmore, in his previous world cup mission; he guided Sri Lanka to world cup glory. Bangladesh fans believe he can lead Bangladesh to the same glory in 2011 world cup and desperately want Whatmore to stay with Bangladesh.

'Bangladesh Has The Right Combination' – Dav Whatmore

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore believes his Tigers can surprise the stronger teams in the Super Eights and has a bright future ahead. He expressed his satisfaction with the overall progress of the team leading to the World Cup and was in jubilant mood after the Tiger's World Cup success. Bangladesh will be starting their second round campaign against Whatmore’s home country Australia in Antigua.

Before the start of the World Cup, Whatmore termed his team as the “Surprise Packet” of the tournament and after defeating India and progressing to second round; Bangladesh is looking forward to creating more surprises.

"It's a terrific combination, young boys are enjoying their game and are keen to produce more surprises in the super eight”, said Whatmore pointing out the exuberance and fearless nature of his youth brigade in an interview with AFP. “We've got a couple of more experienced players, but the vast majority of them are under 25, which is absolutely perfect for an emerging team like us”, Whatmore added.

Whatmore was particularly happy that his boys are getting the opportunity to prove their worth against the top teams of the world. "They now have an absolutely wonderful opportunity to play against seven of the world's best sides and they will grow enormously because of that experience. I understand that we are still ranked number nine in the world and have a long way to go before we are consistently challenging the big boys”.

"But we've got the resources and talent to really progress and we will be going to the Super Eights to really enjoy ourselves. And from a personal point of view it's great to be in a position where your team is playing well and your methods are being validated," said Whatmore who was the mentor of Sri Lankan resurgence at the 1996 world cup.

Whatmore also showed his satisfaction with the approach of the Bangladesh team in the crucial match against Bermuda which they won by 7 wickets despite some early wobbling.

"I thought the last game against Bermuda was an extremely difficult one and the boys did brilliantly to keep their focus," said Whatmore. "I know we were only chasing a small total [96], but the ball was doing all sorts of things out there in the first ten overs, and it took a very brave batting performance from the middle order to get us through”, he added.

"They've never really been in that situation before, with so much on the line and with so much to lose. This is very significant for us. It's something we always believed we could do if we played to the best of our ability and had a little bit of luck”.

Within the Super Eights, Bangladesh was the first team to arrive in the Caribbean to play a tri-series involving Bermuda and Canada at Antigua. Whatmore believes this early arrival helped Bangladesh to understand the Caribbean condition and was crucial for their group stage success.

Super eight preview : Bangladesh aiming to surprise elites

Bangladesh finally managed to live up with their expectation and started an astounding world cup campaign to reach the super eight. After qualifying from “Group of Death” featuring India and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh is now looking forward to make big strides and establish themselves within cricket elites.

It was a wonderful display of all-round cricket from Bangladesh under the guidance of coaching prodigy Dav Whatmore. Bangladesh utilized every little opportunity they got in the Caribbean to build a perfect momentum before the start of the World Cup. If defeating New Zealand in pre world cup warm up matches was a noise in the world media, defeating India in their world cup opener created a tsunami in.

Bangladesh is appearing as a completely different outfit to most of the cricket pundits who were not following the steady progress of the young Tigers over last couple of years. Indians were caught in surprise by the professional display from the Tigers and had no clue to resist the onslaught. Bangladesh had a bad game against Sri Lanka who is enjoying their premium form in the tournament. Apart from that, Tigers were beaming in confidence in every moment they were on the field. They held their nerve in the crucial rain affected final group match against Bermuda to seal the second round berth.

Now, after reaching super eight stage, Bangladesh must continue the momentum going in their way. Bangladesh achieved the super eight spot with sheer performance and now its time to utilize that platform to launch the much anticipated world beating campaign.

A spirited Bangladesh aiming to startle the elites. © Cricinfo

Apart from experience, Bangladesh has hardly any limitation as an ideal ODI outfit. They have a unique opening combination in which young Tamim has got the courage and ability to tear any bowling apart and despite group stage failure, Shahriar Nafees is a fine player to steady the innings. Sakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful is enjoying fine form and complementing each other in the middle order. An explosive Aftab Ahmed at no. 3 and experienced campaigner Habibul Bashar can be a headache to any opposition captain.

If anyone is not impressed by the batting strength of Bangladesh, bowling department will make an impact in everybody’s mind. Mashrafe Mortaza with his disciplined but aggressive bowling can rip in through the top order and young Syed Rasel with controlled seam movement can stop the run-flow even during the power play. Next comes the prime strength of Bangladesh team which many top teams will dream to have. A very tidy slow left arm army led by evergreen Mohmmad Rafiq can effectively dry out the run flow in the middle overs, a unique formula to succeed in ODI. They all effectively complement each other and have their own unique style to tame the batsman.

And finally, the fielding of the Tigers have taken giant strides to reach world standard. They are setting examples for other teams with brilliant catches and equally impressive ground word. It’s completely a team stitched together with seamless spirits and self belief. On the field, young Tigers have father figure Rafique and ever smiling Captain Bashar to lead them and off the field Dav Whatmore is there to instill self belief to bring out the best.

