[U20] Announcements

[UtopiaRay]

Sorry for not responding sooner but I definitely agree that Aftab would be better off as a batter.

[UtopiaRay]

Apologies for my extended period of inactivity on the forums. You'll be getting squad announcements, match reports & tour reviews for season 63 in full. This sunday, we submitted our squads for the first tour of season 63, to Sri Lanka in YOD Division 2.

Tour Details
Hosting Rights Won By Sri Lanka
First Choice Pitch - Dry
Second Choice Pitch - Slow
Third Choice Pitch - Crumbling

Fixtures
3rd Oct v Zimbabwe - Dry
4th Oct v Sri Lanka - Dry
5th Oct v India - Dry
6th Oct v Netherlands - Slow
7th Apr v Canada - Slow

This means we have a 3-2-0 allocation, for the second last time under the existing touring model. Spinners will very much be to the forefront (weather depending), and mediums will get some assistance in the final 2 fixtures.

The games for this tour will be played at 5:30am FTP time.

OD Division 2 - Tour Selection

This is our first squad of 20 players selection, and I have opted to go for a balanced 10 bats/10 bowlers selection. I will be interested to see how this plays out, given how U20 players recover quickly from fatigue.

Batters
Timothy Bancroft - Bancroft (8 Caps)
Aminul Bishwash - Welsh Fire (5 Caps)
Mahir Kamal - Oxhey Players (U20 Debut)
Robin Kulkarni - Hoarders CC (U20 Debut)
Mizan Mamun - Halcyon (U20 Debut)
Rajib Morshed - Hoarders CC (U20 Debut)
Milon Rafique - Illawarra Dragons CC (U20 Debut)
Sarvesh Rawant - Glen Fruin (U20 Debut)

As you'd expect at the start of a new season, we have a couple players continuing on from season 62 but the vast majority are newcomers to the U20 Nat scene. Bancroft, Morshed and Kulkarni are all moving on after this tour, but the rest bar Mamun will still be available for the WC.

Wicketkeepers
Bipul Binny - Caradon CC (8 Caps)
Shahid Khalim - Mekerz Tanks (U20 Debut)

Bipul Binny continues on for his final tour, with the impressive Shahid Khalim coming in as his understudy. Khalim misses the WC but is simply too good to pass over.

Allrounders
Shakib Huq - Ohoka Swamphens (3 Caps)
Ashok Karthik - The Far Side (10 Caps)
Dhawal Shewag - The El Dude Brothers (U20 Debut)

Ashok Karthik has firmly established himself as the premier AR in the country, Shakib Huq tours as his understudy and immense young talent Dhawal Shewag makes his first tour while still only 19.

Bowlers
Mohammad Baisya - Welsh Fire (3 Caps)
Saurav Bhatt - Dingo Town (U20 Debut)
Ravindra Kumar - Try Hards (3 Caps)
Khaled Omar - Bedford Falls (9 Caps)
Imrul Rahman - Hoarders CC (U20 Debut)
Sreesanth Ramchand - Sitakunda Leopards (U20 Debut)
Semi Valemei - Mackay Cutters (U20 Debut)

There's quite a bit of variety amongst the specialist bowlers - capped internationals in Khaled Omar, Mohammad Baisya and Ravindra Kumar coming to the end of their careers, a one-and-done in Saurav Bhatt who was simply too good to overlook, and three youngsters to round the bowlers out. Sreesanth Ramchand will still be 18 when the tour kicks off on Monday, while Imrul Rahman is only 19. There's one other thing to mention - Semi Valemei is the first homegrown player from my own club to warrant a U20 callup, and I couldn't be prouder.

With this mixture of promising young talents guided by experienced veterans, we look to improve on a disappointing season 62.

[UtopiaRay]

Welcome to the first U20 of season 63, to Sri Lanka for OD Division 2 where we take on Zimbabwe in the opening fixture. Conditions are Windy & Dry, so spinners are expected to play a significant role in proceedings, and you'd expect the quicks to struggle.

