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A worthy Plate

RABEED IMAM
Beating Australia in any level of cricket is a mighty achievement as the men from down under have set the benchmark for excellence in the game. So when hosts Bangladesh pulled off a sensational eight-run win over the soon to be officially dethroned world U-19 champions at bouncy Fatullah yesterday, it ought to have been a huge cause for celebration. Well, not quite.
True there was the huddle-dance in the middle, numerous hugs and congratulatory exchanges and a semi lap of honour but Richard McInnes' charges largely kept it within perspective. After all Plate championship was only the consolation part of the main competition and that mood was evident in the junior Tigers' members too when reporters inquired about their plans for the night.
"We have an official reception tonight. After that I guess I'll just go home to my wife and kid," said McInnes after the match.
Skipper Ashiqur Rahman too was not getting overly excited. "We didn't qualify for the Cup and that still plays on my mind."
Nevertheless it was a successful end to a mission that became an
altogether different ball game with Australia being the opponents.
"Once we realised that we weren't going to be in the Super League we wanted to make sure that we didn't miss the Plate. But Australia being there too made it a great deal harder," said McInnes adding that he was relieved with the final outcome.
"When the Australians were putting on that sixth wicket partnership, I thought about the New Zealand game where we had them six down for 110 and still lost. I don't know whether it has got something to do with the number six but I'm glad we pulled it through in the end."
Although Bangladesh's batting clicked for the first time in the competition, McInnes was still disappointed at not capitalising on a brilliant start.
"257 was a good effort but I still thought we should have had 300. But again we have to remember that they had no previous experience of being 180 or 200 for two with more than ten overs remaining. So that was a new thing for us today and we have learnt a great deal."
Ashiqur was adamant that his side had the potential to bat like this all along but couldn't manage to do it in this World Cup.
"It wasn't a marked improvement in our batting today because Nafees (Iqbal), Naeem (Islam), Aftab (Ahmed)...they all usually bat like they did. Unfortunately we just haven't seen more of that in the tourna-
ment," said the Bangladesh captain.
The Fatullah Cricket Stadium was not at its crowded best yesterday and there were patches of vacant corners in the stands. But a steady build up of fans eventually touched the 15,000 mark and with Bangladesh making a good enough score to defend, more poured in as the match progressed. And the supporters, majority of whom were from adjacent areas and Narayanganj came prepared for the occasion.
Drums were beating all day, rhythmic clatter was being made with empty plastic mineral water bottles and Mexican waves flowed every once in a while. So involved were the fans in the game that they even vented their displeasure by throwing bottles and other objects on to the ground when a few tantalisingly close run-out calls went against the home side when Australia were batting. But nothing untoward transpired and it was heartening to see the stadium generously applaud the Aussies when they were making it back to the changerooms after the prize-giving ceremony.
The fan-factor was also appreciated by Ashiqur.
"I don't think playing infront of such a huge crowd put any pressure on us. Besides, we don't hear what they are saying in the stands. On
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the contrary we actually thought of it as an advantage as this was our home fans," said Ashiqur.
Speaking on Bangladesh's performance as a whole McInnes was relatively content.
"We played nine matches in this World Cup and lost only two of them to India and New Zealand. From Bangladesh's context, I think that qualifies for a good result. But we have to remain focused on our primary goal and that is to try and improve all the time. But I'm sure these players will be better cricketers after this tournament," said McInnes.
McInnes' counterpart Bennett eing was prepared to look at the broader picture rather than dawdling on the loss.
"At this level the standards are not very distinguishable as you may have seen with Nepal beating South Africa and Zimbabwe outplaying us. Most teams in this World Cup had players with first-class experience while we had none in our team and I don't expect them to be either in another three or four years as our first class base is very demanding. So you can say that we were probably a bit weak given the standard of the competition," said eing.
eing also felt that his team had handed over the match after being in a winning position.
"Bangladesh played fantastic
cricket and congratulations to them. We expected them to wilt under pressure and they were showing some signs of that. But we capitulated towards the end and I feel it was more a case of us losing rather than Bangladesh winning."
Man of the match Enamul Haque had the most decisive influence in the game with five wickets and a run out and was the lone man keeping cool when nerves were being stretched around him.
"I have always had confidence in my ability and that helps me to sustain pressure. Today's performance was the best of my career as it brought us something special," said the Test star.
SCOREBOARD
Scoreboard of the ICC U-19 Plate final between Bangladesh and Australia at the Fatullah Stadium yesterday.
BANGLADESH U-19
Nafees c & b O'Keefe 59
Naeem c Crosthwaite b Paine 66
Aftab st Crosthwaite b Beadle 57
Nazimuddin b Beadle 18
Dhiman c Beadle b Henriques 6
Bashar run out 5
Nadif b Henriques 11
Ashiqur run out 8
Nazmul c sub b Mangan 2
Enamul not out 3
Shahadat not out 1
Extras: (b-1, lb-3, w-15, nb-2) 21
Total: (For 9 wickets in 50 overs) 257
Fall of wickets: 1-124, 2-152, 3-204, 4-
215, 5-225, 6-229, 7-247, 8-252, 9-253
Bowler o M R W
Coyte 5 0 24 0
Putland 6 0 24 0
Mangan 6 0 39 1
Henriques 10 0 47 2
O'Keefe 10 0 55 1
Paine 8 0 38 1
Beadle 5 0 26 2
AUSTRALIA U-19
Doropoulos b Shahadat Hossain 5
Skewes b Enamul 32
Harrison run out 29
Henriques b Enamul 7
Crosthwaite c Dhiman b Enamul 20
Beadle run out 54
O'Keefe run out 65
Coyte run out 0
Paine c Ashiqur b Enamul 11
Mangan not out 1
Putland st. Dhiman b Enamul 2
Extras: (b-2, lb-3, w-17, nb-1) 23
Total: (All out in 49.3 overs) 249
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-63, 3-73, 4-103, 5-108, 6-233, 7-235, 8-235, 9-247
Bowler o M R W
Nazmul 4.4 0 24 0
Shahadat 10 1 47 1
Aftab 0.2 0 4 0
Bashar 10 2 35 0
Enamul 9.3 1 31 5
Nadif 10 0 56 0
Naeem 5 0 47 0
Result: Bangladesh Under-19s won by 8 runs.
Man of the Match: Enamul Haque (Bangladesh)
Toss: Bangladesh