A story of firsts — Reliving Bangladesh’s maiden victories
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Bangladesh registered their first-ever T20I series victory against Australia when they defeated the visitors in the third T20I, taking an unassailable 3-0 series lead. But when did they celebrate their first-ever victories in all the three formats as well as the 50-over and the T20 World Cups? Find it out here!
Test cricket
Having played their maiden Test match against India in 2000, it was a wait of five long years and 34 Test matches before Bangladesh tasted their first ever victory in the longest format of the game. Playing a two-match Test series against Zimbabwe at home, Bangladesh’s moment of glory arrived in the first match in Chittagong.
Batting first, a collective display from the batters helped the hosts post a mammoth total of 488 on the board. Mohammad Rafique then turned in a memorable performance with the ball, with his figures of 5/65 restricting the visitors to 312. The hosts would then declare their second innings at 204/9, setting Zimbabwe a target of 381. Enamul Haque’s magical spell of 6/45 would skittle out the visitors for 154, with scenes of joy erupting at the MA Aziz Stadium.
ODI cricket
It was a long wait as well in ODI cricket before Bangladesh tasted victory for the first time. Having played their maiden ODI in 1986, it took Bangladesh 12 years before they had success in a contest. The moment arrived at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad, in a tri-series involving India and Kenya.
Bowling first, Bangladesh restricted the Kenyans to a score of 236, with Mohammad Rafique being the star performer with the ball, with his haul of three wickets. Khaled Mahmud and Enamul Haque also returned with two-wicket hauls each. Chasing the target, Mohammad Rafique scored a brilliant 87-ball 77, as Bangladesh clinched victory with six wickets in hand and 12 deliveries remaining. For his inspired showing, Rafique was awarded the Player of the Match award.
T20I cricket
Unlike Test and ODI cricket, Bangladesh did not have to wait long to register their first win in T20I cricket. Bangladesh had a victory in their maiden T20I, playing against Zimbabwe in Khulna in 2006.
Batting first, a late cameo of 35 from Mashrafe Mortaza helped the hosts to a competitive score of 166 all out in 19.5 overs. A collective and disciplined effort with the ball would help them restrict the visitors to a score of 123/9. Abdur Razzak would be the pick of the bowlers with his spell of 3/17 in four overs.
ODI World Cup
Making their tournament debut at the 1999 Cricket World Cup in the UK, Bangladesh were paired in Group B as an Associate nation. After losing their opening two matches against New Zealand and West Indies, Bangladesh finally triumphed in their third contest against fellow associates Scotland in Edinburgh.
In a low-scoring encounter on a lively wicket, Bangladesh managed to score 185/9 after a gutsy knock from Minhajul Abedin (68). The bowling unit then fired on all cylinders, coming up with a sensational performance to knock over the Scottish team for 163. Hasibul Hossain, Manjurul Islam and Khaled Mahmud shared two wickets apiece.
T20 World Cup
Bangladesh’s potency in the shortest format of the game was again on full display in their tournament debut at the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa. Playing against West Indies, Bangladesh came up with an imperious display in Johannesburg to seal a victory.
Shakib Al Hasan’s four-wicket haul first restricted the Caribbean outfit to a score of 164/8 in their 20 overs. Aftab Ahmed (62*) and Mohammad Ashraful (61) would then ensure a comfortable six-wicket victory for Bangladesh, with two overs remaining.
T20 World Cup 2021: South Africa’s strongest predicted playing XI for the tournament
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T20 World Cup 2021: South Africa’s strongest predicted playing XI for the tournament
South Africa will try to get over their image of being ‘chokers’.
South Africa have been that team that has looked perhaps the strongest team on paper on multiple occasions but have failed to win any ICC tournament. To be very honest, luck hasn’t been on their side quite often. From losing a tied semi-final in the 1999 WC and rain playing the spoilsport twice – 1992 WC semi-final & 2015 WC semi-final, they have had matches which are too difficult to be able to erase from the memories of the Protea fans.
One of the best bowling attacks in this year’s T20 World Cup, South Africa, under the newly appointed captain Temba Bavuma, are in red hot form as they defeated the mighty West Indies 3-2 & thrashed Ireland 3-0, both series away from home. They would look to maintain this winning momentum ahead of the tournament which will provide them with the much-needed confidence.
With stronger teams like Australia, England, and West Indies in their group, South Africa will have to be at the top of their game to qualify for the semi-finals and go on to win their first-ever ICC Trophy. So let’s look at their strongest predicted playing 11 for the tournament which can challenge & win against the best in the world.