Hardly any other team in the super eight has such fearlessness and spirit as a team. Now, if anyone thinks that it is not enough to tackle the elites, just ask the Indians, they realized it dearly than anyone else.

The hard work of Dav Whatmore which was supported by a very professional cricket board and a visionary selection panel is paying dividends at the very right time.

Young Tigers are enjoying every moment of their success. © Cricinfo

Bangladesh will be playing six matches in the super eight stage against oppositions who have not played Bangladesh for a while. This is an huge advantage for Bangladesh to pull off few surprises. Bangladesh managed to defeat New Zealand in warm up and India in the group stage as they were not aware about the level of threat Bangladesh can pose. They have never played against most these young boys who are ready to enjoy their game and take the opposition to the wire. Except West Indies, none of the Bangladesh’s opponents in super eight have played Bangladesh in last 2 years and Bangladesh have progressed in leaps and bound over this period. Bangladesh is ready to take advantage of this surprise shock to make super eight stage even more successful than group stage.

In naked eye, Bangladesh’s prospect in the super 8 might look bleak and upsetting teams like Australia and South Africa might appear fanciful but current Bangladesh is eager to prove critics wrong. They have already done it once in the world cup and ready to propagate it in the second stage. The young Tigers have already showed their discontent about branding them minnow and they are keen to put a final nail in the coffin of the tag they were carrying for a long time.

Bangladesh has very realistic chance to pluck 3 wins out of their 6 group 8 matches. At current form they easily match with out of form England and inconsistent West Indies while a significant gap exists between Ireland and Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has strongly made their point in the group stage and came as a survivor from group of death eliminating India. Despite their impressive run world media is not yet ready to accept them in the bigger stage. Bangladesh is aiming to answer the queries on the field and is determined to startle the elites, yet another time

Bangladesh storm into "Super Eights"

angladesh cricket team stormed into the super 8 of ICC Cricket World Cup by defeating Bermuda by 7 wickets at Queens Park Oval in Trinidad. With this win Bangladesh joins Sri Lanka to Super 8 and eliminates pre-tournament favorite India from the World Cup.

Bangladesh Cricket has reached a new height today as they reached the second round of World Cup for the first time in history. This is the biggest ever success for Bangladesh Cricket.

This historic win came as the Independence Day gift for 150 million Bangladeshis.

Chasing a revised target of 96 for victory in 21 overs, Bangladesh did not start well as opening bowler Saleem Mukaddem ripped through the Bangladesh top order and reduced Bangladesh to 37 for 3. He bowled with good line and got tremendous assistance from the wicket. Runs were hard to come and some indiscipline bowling from the other end kept the score board ticking.

Bangladesh storms into the super 8 © Cricinfo

Bangladesh batsmen kept their nerve and an unbeaten 59 run fourth wicket partnership between Mohammad Ashraful and Sakib Al Hasan guided Bangladesh to victory in 17.3 overs. Mohammad Ashraful top scored with 29 runs in 32 balls and Sakib Al Hasan was equally prolific in his 35 ball 26.

The match was not that easy for Tigers as the scoreboard is suggesting. After quick loss of 3 wickets Bangladesh were under immense pressure as ball was moving around and Bangladeshi batsmen were struggling to score runs. The arrival of Mohammad Ashraful changed the scenario as he efficiently found the gap and formed the useful partnership with Sakib Al Hasan. The pair finally guided Bangladesh home with 3.3 overs to spare. Mohammad Ashraful was adjudged Man of the Match for his assured 26 run.

Saleem Mukaddem of Bermuda took all the 3 wickets fell and finished with an impressive figure of 3 for 19 in 5 overs.

Earlier, rain dominated the proceedings of the crucial group B tie between Bangladesh and Bermuda at Queens Park Oval. Bangladesh restricted Bermuda to 94 for 9 in the rescheduled 21 over match and requires 95 runs in 21 overs to reach super 8.

It was more than drama in Trinidad today as players were on and off the field at natures will and finally rain allowed the match to resume after 4 unscheduled rain breaks. The start of the match was delayed by one and half hour due to morning shower.

Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar won the toss and decided to field first. Bangladesh got the desired result in the 5th ball of the match when paceman Mashrafe Mortaza removed Outerbridge for 0. After the first rain break, both Bangladesh opening bowler took one wicket each to put Bangladesh in firm command of the match.

After another painstaking rain delay of another 1 hour, play resumed and the match was initially curtailed to 30 overs a side. Rain again interrupted play at 15.1 overs when Bermuda was 45 for 4. Play remained stopped for another 2 and half hour and the match restarted as a 21 overs affair.

Bermuda had only 5.5 overs play left after the resumption of play. Wickets fell regularly but Bermuda have utilized the opportunity with some brief but effective hitting from DA Minors and Lionel Cann to lift themselves to 94/9 utilizing full 21 overs. Cann took only 6 balls to make 16 with 2 fours and one six.

A poor over from part-timer Aftab Ahmed which costed 17 runs boosted Bermuda innings

Abdur Razzak was the pick of the Bangladeshi bowler. He took 3 wickets for 20 runs in his 4 overs. Saqibul Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza took 2 wickets each for 8 and 12 runs respectively.