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BCCB boys lose to the men from WB

Sports Reporter
TWO teams converged on the green: one was more experienced. ■ and that made all
the difference- yesterday at the Dhaka stadium. Echoes of Robert Frost? Quite right. The two roads diverging in the yellow wood and the poet's decisive choice that made all the difference in the famous poem Road not Taken' can serve as a suitable objective correlative for an explanation of the massive seven-wicket victory of the touring West Bengal side in their last match, a one dayer against a Bangladesh Cricket Control Board Eleven.
A very critical spectator could not have (bund any fault with the batting of the local side although Ils bowling and fielding left a little to be desired. The batsmen did their best tn piling up a daunting total of 246 for five from 42 overs but tills Himalayan effort was forced Into ineffectuality In the face of professionalism and experience. The West Bengal batsmen, toughened, tempered and annealed by numerous exposure In one-day matches, gave one the Impresston that another 30/40 runs would have not made any difference: so well the visitors from across the border paced their Innings.
The morning entirely belonged to the Bangladeshi batsmen who pulverised the pedestrian West Bengal bowling at will and openers Jaha ngir Alarff Harun-ur Ra-shtd LHon Enamul Huq Mont and Amlnul Islam Biilbul. in particular. were the local lieroes. Both Jahangir and Uton were epitomes of confidence with the former excelling in powerful drives off the front foot to the half-v<^ley deliveries and the latter pulling anything short with the ferocity of Caribbean batsmen. Both of them were, however, lucky as CAB wicketkeeper Mlntu Das. who had a thoroughly ill-folst venture, dropped two straight-forward catches and later went on to muff up a stumping chance also. Fielders marshalling the gully and slip area also had their share In giving new lease of life to the openers.
Uton was the first to go in the 19th over with the score on 90 when he sent one down Sharadindu's throat at deep square-leg while trying to pull a short ball from Satyen Bhattacharya which came very
slowly off the wicket. Ills au-' thorllatlve 40 Included three hits to the fence.
Mahbubur Rahman Selim was the bnly batsman to leave cheaply as another mistimed puli took rest 1n tl* safe hands of Raja Venkat at square-leg.
Skipper Mtnhazul Abedin Nannu. whose withdrawn. aloof altitude, puzzled many, did one good thing by pushing tn Enamul Huq Moni to fill the bid after Selim's departure and the largest turnout since the beginning of tlic matches involving the CAB side was allowed the chance of a rare exhibition of flamboyant batsmanship by the local batsmen.
Jahangir left In the 33rd over with the score on 169 as his hit over the straight country for an intended sixer was beautifully caught by Shrikant Kalyan! on tlic long-on fence: Kalyan! tore aking. Judged and held the lofted shot off left-arm spinner Anup Das low down. Jahangir's solid 66 Included four superbly driven and two delicately cut fours.
Monl. brimming with confidence after hts sparkling ion against the visitors tn the two-day match which concluded the day before, showed no in-tentfori of resting on the lau rels and went after the bowling right from the word go. Using the sweep, which ultimately spelt his doom, and fierce cuts, he raced to a rollicking 45 off 47 balls. His Innings, starred with three fours and one swung sixer off 'favourite' bowler Anup, came to an end when umpire Aziz declared him leg before as the left-handed batsman tried to sweep away a delivery that appeared to have pitched on the leg and middle stump. The batsman, visibly upset, protested the decision, gesturing that he had got his bat on to 11. Ilfs dismissal created another unseemly but barely tolerable commotion In the galleries and it Is about lime local players learnt to accept decisions in good grace, thereby thwarting the possibility of unsavoury crowd reaction.
Bulbul scored a quickfire 31 oft 27 balls, a knock that was marked with nimble foot-work and fine timing before he slammed one to Malhotra In the covers oft Saurav Ganguly. Athar All did exactly what was expected of him. pillaging an unbeaten 2 I oft lust ten balls with a mighty pulled sixer oft a full loss from Saurav. as the focal side amassed 246 for five from the 42 overs bowled by
the West Bengalis within the stipulated lime of oik- o'clock.
Shuradindu Muklictjce returned the best figures among the West Bengal bowlers finishing with two for 48 but Satyen Bhattacharya was the pick of the fol. bowling to his Held and considerably curbing the flow of runs at a very crucial stage of the game. He finished with one for 33 from nine overs.
Indu Bhusan Roy. who gave hls best on the field, batted confidently to make light of an awe-inspiring Initial asking rate of 5.85. Although his partner Bhattacharya left early, bowled by young Zakir who bowled well In his first International match. Indu Bhusan found an able and winning partner Srikanth Kalyan! and the BCCB total started looking inadequate with both piercing the gaps al will.
Indu Bhusan was bowled by Bulbul for a well-compiled 47 Inclusive of three fours and Kalyan! went on lay the foundation of victory with a sound, breezy 70 off only 68 balls punctuated with six boundaries.
Saurav Ganguly, dropped at seven by keeper Jahangir, rode his luck to delight ihc crowd with some powerful hitting. His unbeaten 73 contained three mighty sixes and five beautifully executed boundaries and the left-hander played only 54 balls.
Raja Venkat, the other unbeaten batsman at the kill, acted as a perfect foil for he marauding Ganguly and had scored only 23 when hls younger partner wrapped up the match with two disdainful on driven fours oft seamer Badhsah.
Hie veteran bowler, now at the twilight of hls 'career, did not bowl too badly, but he was brought rather late for his second 'spell by skipper Nannu who persisted with oft-splnncr Effec loo long. The skipper himself was an enigma, exuding an air of detachment from other players. He was reportedly not cent percent fit yet his participation when other senior players were around to hand over the mantle of captaincy was mind-boggling.
The BCCB selectors were nc. less baffling with ihcir myopic view as regards the future of Bangladesh cricket. Instead of giving valuable exposure to younger players like Hablbul Bahar Suman and spinner Saikai they persisted with some players wlio with due re
xpcct to their contribution, can be said to have nothing n»iy to offer at this level. Just three seamers were included in the side that played yesterday and with Athur staying In the cool shade of the pavilion that strength came down to two There was simply no one around to look to In the event of a break down or some hardship to either Badshah or Zakir In the middle of the match.
Returning to the mutton. Srikant Kalyan! was named man-of-lhe-mutch by adjudicator Roqibul Hassan. Enamul Huq Monl of Bangladesh and Saurav Gangul) of CAB won tlie Biman-sponsored men-of-the-series award _ return Dhaka-Bangkok and Calcutta- Dhaka Bangkok tickets. which were handed over by ihe visiting Executive President of the CAB Jagmolian Daimiya