After all the hype and speculation about Bangladesh repeating their 2007 World Cup defeat of India, the result of the tournament opener went the way the rankings decreed.
The partisan crowd in Mirpur made for a fabulous atmosphere as Bangladesh enjoyed their first spell in the spotlight but, once Verinder Sehwag smashed the first ball (not a bad one) to the extra cover boundary, it was clear the home side were in for a tough match.
Opening bowler Shafiul Islam took a fearful pounding, not only by Sehwag but also by feeding Tendulkar's flicks off the hip. However, when the batsmen made a mess of a quick single, probably Sehwag's fault for ball-watching, and the Little Master was run out, the crowd may have sensed luck turning their way. However, Gambhir's arrival meant the scoreboard ticked over with lots of neat nudges interspersed with a few boundaries off the spinners before he was bowled by Mahmudullah for 39.
That brought in World Cup debutant Virat Kohli. He was clearly unfazed by the experience and matched Sehwag, stroke for stroke. The scoring rate increased and the opposition skipper Shakib al-Hasan was powerless to stop it. After Sehwag accidentally edged a ball painfully onto his unprotected leg above the knee, reducing his ability to run, that simply spurred him on to smashing boundaries, ideally straight into the crowd. The partnership had just passed 200 in only 24 overs when Shakib finally found a way through Sehwag's defence. He'd made 175, equalling the fifth highest World Cup innings, and only 13 behind his coach Gary Kirsten's competition record. Young Kohli just managed to reach three figures himself before Pathan's attempted last ball slog resulted in a catch behind. 370-4. Surely Bangladesh could not top that?
Well, buoyed by the crowd under the Shere Bangla floodlights, the innings got off to
a fierce start. However, instead of Tamim Iqbal, it was his opening partner Imrul Kayes who flayed Sreesanth all over the park. Bangladesh even outscored India in the opening Powerplay but once Kayes was bowled by Munaf Patel, Dhoni's bowlers tightened the screw. The flow of boundaries dried up and, with Tamim uncharacteristically quiet, the required run rate escalated. Perhaps they needed a right-handed batsman to make life more difficult for the bowlers. Shakib played a good captain's innings, playing some nice wristy shots as well as some more forceful blows, but the experienced Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan ensured there was to be no explosive finish. Once Tamim and Shakib were dismissed, Bangladesh collapsed from 234-3 to 283-9 as the chase merely resulted in falling wickets rather than a flurry of sixes.
So the crowd may have been silenced well before the end but they should reflect on a fine performance by the Bangladesh players. They should also remember they witnessed a brilliant innings by one of the greats of modern one-day cricket and another from perhaps one of the future stars of the game. Shakib and co need to shrug off the disappointment and focus on defeating what should be the less difficult opponents as they aim for the quarter-finals.
In the second match, there was to be no fairy-tale for minnows Kenya. New Zealand simply destroyed them with some excellent seam bowling by Tim Southee, Man of the Match Hamish Bennett and the more experienced Jacob Oram. The African side were all out for 69, and the target was achieved without loss in only 8 overs. Job done for the Black Caps. As I write this, Canada are at least preventing Sri Lanka from breaking any batting records but I can't see them getting anywhere near victory against the likes of Murali, Mendis and Kulasekera.