We won the toss and debutant captain Rajib Morshed elected to bat first. Things did not get off to an ideal start, with openers Aminul Bishwash and Tim Bancroft departing for 5 and 12 respectively. After a 49-run partnership for the third wicket, debutant Shahid Khalim fell for 19 and our innings hit the skids. We were 3/74 after 13.2 overs and in the 6 overs before we lost Robin Kulkarni for 33, we could only manage another 10 runs. We hobbled in to the drinks break on 4/99, falling just short of 4 RPO. Keeper Bipul Binny and skipper Morshed set about rebuilding the innings, and we came to the end of the 40th over on 4/148. From the moment the 41st over started, it was like a switch flicked inside the heads of Binny and Morshed, as we plundered 2/116 off the final 10 overs, ending on 6/264. Binny made 98*, and Morshed made 83 as well. RWS Stuart Mzema was virtually unhittable through the middle of the innings, ending with 1/25 and RFS Tichandepi Kaondera was the pick of the bowlers with 3/34.

Zimbabwe started in a much more assured manner, putting on 61 for the first wicket in 10.3 overs before Nathan Mkhululi fell for 32 to RWS Khaled Omar. His opening partner in Rilee Crosthwaite ran himself out for 25 just 4 balls later, but Zimbabwe stabilised before keeper Mduduzi Mdhlongwa fell with the score reading 3/113. That was, however, as good as things got for the Zimbabweans. What followed was them collapsing from 3/113 to 7/146 in the space of 6 overs, as RFM Saurav Bhatt and RWS Mohammad Baisya tore through their highly rated middle order. No. 7 Ephat Khumalo fought valiantly with an unbeaten 44 (making him Zimbabwe's top scorer), but his partners were unable to show the same resolve as they were dismissed for 201, in 41.5 overs. Saurav Bhatt and Khaled Omar were the equal best bowlers, picking up 3/51 off 10 overs and 3/46 off 7.5 overs respectively.

We move on to game 2 against the hosts Sri Lanka in Sunny & Dry conditions, where we look to continue our good start to the season.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=7133466

Match Ratings

Bangladesh U20 Zimbabwe U20
Batting - Top Order 9,609 10,084
Batting - Middle Order 8,430 9,438
Batting - Tail 5,003 5,836
Bowling - Seam 9,588 (20) 9,594 (20)
Bowling - Spin 10,387 (30) 9,707 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 11,375 10,541
Overall 171,632 175,536

[UtopiaRay]

Today we played our second game of the Division 2 OD tour where we played the hosts, Sri Lanka. Conditions were Sunny & Dry, so the spinners will be the primary threats as they were in game 1.

We lost the toss and were asked to bowl first, and snared an early wicket – opener Shantha Andrahennadee trapped in front for 12 by RFM Saurav Bhatt. SL put on 39 for the 2nd wicket before Neomal Claessen was knocked over for 22 by RWS Khaled Omar, and no.3 Thilan Sharath departed 5 overs later for 38. Keeper Pediya Woutersz fell a few overs after drinks for 34, but then the hosts really hit their stride. No. 4 Diogo Jota (98* off 95) led the charge, assisted by no. 6 Dayasiri Udana with 34 off 42 as the two Boundary Hitters upped the ante. Udana departed just before they could bring up the hundred partnership (leaving them 5/230 after 44.2 overs), but our death bowlers stepped up their game considerably. With 5.4 overs to go, SL managed just 19 more runs for the loss of 3 wickets, ending on 8/249. A solid total in difficult conditions to chase, if round 1 was anything to go buy as no chasing team won yesterday. Dhawal Shewag was pick of the bowlers with 4/51 off his full allotment of overs.

Our response got off to a wobbly start, with Tim Bancroft (4) and Aminul Bishwash (26) departing with just 37 runs on the board. From there we rallied strongly, with debutant Mizan Mamun (50 off 82) and Shahid Khalim (51 off 76) putting on a 97 run partnership before Mamun was caught off SL’s best-performed bowler, Pediya Kulathilaka (on his way to 3/39 off 10 overs). RWS Babiya Farcy removed Khalim 3 overs later, bringing the two heroes from match 1, Rajib Morshed and keeper Bipul Binny to the crease. Neither man was able to repeat their heroics, falling for 36 and 23 respectively, but they did enough to set things up for the two ARs in Ashok Karthik and Dhawal Shewag. We were 6/226 and needed 24 off 28 balls, and Karthik (38* off 31) and Shewag (7* off 10) guided us home with 4 wickets and 8 balls to spare.

