Bangladesh 'A' team narrowly lost their first match in their England tour against the English County side Hampshire by 8 runs at the Rose Bowl Southampton Tuesday.
Chasing a target of 224 to win, the touring party got off to a poor start losing both the openers with 13 runs on the board. The 'A' side could not live up to their reputation as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually reduced to 99-7. Middle-order Marshal Ayub (39) and Mominul (28) made some contribution before number nine and eleven, Elias Sunny and Robiul Islam, made an effort to clinch a win from nowhere. Robiul clobbered five sixes in his blistering 19-ball 34 while Sunny scored 39 off 58 balls as they added 58-runs before being restricted to 215-9.
Earlier, after opting to field first, the second string national side restricted their opponents to 223 runs. It was right-handed middle-order batsman Liam Dawson who made a fighting 97 to take Hampshire to a safe total. Dawson, however, could not reach the magical three figures as he was caught off Mominul bowling in the last over.
