Bangladesh defeated Hong Kong by 27 runs in the third-place playoff to secure the bronze medal of the 17th Asian Games men’s cricket in Incheon yesterday. Sri Lanka bagged the gold medal after handing Afghanistan a 68-run thrashing in the final at the same venue yesterday.
Rain had been the spoiler in the semifinal as far as the Bangladesh side are concerned but skies were bright and clear yesterday in the northwestern city of South Korea as Mashrafe bin Mortaza did not hesitate to bat first after winning the toss.
Shamsur Rahman finally played in the Games in place of Mithun Ali and scored a decent 19-ball 26 while young speedster Taskin Ahmed replaced Ziaur Rahman to put in a neat three-over spell for just 11 runs. The two changes meant out-of-sorts Nasir Hossain warmed the benches for the second consecutive game – something which he is not used to.
Shakib al Hasan’s 46 and Mahmudullah’s unbeaten 21-ball 35 set up a challenging score of 162 for six for Hong Kong, who managed 135 for 7 against the backdrop of top-scorer Mark Chapman’s 38.
Shakib garnering some runs will be a relief for the team as well as the all-rounder himself who did not shine with the bat in the last two games. Shakib was also instrumental with the ball as the left-hander later claimed two wickets in two balls, in his first and Hong Kong’s fourth over, to leave Hong Kong in dire straits.
Two of Hong Kong’s top-four batsmen fell for ducks which threw them off-track early in the chase. Arafat Sunny was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers as the left-arm spinner scalped three wickets for 22 runs.
Apart from Taskin, the other two pacemen, however, did not find any comfort while bowling. Mashrafe was hit for two consecutive sixes in the first over and went wicketless in his four overs for 26 runs. Rubel Hossain took a wicket but it cost him 35 runs off four overs.
Irfan Ahmed (31 from 18 balls) initially scared the Tigers with his lusty blows but once he was dismissed Hong Kong were unable to continue their onslaught and hence, were slowly pushed out of the contest.
This was Bangladesh’s third medal in the 17th edition of the Asiad. The women’s kabaddi team earlier clinched bronze while the women’s cricket team attained silver.
Mahmudullah later said they are disappointed having not being able to seal the gold medal.
“We are disappointed that we could not win gold but we are satisfied with bronze. We had a close game with Hong Kong. Not too easy but not too difficult either.”