South Africa’s strongest predicted playing XI for T20 WC
- Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper)
The best South African batsman & probably the best keeper-batsman in the world, Quinton de Kock is the man to watch out for in this year’s T20 WC. He may look like a teenager, but he surely is an assassin with the bat as well as with the gloves behind the stumps.
He is in sublime form scoring 50+ scores in 6 successive innings at the international level, which is a great sign for South African cricket. He has scored 1605 runs in 54 matches at an average of 32.76 & strike rate just above 138.
After declining captaincy of South Africa, he would be eager to show his worth as a player in big tournaments & be the man his country requires him to be to be able to lift the T20 WC. The equation is absolutely simple, de Kock has to fire with the bat if South Africa want to qualify for the semi-finals of the WC.
5 current cricket stars who captained their nation at ICC U-19 World Cup 2006
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The U-19 Cricket World Cup is the first major international tournament that a cricketer aims to play. Initially, the competition was known as the Youth World Cup. The first edition of this tournament took place back in 1988. The second edition followed in 1998, with the competition being renamed as the ICC U-19 World Cup.
Since 1998, the ICC has conducted this competition once every two years. Bangladesh are the defending champions of the ICC U-19 World Cup. The Bangla Tigers won the championship by defeating India U-19s in the final last year.
Many current superstars of the cricket world were part of the 2006 U-19 World Cup
Speaking of U-19 World Cups, quite a few world-class cricketers participated in the 2006 edition of the tournament, hosted by Sri Lanka. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shakib Al Hasan, Angelo Mathews, David Warner, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard and Sean Williams played in the U-19 World Cup of 2006.
Ravikant Shukla captained India in the 2006 U-19 World Cup. However, he could not play international cricket at the senior level. The captains of five other squads have now become cricketing stars. In this article, we will look at those five players.
#1 Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali has done exceptionally well in all formats of cricket
England all-rounder Moeen Ali was the skipper of the England U-19s in the 2006 U-19 World Cup. Under Ali’s leadership, England reached the tournament’s semifinals where they lost to India.
Ali scored 109 runs and picked up three wickets for England U-19s in the 2006 U-19 World Cup. He is currently one of the best spin-bowling all-rounders in England.
#2 Mushfiqur Rahim
Mushfiqur Rahim is currently one of the top wicket-keeper batsmen in the cricket world
Mushfiqur Rahim captained the Bangladesh U-19s squad in 2006 U-19 World Cup. The Bangladesh U-19s lost to England U-19s in the quarterfinal phase of the competition.
Rahim performed decently for the team, scoring 188 runs in six matches. His batting average was 37.60, while he took six catches and executed two stumpings. After a brilliant performance in U-19 World Cup 2006, Rahim captained Bangladesh in international cricket at the senior level later in his career.
#3 Eoin Morgan
No batsman has scored more runs in U19 Cricket World Cups than Eoin Morgan 🙌
The #CWC19 winning captain scored 606 runs across the 2004 and 2006 tournaments in the green of Ireland. pic.twitter.com/bsWFm796uE — Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) January 15, 2020
Moeen Ali now plays under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan in ODIs and T20Is. However, back in 2006, the two players were leading two different nations.
While Ali captained England U-19s, Morgan led the Ireland U-19s. Ireland lost all matches in the group stage, but Morgan ended the tournament as the second-highest run-getter with 338 runs in six innings. He is currently the captain of England in white-ball cricket.
#4 Sarfaraz Ahmed
#OnThisDay in 2006, @TheRealPCB beat India in a low-scoring final, becoming the first team to win back-to-back ICC U19 Cricket World Cup titles 🏆🏆
Sarfaraz Ahmed was Pakistan’s captain, and Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja all featured for India. pic.twitter.com/BBeDL7IUt0 — ICC (@ICC) February 19, 2021
Sarfaraz Ahmed guided Pakistan U-19s to the U-19 World Cup title in 2006. Under his captaincy, the Boys in Green defeated arch-rivals India in the summit clash to win the trophy.
Ahmed did not have a memorable tournament with the willow. He managed 64 runs in six matches at a strike rate of 52.45. Later in his career, Ahmed captained the senior Pakistan cricket team and helped them win the Champions Trophy 2017 by defeating India in the final again.
#5 Dean Elgar
Dean Elgar captains South Africa in Test cricket
Dean Elgar captained South Africa U-19s in 2006 U-19 World Cup. Unfortunately, the Proteas could not make it through to the group stage as they finished third in Group B, also featuring Australia U-19s, West Indies U-19s and USA U-19s.
Elgar was the most successful batsman of his team. He amassed 246 runs in five matches at an average of 61.50. Earlier this year, Cricket South Africa named him as the new skipper of their Test team.
Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee