Impressive Afif, Tawhid take Bangladesh towards qualification

Tawhid scored 122 and Afif backed up his half-century with figures of five for 43 as Bangladesh successfully defended 264 for eight by dismissing Canada for 198 with three balls to spare. Bangladesh, who had finished third in the home event in 2016, had earlier beaten Namibia by 87 runs on the opening day of the tournament on Saturday.

In the other Group C match of the day, England launched their campaign with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Namibia after Will Jacks  (73 not out) and Harry Brook (59 not out) added 130 runs for the unbroken third wicket in just under 15 overs as the 1998 champions achieved the 197-run target with more than half the quota of overs remaining.

Bangladesh v Canada

Bangladesh lost a couple of early wickets, after being put in to bat at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, but Tawhid took the mantle on himself to see the team to a competitive score of 264 for eight in 50 overs.

He slammed nine fours and one six in a 126-ball 122 and also stitched two useful partnerships in the process. He added 62 for the second wicket with Mohammad Naim Sheikh (47, 67b, 5x4) and 111 for the third with Afif Hossain (50, 59b, 5x4, 1x6).

Canada fast bowler Faisal Jamkhandi was the pick of the bowlers, effective with both the new ball and the old. He finished with figures of 8-0-48-5 that included the important scalps of Pinak Ghosh (0) and Tawhid.

In reply, Canada were bowled out for 198 in 49.3 overs with captain Arslan Khan getting 63 off 108 balls and opener Pranav Sharma 34 off 58 balls.

Off-spinner Afif followed up his 59-ball 50 with figures of 10-0-43-5, while Hasan Mahmud took two for 23 as Canada were never to make a chase of it. Afif, for his outstanding all-round performance, was later adjudged player of the match.

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Saif Hassan was happy at his team’s performance:

“We played very well. First (we lost) two early wickets and then (there was) the recovery. Then we had some good batting partnerships Tawhid got a hundred and Afif got a fifty and we had a good score on the board. Then the bowlers did the job very well,” he said.

England v Namibia

Electing to bat first in Queenstown, Namibia could not get the partnerships going in the face of some tight bowling from the 1998 champions and were restricted to 196 for nine in 50 overs.

Shaun Fouche (44) and Nicol Loftie-Eaton (36) were the notable scorers as leg-spinner Luke Hollman led the England bowling with a haul of three for 41. Fast bowlers Tom Scriven and Harry Brook grabbed two wickets each conceding 30 and 32 runs, respectively.

Brook also got the winning runs later in the day as he partnered with Will Jacks in an unbroken 130-run stand. Number-four batsman Brook stroked a quick 48-ball 59 with 12 fours but number-five batsman Jacks overshadowed Brook with a brisk 44-ball 73 that comprised 12 fours and a six.

Jacks, who was later declared player of the match, said: “We have played these guys a few times before and knew what we were going to expect, we can now look to push forward from this to our game against Bangladesh on Thursday.

“For the first game of the tournament, you just like to hit the ground running and start with a good performance bat and ball, and we did that today. The captain has been playing very well recently, in South Africa and in the warmup game, he’s very important for us.”

Scores in brief:

Group C

England beat Namibia by eight wickets, John Davies Oval, Queenstown

Namibia 196-9, 50 overs (Shaun Fouche 44, Nicol Loftie-Eaton 36; Luke Hollman 3-41, Tom Sciver 2-30, Harry Brook 2-32)

England 198-2, 24.1 overs (Will Jacks 73 not out, Harry Brook 59 not out; Gerhard Lottering 2-33)

Player of the Match: Will Jacks (England)

Bangladesh beat Canada by 66 runs, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Christchurch

Bangladesh 264-8, 50 overs (Tawhid Hridoy 122, Afif Hossain 50, Mohammad Naim Sheikh 47; Faisal Jamkhandi 5-48)

Canada 198 all out, 49.3 overs (Arslan Khan 63, Pranav Sharma 34 Asif Hossain

Player of the Match: Afif Hossain (Bangladesh)