In third match of Asia Cup hosts Bangladesh took on UAE. Both Bangladesh and UAE had lost their first match. Both the teams were looking forward to gain some momentum in the tournament. Though Bangladesh had lost their first match by bigger margin but they had an edge in this match. UAE was also confident after their first match against Sri Lanka. They bowled really well in that match. So they were also looking forward to win the match. The pitch was the same in Mirpur. There was lot of grass on it. It was testing the skill of batsman but it was not good for the television ratings. When it comes to associates or minnows, people want to see big hits. Only high scoring matches between the minnows attract the viewers towards it.
UAE won the toss and elected to bowl first. UAE was lucky with the toss. They won it second time in a row. UAE put a great show with the ball against Sri Lanka. Hence they elected to bowl first against Bangladesh as well. Sarkar and Mithun began the Bangladeshi innings. It was a edgy start by Bangladesh as the ball was doing a bit. Mithun hit the first boundary of Bangladeshi innings on the first ball of the second over. It was quiet start from Bangladesh. They only managed to score 22 runs off first four overs of their innings. In fifth over, Bangladeshi batsmen broke the shackles. Bangladesh scored 17 runs in that over as Javed bowled pretty ordinary line in that over. Bangladesh carried that momentum forward. Sarkar dispatched first ball of the sixth over for a six but after that he gave his wicket away. Instead of playing sensible cricket he went for the big one again but was not able to clear long on. Bangladesh lost their first wicket on the total of 46.
Sabbir Rehman joined Mithun in the middle. He is a kind of batsman who takes some time to get in. He started playing according his nature but Mithun had got his eye in by then. In eight over, he flicked one for a six and then a four off his pads. Bangladesh was looking to set a big target. Seeing Mithun going for big ones, Sabbir also decided to hit some boundaries. In tenth over, Sabbir tried to hit a six over mid wicket but found a fielder at deep mid wicket. Mushfiqur Rahim came in at no. 4. Mithun was in 40s for the first time in his career at the other end. As he was nearing his half century for the first time. So there was nerves in him and those nerves pushed him to play defensively. In the process to reach his half century he ran himself out. On 47, pushed one delivery into his pads and started running without looking at the ball. The ball went straight to the keeper and keeper dislodged the bails. In this way, Bangladesh lost its third wicket on the total of 81. Shakib Al Hasan joined Rahim in the middle.
Hasan & Rahim has won lot of matches for their team. Here Bangladesh needed them again to put up a decent total on the board but they disappointed. Rahim was caught behind in the thirteenth over quickly after Mithun's wicket. Mahmudullah & Shakib took the Bangladesh's total past 100 runs but at very slow rate. Fall of wickets kept Bangladesh's run rate under 7 R.P.O. Shakib was not able to find the midlle. He was getting the runs in edges. In eighteenth, Shakib was knocked over by Javed. It was a full toss and he missed it completely. Nurul Hasan was the next batsman and he straight away tried to clear deep long on but was not able to clear it. Bangladesh lost two wickets in two balls. Then Mortaza got out in the nineteenth over. Bangladesh was struggling at 114-7 but when Mahmudullah is there, Bangladesh always cheer. He took the total to 133 at the end of 20 overs and it was compatible one.
Rohan Mustafa & Kaleem came out to chase that total for UAE but it was a disappointing start from them. Taskin bowled a tight first over and UAE batsmen started panicking straight away. Kaleem went for the wild swing in second over but only managed to give a simple catch to Mortaza. Then Rohan and Shahzad steadied the ship with some sensible cricket. They were waiting for the loose ball every over & were hitting it for a boundary. They played in that fashion till the fifth over. On the last ball of the fifth over, Rohan skied one on the off side and a fielder at short third man took a simple catch. At the end of the fifth over, UAE were 25-2. Then, Shahzad cleared his intents with a six but Anwar got out to a seaming delivery from Mortaza. UAE lost the momentum there. Mustafizur picked up two wickets in two balls after that. UAE were in all sorts of trouble at 34-5. UAE batsmen were only finding the edges at that time. As a result required rate started to climb. Javed hit his foot to the wickets trying to steal the single in eleventh over. UAE batsmen were inventing new methods to get out.
UAE was six down on 45 but they didn't stop there. They were just throwing it away. Tariq was stumped off Shakib's bowling on the total score of 46. Eighth wicket fell on 55. Then Usman hit couple of 6s to give some hopes to UAE but after hitting two big ones, he was squared up by Taskin and his off stump was knocked off. Then Naveed got couple of boundaries off the edge of his bat and then UAE was bowled out by Bangladesh on 82. Bangladesh got its first win in the Asia Cup and it was a comprehensive win. Again UAE's batting was disappointing factor. UAE's bowlers troubled the opposition on both the occasion but their batting let them down. On the other end, Bangladesh's bowlers mixed their pace well to defend the total. Bangladesh's victory opened the table. There were three teams with a win each on that table and Pakistan was yet to play a match.
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