We move on to game 3 against India tomorrow, looking to extend our winning streak in Sunny & Dry conditions once again.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=7133462

Sri Lanka U20 Bangladesh U20
Batting - Top Order 10,118 9,602
Batting - Middle Order 8,026 9,054
Batting - Tail 4,779 5,027
Bowling - Seam 9,784 (10) 9,484 (20)
Bowling - Spin 9,826 (40) 10,070 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 10,893 11,073
Overall 168,685 172,102

[UtopiaRay]

Earlier this evening (depending on your timezone) we had game 3 of the Division 2 OD tour to SL, against India in Sunny & Dry conditions.

We won the toss and elected to bat, and lost a wicket inside the first 5 overs for the third time in a row. This time it was Aminul Bishwash caught at third man for 8. 1/19 became 2/87 when Mizan Mamun was stumped on 24, but Mamun’s departure saw a period of acceleration. Mamun fell at the end of the 18th over, and when skipper Robin Kulkarni fell 5.1 overs later, the score read 3/122 with Kulkarni’s share being 76 off 81. We rolled in to the drinks break on 3/130 – hopefully enough wickets down to avoid a horrendous collapse, but still in a comfortable enough position to go big later on. From here onwards we ramped up constantly until a stumble in the last 4 overs, but we still made a commanding total of 6/314. Debutant no.4 Mahir Kamal top scored with 95* off 85, and RFS Ravi Bishnoi was pick of the bowlers with 2/59.

India’s chase also saw an early wicket fall, with debutant LF Semi Valemei removing Raju Thakare for 1 with his fifth delivery. What followed, however, was quite different to our innings. Where we were able to steadily increase the run rate up until the very end of the innings, our bowlers kept India in check the entire way. Each bowler took 1 wicket, but Valemei was the only one to go above 6 rpo (1/63) and fellow quick Ravindra Kumar took 1/53, where each spinner went for under 5 rpo. Khaled Omar was marginally ahead of the others with 1/41, but the two 19yos Imrul Rahman (1/44) and Dhawal Shewag (1/45) made sure that India were never really in the hunt, and they ended on 5/249. Sumanjit Ghani (73 off 93) and Pushkar Chaudhry (55 off 78) were the best Indian batters on display, with only no. 6 Tanmay Baweja (38* off 33) able to go at better than a run per ball.

We face a winless Netherlands outfit in game 4, in Sunny & Slow conditions where we aim to keep our hot streak going.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=7133454

Match Ratings

India U20 Bangladesh U20
Batting - Top Order 8,778 9,353
Batting - Middle Order 7,165 8,016
Batting - Tail 3,959 4,973
Bowling - Seam 8,353 (20) 9,604 (20)
Bowling - Spin 9,082 (30) 9,266 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 9,636 10,594
Overall 148,511 163,186

[UtopiaRay]

Today we played the penultimate game of our tour to Sri Lanka for OD Division 2, against Netherlands. We got a different pitch for the first time this series, with Sunny & Slow conditions offering a little for spinners and medium pacers.

We won the toss and elected to bowl, and it started to look like a questionable decision as the Netherlands put on 98 for their first wicket. RWS Mohammad Baisya eventually removed Tjalling Kroon for 45, and Douwe Biermans nicked the following delivery to keeper Bipul Binny. We had our opening, but were unable to make anything of it as the Dutch put on 74 for the 3rd wicket before top scorer Michael van Zandt fell for a fine 92 off 124 balls, bowled by LF Semi Valemei. There was no quick second wicket this time, with Netherlands reaching 234 with 4.1 overs to go when Jos de Vrij was caught behind off Imrul Rahman for 71 off 67. The Netherlands finished strongly to end on 4/275, which looked a good total. Mohammad Baisya was pick of the bowlers with 2/56 off his allotted 10 overs.

Unlike the Dutch, we did lose an early wicket with opener Robin Kulkarni run out for 11 in the 6th over. We were able to consolidate effectively with a 72 run partnership ending with the dismissal of Aminul Bishwash for 45, 13 balls before drinks. Debutant Sarvesh Rawant fell 2 overs after the drinks break for 42, leaving us on 3/116 and needing a further 160 runs to win. The Dutch had contained our batters very effectively for much of our innings, thanks largely to RM Tjalling Koerts (0/37) and RFS Youp Dost (3/39, and pick of the bowlers). We lost two further wickets – Milon Rafique for 20 and Bipul Binny for 19 – before reaching the end of the 36th over. We were 5/155 with 121 runs to get, and the Netherlands had saved their two RFMs with Old Ball Bowler to close out the remainder of the innings. Fortunately for us, it did not work out as planned – captain Rajib Morshed (62* off 49) and AR Ashok Karthik (67* off 49) charged home and secured victory with 8 balls and 5 wickets to spare.

In addition to winning 4 on the bounce, we have now secured qualification for the next OD World Cup and move on to the final game against Canada tomorrow in Hot & Slow conditions, as we aim to go 5 from 5.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=7133456

Match Ratings

Bangladesh U20 Netherlands U20
Batting - Top Order 9,154 9,465
Batting - Middle Order 8,279 6,326
Batting - Tail 4,455 3,499
Bowling - Seam 9,369 (20) 8,966 (40)
Bowling - Spin 9,099 (30) 10,210 (10)
Fielding/Keeping 10,545 10,036
Overall 160,772 149,849

[UtopiaRay]

Today was the final game of OD Division 2, against 2nd place Canada in Hot & Slow conditions.

We won the toss and elected to chase, and felt vindicated when RM Ashok Karthik took 2 wickets in the first 7 overs of Canada’s innings. We managed to really tighten the screws on the Canadians from there, with them reaching just 2/51 after 18 overs. That was as good as it got, as Canada broke free from the vice-like grip they were in and made 1/49 off the 7 overs to leave them on 3/100 at drinks. What was still a decent situation from our perspective unfortunately turned sour – the second half of the innings saw Canada score 5/181, ending on 8/281. Skipper Cody Dejesus top scored with 86, which was particularly frustrating as he was dropped on 35. Khaled Omar (3/40), Ashok Karthik (2/55) and young Sreesanth Ramchand (2/56) were pick of the bowlers. Special mention to Bipul Binny, who took an incredible 6 dismissals - 2 catches and 4 stumpings.

Our chase got off to a rocky start with Aminul Bishwash’s difficult tour continuing as he was caught for 9. We made it to 53 before his opening partner Mahir Kamal fell for 32. We kept going at a reasonable pace, reaching 97 at the start of the 22nd over when Sarvesh Rawant fell for 27. We looked to be getting back on track as 3/97 became 4/194, but we lost Shahid Khalim (45) and Bipul Binny (43) in quick succession. We hobbled to the end of the 40th over on 7/205 with no.6 Milon Rafique as the only recognized batter remaining. He made a valiant 57 but was run out off the final ball of the innings, as we were dismissed for 257, losing by 24 runs. Canada’s wicket takers were Julius Stevenson (3/31 off 9.3), Evan Roberts (3/58) and Mohammed Grace (3/51).

We ended in 2nd place, falling behind Canada on NRR but still promoting to Div 1. We move on to the first T20 tour under the new format, where we hope to give a similarly good impression of ourselves.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=7133453

Match Ratings

Canada U20 Bangladesh U20
Batting - Top Order 9,763 8,860
Batting - Middle Order 7,836 8,775
Batting - Tail 4,017 4,525
Bowling - Seam 8,407 (10) 9,600 (20)
Bowling - Spin 10,462 (40) 9,158 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 10,225 10,543
Overall 163,382 162,421