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Earlier, Mashrafe won the toss and elected to bat first on a good batting track in Bloemfontein. Regular opener Tamim Iqbal did not take part in the warm-up game due to injury concern. Bangladesh left out three other players – batsman Mominul Hauque, youngster Mehedi Hasan Miraz and fast bowler Taskin Ahmed - for the practice match while paceman Rubel Hossain was only allowed to bowl. And so left-handers Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar opened the batting for the Tigers. Soumya got a life early while he was batting on one as his catch was dropped at slip. But he could not capitalise on the opportunity as he was out in the first ball of the eighth over for a 13-ball three. Imrul started quickly at the top and scored some boundaries early in the innings. But Imrul got out for a 31-ball 27 soon after Soumya’s dismissal as Bangladesh were reeling 31 for the loss of two wickets in 7.2 overs. And so yet again Imrul got set and then lost his wicket without scoring big.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Kumar Das was promoted to No 3 but he made a 13-ball eight, getting out while chasing a wide delivery outside off stump. No 4 batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was looking confident but his innings ended for a 29-ball 22 when he was trying to clear the fence over deep mid-wicket only to get caught in the boundary by fielder Khaya Zondo. All-rounder Shakib al Hasan then formed a 57-run partnership with No 6 batsman Mahmudullah for the fifth wicket. But Mahmudullah was trapped in front by seamer Willem Mulder for a 27-ball 21 in the 25th over; the scoreboard reading 120. Shakib then stitched together another crucial 76-run partnership with No 7 batsman Sabbir Rahman for the sixth wicket.Bangladesh lost the practice match against South Africa XI by 6 wickets. pic.twitter.com/hSzdquEffg
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) October 12, 2017
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But after reaching his fifty, Shakib lost his wicket while trying to accelerate the run rate in the 37th over of the innings. Shakib’s 68-run innings came off 67 balls. Later, Sabbir also got out after reaching his half century as he was caught by the wicket-keeper Heinrich Klaasen in the 42nd over. Sabbir’s 52 was made off 54 deliveries. Nasir (12 off 23) could not make an impact at the end of the innings as Bangladesh fell short of some quick runs in the slog overs. Mashrafe scored 17 off 13 balls while Saifuddin remained not out on 13 off 19 deliveries.BRIEF SCOREBangladesh 255 in 48.1 overs (Shakib 68, Sabbir 52) lost to CSA Invitation XI (Markram 82, Mahmudullah 2/13) by six wickets