Unbeaten half-centuries from Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das and Mehedi Hasan Miraz propelled Najmul XI to a nine-wicket win over Tamim XI in an intra-squad 50-over practice game at John Davies Oval, Queenstown Tuesday.
Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal however, rested from the game as a precaution after feeling slight discomfort in the thigh area.
All-rounder Mosaddek Hossain also missed the practice game as he is recovering from a knee injury picked up on the first day of Bangladesh team training in Queenstown Thursday.
Chasing 234 runs, Najmul XI got off to a good start thanks to the openers.
Najmul, Liton and Miraz retired scoring 40, 59 and 50 respectively.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiq remained unbeaten on 54 to finish the chase alongside Saifuddin on 16 at the other end of the crease.
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The lone Najmul XI wicket was bagged by left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman of Tamim XI.
Earlier, Tamim XI lost five wickets to put 233 on the board in 50 overs.
Mohammad Mithun led the scoreboard with unbeaten 66, while local cricketer Benji Culhane was not out on 46.
Mohammad Naim, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah and Mahedi Hasan scored 12, 28, 35 and 38 respectively.
Right-arm pacer Rubel Hossain led the Najmul XI bowling attack with four for 42, while Saifuddin notched one wicket.
“The practice game has been a good one for us. We had practice for about five to six days in Christchurch, and about the same in Queenstown after the quarantine. Everyone is in good energy and both batsmen and bowlers were upbeat in the practice game,” said spinner-allrounder Miraz through a video message to the media Tuesday.
Bangladesh all-rounder Mosaddek Hossain will miss out on the 50-over intra-squad practice game at John Davies Oval Stadium in Queenstown Tuesday due to injury.
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“The weather helped the bowlers in the morning. The weather was cloudy and the bowlers got some extra advantage. Our team bowlers bowled in good areas, especially Rubel bhai, he got four wickets. Other pacers like Saifuddin and Shariful [Islam] also bowled well. I as a spinner tried to maintain the line and length. I have been working on some variation for a week with Daniel [Vettori]. I am following his tips,” he added.
Miraz emphasised on the need for the spinners to maintain good variation in order to succeed in New Zealand conditions, which is friendly to the pacers.
“Variation will be key to the spinners in New Zealand and the same has been told to me by Daniel. You will have to mix things after every one or two deliveries and at the same time you also need to maintain the line and length. Doing this might not guarantee wickets but will help in not going for too many runs. In the game I tried to contain runs,” said Miraz.
Bangladesh squad will travel to Dunedin, venue for the first of the three-match ODI series, Wednesday.
Tourists Bangladesh will lock horns with hosts New Zealand Saturday in the first game.
The second and third ODI will take place on March 23 and 26 in Christchurch and Wellington respectively.
The ODI series will be followed by three T20Is, to be played on March 28, 30 and April 1 in Hamilton, Napier and Auckland respectively.
BRIEF SCORE
Nazmul XI 235/1 in 46.5 overs (Najmul 40 retd, Liton 59 retd, Mushfiq 54*, Miraz 50 retd, Saifuddin 16*, Mustafizur 1/21) beat Tamim XI 233/5 (Soumya 28, Mahmudullah 35, Mahedi 38, Benji 46*, Mithun 66*, Rubel 4/42) by nine wickets
