Mushfiqur, Naim power Tigers to 171-4 against Sri Lanka

DHAKA -Riding on the half-century of Mushfiqur Rahim
and opener Naim Sheikh, Bangladesh compiled a respectable 171-4 against Sri
Lanka in their opening game of the Twenty20 World Cup Super 12 phase at
Sharjah in United Arab Emirates (UAE) today.

   Naim sheikh hit 62 off 52, smashing six fours while Mushfiqur Rahim, who
was instrumental in keeping the side in good stead in the middle overs,
blasted an unbeaten 57 off 37, clobbering five fours and two sixes.

   Bangladesh though were asked to bat first got a decent start for the first
time in this World Cup with their openers Liton Das and Naim Sehikh combining
for a 40-run partnership.

   The partnership was broken in the penultimate delivery of the first
powerplay when Liton picked up mid-off, trying to clear the boundary.

   But as he was walking off, the bowler Lahiru Kumara exchanged some words
that Liton clearly didn't like and in the process, the two was involved in
verbal spat and there was also some physical contact. It needed others
intervention to separate those two players.

   In form Shakib then came into the crease but couldn't make any impact this
time as Chamika Karunaratne rattled his stump with a modest delivery after he
scored just 10.

   But out of form Mushfiqur Rahim gave Bangladesh the sigh of relief when it
looked Sri Lanka put them in control.

   With caution and aggression, Mushfiqur and Naim kept Sri Lanka bowlers in
pressure and rotated the scoreboard with good pace.

   Naim Sheikh brought up his second half-century in his last three matches,
with a straight drive over Lahiru Kumara's head for a boundary off 44 balls.

   He however was dismissed after giving Binura Fernando a return catch.

   While he was little slow in his approach, Mushfiqur Rahim found the gap in
regular intervals to milk boundaries in almost every overs.

   Mushfiqur completed his sixth T20 half-century off just 32 balls, chipping
Lahiru Kumara's delivery to long-on for four and in doing so, he stabbed off
his off form in the crucial game for Bangladesh.

   The diminutive man was key in helping Bangladesh pile up 53 runs in the
last five overs. But the most important aspect was Bangladesh could give a
good drive for runs in the middle overs unlike the other matches, scoring 99
runs in the last 10 overs. And here Mushfiqur also played a pivotal role.

   Karunaratne, Fernando and Kumara grabbed one wicket apiece for Sri Lanka.BSS