Visiting England had a good outing with the bat after Bangladesh Cricket Board XI opening batsman Imrul Kayes struck a magnificent hundred in the practice match at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah on Tuesday.
Imrul's century though came in a losing cause as interim England ODI captain Jos Butler and Moeen Ali struck fifties to ensure a four-wicket win.
BCB XI posted a huge 309/9 in 50 overs and despite losing a few early wickets, England managed to come back strong and eventually reached their target with four wickets and 23 balls to spare to begin their month-long tour on a positive note.
Fast bowler Ebadat Hossain was the only bright spot with the ball for the BCB XI as he dismissed both the English openers Jason Roy (28) and James Vince (48), ending up with bowling figures of 2/26 from his five overs.
However, fellow paceman Al Amin Hossain, who was called up for the first two ODIs against England, went for 64 runs from his nine overs. Al Amin only picked up the wicket of Ben Stokes (11).
At one stage, the visitors were 170/5 but skipper Buttler and Moeen ensured there would be no more hiccups, adding 139 runs for the sixth wicket. Moeen was dismissed just one run short from the winning stroke, scoring 70 off just 51 balls while Buttler remained unbeaten on 80 off 64 balls.
Earlier, opting to bat first, BCB XI lost opening batsman Soumya Sarkar (seven) early. The left-hander has been going through a rough patch recently and once again failed with the willow after trying to slice paceman Chris Woakes only to edge it to wicket-keeper Buttler.
But Imrul looked in terrific touch as he played some delightful strokes all over the ground and alongside youngster Nazmul Hossain Shanto, added 85 runs for the second wicket. Shanto was looking good before coming down the track to leg-spinner Adil Rashid when he totally misjudged a googly and was stumped after scoring 36 off 42 balls with four boundaries.
The left-handed Imrul reached his fifty from 46 balls and continued his aggressive approach as the Meherpur cricketer paired with Mushfiqur Rahim, who was included in the BCB XI side at the last moment. The third-wicket partnership added 71 runs as the home side were heading towards a big total.
Mushfiq, who is desperate to score some runs ahead of the three ODIs against the visitors, also looked compact and played some gorgeous strokes to start the proceedings.
Centurion Imrul Kayes watches the ball as it flies towards the third man region DHAKA TRIBUNE
On the other hand, Imrul was in no mood to lose the opportunity as he kept charging the English bowlers and smashed a magnificent hundred off just 81 balls.
In the process, he announced himself as the biggest contender to open the innings along with Tamim Iqbal in the upcoming ODIs after being dropped from the playing XI for the second and third ODI against Afghanistan recently.
And according to chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu, Imrul's ton will help him to get into the playing XI in the first ODI against England, scheduled to be held at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur this Friday.
“He batted tremendously well as we did not expect the way he played against the English pacers. Honestly, it was one of those innings to remember for a long time. He is an established batsman in our Test side but it’s a different case to perform consistently in the ODIs as he played the first match against Afghanistan but was later dropped for the next two games. But after his hundred in the practice match, I am hopeful that he will be able to make it into the playing XI against England in the first ODI,” Nannu told the media.
Imrul smashed two sixes off pacer David Willey after reaching his hundred but was eventually dismissed following a fine 91-ball 121, featuring 11 fours and half a dozen sixes.
Mushfiq also perished soon after reaching his half century as he was caught behind off the bowling of seamer Stokes. The wicketkeeper-batsman made 51 off 57 balls with the help of five fours.
Skipper Nasir Hossain scored a 45-ball 46 at the end as BCB XI managed to post a huge total against the visitors.
It was rather a disappointing show by the English bowlers with Woakes and Stokes bagging three wickets each while Willey and Rashid picked up one apiece.
WHAT THEY SAIDImrul KayesIt's not an international match, but the atmosphere was similar. I needed an innings like this after a long time. It is definitely a big confidence boost to score a century against a team like this.
Competition for places in the Bangladesh team is very high. You have to do something extraordinary to stay in the team, you can’t stay if your performance is average. I played the first ODI (against Afghanistan) but was left out for the next two and I felt that maybe I needed to do something better, for which reason this innings feels really good.
Mindset was very important. In other matches recently, my mindset was to stay at the wicket. I was positive from the start, the first ball connected well. In the last two days the coach (Chandika Hathurusingha) gave me some very good advice, which helped.
Chris WoakesIt was hot. As I mentioned we have only been out here for a few days. Testing conditions, a day game is always going to be tough when the sun is at its hottest. But we came through it, a few guys did get cramps and I suppose it's because we have only been here for a few days. We will be better for the fact that we’ve been out here and played the full 50 overs in the heat. We are really pleased with how it’s gone.
The first game will be day-night so hopefully it won’t be as hot. Acclimatisation is something we have to do and hopefully we will have gotten it right come Friday.
BRIEF SCOREBCB XI 309/9 in 50 overs (Imrul 121, Mushfiq 51, Nasir 46, Woakes 3/52, Stokes 2/36) lost to
England XI 313/6 in 46.1 overs (Buttler 80*, Moeen 70, Vince 48, Ebadat 2/26, Sanjamul 1/23)
by four wicketsBCB XI: Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nasir Hossain (C), Shuvagata Hom, Nurul Hasan (WK), Al Amin, Sanjamul Islam, Al Amin Hossain, Alauddin Babu, Ebadat Hossain, Ali Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi
England XI: Jason Roy, James Vince, Ben Duckett, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (WK, C) Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson.