[U20] Announcements

[MOD-wmchamps]

That was too close for comfort but well done on survival.

Good to see Jilani using his NBB as well.

[UtopiaRay]

Yes, it definitely was a close scrape. It's good that we stayed up, but the next step is getting 3+ wins and not being in these relegation battles in the first place.

Jilani has really kicked on this season, it's been great to see.

[UtopiaRay]

It's time for another post tour review - this time for the T20 tour of England. Let's have a look at the squad first, and the games played by each player:

Batsmen
Karanveer Shankar - 3 games
Polash Wadud - 4 games
Ashok Das - 4 games
Shaun Johnson - 4 games
Sarvesh Chawla - 4 games
Roshan Sen - 3 games
Mahendra Sarkar - 3 games

Wicketkeepers
Tanvir Sarkar - 4 games
Shahriar Azam - 1 game

Bowlers
Anil Jilani - 3 games
Bipul Pal - 3 games
Rohan Chawla - 3 games
Mahfuz Nawaz - 3 games
Vinay Shashtri - 3 games
Shaun Warne - 3 games
Nazmus Alam - 3 games
Vinay Khanolkar - 3 games
Ajit Powar - 1 game

I'll talk more about individual performances at the end of the post, because now we'll go through each game of the tour, starting with:

Game 1 v England - Lost by 6 wickets

A game that started well, but ended disappointingly. In Humid/Crumbling conditions, we lost the toss and were sent in to bat. Given England have a strong, well-rounded bowling attack, 4/142 felt like a very strong effort. Skipper Karanveer Shankar was superb, scoring 73 off 57, fellow opener Ashok Das and no.5 Roshan Sen made useful cameos (25 off 20 and 25 off 17 respectively), but it would not be enough. England started terribly, being 2/3 after the first over when Anil Jilani continued his red-hot form from the ODI tour, but the spinners got taken apart and despite Jilani and express quick Vinay Shashtri being very difficult to score off (1/18 and 0/21 respectively, both off 4 overs), England got home with 3 balls to spare.

Game 2 v UAE - Lost by 5 wickets

Our second game was a very different experience - a horrific start, the middle order ralling but ultimately we just didn't have the runs on the board. We elected to bat first and were 3/25 off 6.3 overs, 2 of those 3 wickets falling to RFS Zane Ibrahim on his way to figures of 3/9 off his 4 overs, really getting the most out of the Hot/Crumbling conditions. From there, Tanvir Sarkar made 49* off 42, Roshan Sen partnered him for a time but without finding any fluency (16 off 24), but no.7 Bipul Pal made a valuable 22* off 18 to get us to 5/116. A small total, but Crumbling pitches can be particularly hard to chase on. That, however, was not the case once again. For a second time, our defence started strongly, with the UAE slipping to 2/28 after 4.3 overs, and once again we couldn't maintain the pressure, though this time the spinners were much improved. The Emiratis got home with 5 wickets and 7 balls to spare, and we found ourselves in a very difficult position, being 0 and 2 again.

Game 3 vs New Zealand - Won by 10 runs

But with the pressure on, we were able to pull off a much-needed win against the eventual champions. In Hot/Dry conditions, we batted first and like the previous game, started weakly. We were 3/55 after 9.2 overs, our top 3 making 30 runs between them. That, however, was as good as it got for the NZ bowlers. While keeper Tanvir Sarkar fell a few overs later for 29, the acceleration was on. Through some absolutely breathtaking hitting from Polash Wadud (61* off 34), we plundered 107 runs from the last 10.4 overs and made it to 5/162. Like the England game, NZ's chase started badly, losing both openers in the second over to Vinay Shashtri. We didn't know it at the time, but only one more wicket would fall - Franklyn Harland trapped in front by Rohan Chawla for 76 in the 19th over. Despite his 121 run partnership with Brett Hogan (60* off 43), NZ could only make 3/152, falling 10 runs short. At last, we had a win, and against a competition heavyweight as well!

Game 4 vs Australia - Lost by 6 wickets

We entered this game knowing that with a win, we would enter the final round of the tournament in control of our fate. We would not have to rely on other results landing in our favour with a win over the dual-format world champions, Australia. A tall order, and one that proved just beyond us, despite what the heading might have you believe. We were sent in to bat first in Humid/Dry conditions, and didn't start too badly this time. We were 2/71 when Ashok Das fell for 42 at the start of the 13th over, and made a further 68 runs to reach 3/139. Skipper Karanveer Shankar top scored with 46* off 40, and Polash Wadud belted 26* off just 13 deliveries.

Our defence of 140 got off to a very wayward start - seamer Nazmus Alam leaking runs at an alarming rate before left-arm medium pacer Bipul Pal had Angelo Ireland caught and bowled for 8. Australia were 1/30 off just 3.2 overs and Ruben McKeown was absolutely flying at the other end. Leggie Shaun Warne had him caught 2 overs later for 26 off 15, and from there we were able to contain the Australians, eventually removing Anthony Bos for 31 off 28. The run rate slowly came down, and no. 4 Keyran Benson fell for a run-a-ball 34 to Mahfuz Nawaz with 13 balls to go. Australia needed another 17 runs for victory, and took a single off the last ball of the over. Leggie Warne returned, only to concede 11 off the penultimate over, leaving young RFS Vinay Khanolkar with just 5 runs to defend. Though he only conceded 3 runs off the first 5 balls, keeper Cameron Rawlings took a 2 off the last delivery to secure the victory and put us in considerable danger for the last round.

Game 5 vs USA - Won by 6 wickets

The final round - USA, in Cloudy/Sitcky conditions. We needed to win this game, and for England to lose their match against NZ by any margin to avoid the drop. On the most pace-friendly pitch we'd seen all tour, USA won the toss and elected to bat and for once, we made a hot start and continued to apply pressure. USA were 2/6 after 1.5 overs, then 3/24 after 7.2 overs, 4/29 after 9.1 overs. Their top 6 made just 45 runs between them, and we restricted them to 7/96 off their 20 overs. All 3 quicks (Anil Jilani, Vinay Shashtri and Nazmus Alam) went at 4.5 RPO or under along with RFS Vinay Khanolkar (3/17) - only Rohan Chawla was remotely leaky (2/28), removing top scorer Seth Weber for 38 off 32.

Opener Shaun Johnson decided to bat like it was an ODI and for once, I didn't mind. With our NRR being extremely close to England's, the margin of victory was irrelevant, and Johnson carrying his bat for 46* off 52 helped us reach the target with 6 wickets and 11 balls to spare. The only other batter of note was Mahendra Sarkar witha a run-a-ball 22. The real drama was unravelling in the England v NZ game - England had batted first, and made 6/134 in Cloudy/Dry conditions. A solid total, made to look imposing when they had NZ 6/77 off 13.4 overs. Suddenly, we were in jeopardy - NZ had 38 balls to score 58 runs, with their last recognised batters Morgan Charlesworth and Julian Woods at the crease. One more wicket and England would bowling to the tail - but it never happened. Charlesworth took the reins, accelerating from 21 off 18 to finish on 61* off 40, with Woods making 18* off 16 and mostly feeding him the strike, and NZ got home off the last ball.

Summary

The results are similar to our last tour - having to scramble to avoid the drop at the last possible second. In that respect, this tour was disappointing - the UAE and England games felt winnable, and to get so close to Australia only to blow it was particularly painful, no matter the ratings difference. Staying up in Division 1 is good, but the goal for the next Div 1 tour is 3+ wins and no relegation battle, and push for the top. We now move on to a T20 tour of England, this time in Division 2.

[UtopiaRay]

Today we have our third and final tour of the season, back to England for One Day Division 2.

Tour Details
Hosting Rights Won By England
First Choice Pitch - Hard
Second Choice Pitch - Uneven
Third Choice Pitch - Even

Fixtures
3rd Feb v Kenya - Hard
4th Feb v Scotland - Even
5th Feb v Ireland - Hard
6th Feb v England - Even
7th Feb v Pakistan - Even

This means we have a 3-0-2 allocation, the same allocation we had on our first OD tour of the season. Interesting to see England pivot heavily in their pitch selection, as on the recently concluded T20 tour they went with Dry-Crumbling-Sticky. You'd imagine they're backing their F/FMs to be a level above their opposition given the frequency of Hard pitches, and giving the opposition spinners less to work with.

The games for this tour will be played at 10:00am FTP time.

OD Division 2 -Tour Selection

Batters
Karanveer Shankar - Glen Fruin (7 Caps)
Ashok Das - Standrop Rockets (8 Caps)
Shaun Johnson - Ohoka Swamphens (7 Caps)
Syed Nousher - Washington Generals (U20 Debut)
Mahendra Sarkar - The Elite (6 Caps)
Roshan Sen - Hoarders CC (3 Caps)
Mahir Bashar - Bailey (U20 Debut)

Wicketkeepers
Tanvir Sarkar - Xanadoosra (11 Caps)
Shahriar Azam - Bailey (1 Cap, OD Debut)

Allrounders
Anil Jilani - Washington Generals (11 Caps)
Bipul Pal - Glen Fruin (7 Caps)

Bowlers
Tariq Bashir - Spazzers (U20 Debut)
Vinay Shashtri - Hoarders CC (3 Caps, OD Debut)
Saurav Amarnath - Wildcards (U20 Debut)
Rohan Chawla - Indian Tigers (6 Caps)
Hannan Khadim - Bancroft (U20 Debut)
Vinay Khanolkar - North Cunnett CC (3 Caps, OD Debut)
Shaun Warne - The Toronto Cougars (6 Caps)

A handful of changes from the previous tour, but the core of the squad remains the same. We're aiming for a more convincing performance this tour - 3 or more wins and fighting for promotion.

[UtopiaRay]

Last night was our first game of the OD Div 2 tour of England, and we took on Kenya in Hot/Hard conditions.

We lost the toss and were asked to bat first, and our openers seemed to be very happy with that decision - we didn't lost a wicket until Shaun Johnson departed for 83 off 69 in the 25th over. We were 1/157 at drinks, and sitting pretty. From there we continued on steadily before losing keeper Tanvir Sarkar for 24 off 22, and a few overs later skipper Karanveer Shankar fell for 119 off 112 - his maiden U20 OD ton. At that moment we were 3/236 off 35.2 overs, and still in a position of strength, though we did have a small wobble after this. After plundering 34 runs from the next 2.5 overs, no. 4 Roshan Sen fell to leggie Ousmane mac Ogot, along with Mahendra Sarkar for a 2 ball duck. The next over saw Ashok Das get trapped in front for a run-a-ball 4, and we were now 6/288 after 40 overs. Even though Anil Jilani was the only recognised batter left, him and no. 8 Rohan Chawla went ballistic, bringing up the 100 runs partnership off the final ball of the innings. We ended on 6/387, with Jilani on 73* off 39, and Chawla on 46* off 31. An absolutely exceptional batting performance, admittedly in tough conditions for bowlers.

Kenya, by contrast, did not start as strongly. Tearaway quick Vinay Shashtri knocked over opener Isaac Mathai for 13, and Kenya were 1/16 after 4 overs. Just 4.2 overs later and Anil Jilani struck, removing Theophillus mac Oruma for just 3. At 2/42 the Kenyas were in trouble, though they did recover strongly from here. Kenya went to the drinks break on 2/145, well behind the required run rate of 9.64 but with enough wickets in hand to potentially launch from here. That was, however, until No.4 Feruzi mac Obuya was run out for a fine innings of 55 off 50. One wicket is not the end of the world, but Rohan Chawla came on in the next over and removed Danie wa Mutahi and keeper Kirkov Petrovna for 2 and a duck respectively. Just 2 overs after drinks, the Kenyans were now 5/150 and feeling the heat. The pressure only intensified as no. 7 Ousmane mac Ogot fell to Shaun Warne for 5, and Hannan Khadim removed Benson Orengo for a golden duck, leaving Kenya 7/158. Opener and captain Berhanu wa Kibunja and no. 9 Michael Pointer managed a 46 run partnership before Pointer fell for 24. While Kenya did hit out from here, it only served to limit NRR damage - wa Kibunja finally falling for an excellent 123 off 130, and Jacob Abadu becoming Tanvir Sarkar's 5th catch of the day on 24. Kenya were all out for 252, and we wrapped up a 133 run win to open proceedings.

A virtually perfect start to the tournament, and tomorrow we take on Scotland in Hot/Even conditions.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=6954276

Match Ratings
Bangladesh U20 Kenya U20
Batting - Top Order 10,168 9,814
Batting - Middle Order 8,957 9,124
Batting - Tail 5,460 5,130
Bowling - Seam 10,230 (30) 9,066 (30)
Bowling - Spin 10,678 (20) 11,741 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 11,676 11,367
Overall 179,957 175,925

[grizzlybackere]

Bangladesh v Scotland, the second match in OD Div 2 between 2 evenly matched teams playing in Even/Hot conditions.

Scotland won the toss and elected to bat. Bangladesh, who rested their express pace bowlers for today's match started well, keeping it fairly tight for the first 3 overs. They were rewarded when Fogarty - Spooge hit to point after 3.1 overs, leaving the Scots 15 - 1. Scotland then put on 2 decent partnerships. Gilchrist Gibson 102 (119) anchored 78 and 65 run partnerships with Bannan 37 (40) and Souness 22(30) to leave the Scots in a decent position on 158 - 3 after 30 overs.

When Gibson finally fell to make it 187 - 4 after 35.3 overs Bangladesh still had an element of control over the run rate. What ensued was a bit of a run fest. Bangladesh only managed one more wicket, with the addition of over 130 runs. 8 of the final 10 overs going into double figures, posting a total of 324 - 5, which could still be seen as slightly below par. V. Khanolkar was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 3 - 55.

Bangladesh started well. When our first wicket, Das 32 (26) fell with 78 runs on the board after 11.1 overs, they were 19 runs to the good compared to Scotland's first innings at the same point. Out walked wonderkid wk Tanvir Sarkar, putting on what would turn out to be a match winning and man of the match performance, anchoring the middle part of the innings with 4 important partnerships.

He put on 28 (37) with M. Sarker, who also scored a valuable 59 (61).
100 (89) with R. Sen 47 (44).
40 (44) with S. Nousher 17 (17)
38 (30) with captain M. Bashar 34* (30).

When T. Sarkar fell for a magnificent 114 (105), he left Bangladesh on 284 -5, needing 41 runs in 5.2 overs, with 5 wickets in hand, they were ahead of the run rate. B. Pal only lasted 3 balls for his 1 run meaning we had lost 2 wickets in quick succession.

It took a steady knock from M. Bashar and 16* (14) from S. Amarnath to get Bangladesh over the line with just 3 balls to spare, in what turned out to be a very tense and close 4 wicket win. The 16 runs that came off the penultimate over would have settled the beating hearts of Bangladesh fans, who up until that point may have thought they were snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Overall a very satisfying win, 2 in 2, next up are the only other unbeaten team in the Division, Ireland.

https://www.fromthepavilion.org/comment ... Id=6954281

Bangladesh U20 v Scotland U20
Batting - Top Order 9,899, 9,681
Batting - Middle Order 8,117, 8,951
Batting - Tail 4,759, 4,704
Bowling - Seam 9,766 (20), 9,507 (30)
Bowling - Spin 10,222 (30), 10,332 (20)
Fielding/Keeping - 11,176, 11,063
Overall - 170,069, 171,016

[UtopiaRay]

We then roll in to game 3 - our opponents were Ireland, in Humid/Hard conditions.

We found ourselves in a different position to the previous tours this season - after two rounds, the only unbeaten teams were us and our opponents. We won the toss, and elected to bowl first, reasoning that our 5-man pace attack should make good use of the helpful conditions. It didn't start that way, with Ireland cruising to 79 in 15 overs before losing their first wicket. Ireland lost their second wicket in the next over, but registered a 98 run partnership before Matthew Dennehy missed out on a half-century by 3 runs. From here, our quicks clawed their way back in to the match - Ireland lost their next 3 wickets for 38 runs (including the big wicket of Ruairi McCann for 73), finding themselves 6/219 after 42.1 overs. Ireland managed another 48 runs in the last 7.5 overs for the loss of quick Luke Arrigan for 28, finishing on 7/267.

268 was a decent total, made to look a bit better when skipper Karanveer Shankar fell early for just 5. From there, though, we look to have come to grips with conditions and were going at a run a ball until Shaun Johnson was trapped in front for 26. From 2/61, we then managed a 101 run 3rd wicket partnership before keeper Tanvir Sarkar fell on 61. Roshan Sen didn't last long, falling for just 6, but from there Mahendra Sarkar and Anil Jilani kept the innings on track. M. Sarkar eventually departed just 5 runs short of a maiden century, and though Jilani's dismissal brought about a brief collapse, we got home with 2 wickets and 2.2 overs to spare.

3 games, 3 wins - an ideal start to our tour, and we now face England in the next game. Special mention to MOTM Hannan Khadim who took 3/52, held 3 catches and came in at 10 to hit the winning runs.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=6954285

Match Ratings

Ireland U20 Bangladesh U20
Batting - Top Order 10,022 9,858
Batting - Middle Order 7,849 9,003
Batting - Tail 4,738 4,646
Bowling - Seam 9,819 (40) 9,828 (50)
Bowling - Spin 9,404 (10) 0 (0)
Fielding/Keeping 10,330 11,097
Overall 165,372 171,817

[UtopiaRay]

Last night was game 4 of the tour, and we faced hosts England at Lords in Sunny/Hard conditions.

Coming in unbeaten after 3 rounds meant that a win here would guarantee promotion and give us one hand on the trophy for this tour. We lost the toss, and England skipper Paul Brinsley elected to bat first. For a few overs, this looked like it might have been a bad decision - England lost openers Felix Franks and Brendon Rawle for 4 and 16 respectively. From there, they put on a century partnership for the third wicket before losing Curtis Dehring for 42 and skipper Brinsley for a duck. However, no.4 Theo Wiese had other ideas - lashing 140 off 123 deliveries, before being trapped in front by Vinay Shashtri. While no.6 Joseph Redgrave fell the following over from 52, we were unable to wrest back control and still conceded another 61 runs from the last 6.3 overs. England finished their innings on 6/312 - a commanding total, but not unchaseable.

And it certainly looked within reach as Shaun Johnson and Karanveer Shankar put on 134 for the first wicket, before Shankar fell for 68. No.3 Ashok Das left as quickly as he entered, lasting 3 balls for just 1 run. From 2/136, with both wickets falling the over before drinks, Johnson and no.4 Mahir Bashar steadied the innings with a 44 runs partnership before both men were dismissed within an over of each other. Johnson made 86 with Bashar contributing 18 runs. What became an issue was this pattern repeating itself for the rest of the innings - start to build a partnership, lose two wickets in quick succession. The middle order failed to capitalise on the platform the openers made, and we lost 6 wickets in the slog overs to fall from 5/235 after 40 overs, to all out for 292 with 7 balls left. A winnable position thrown away, though credit must be given to a good England bowling attack.

The final round is this evening - a win against Pakistan and we're guaranteed promotion, and could only lose top spot if Ireland blow Kenya away in their final game. A loss means we have to rely on Kenya beating Ireland, and our NRR staying better than England if they beat Scotland in order to hold on to top spot. Missing promotion is only possible if we lose badly to Pakistan, Ireland beat Kenya convincingly, and England thrash Scotland.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=6954287

Match Ratings

England U20 Bangladesh U20
Batting - Top Order 9,674 9,444
Batting - Middle Order 8,340 8,466
Batting - Tail 4,461 5,172
Bowling - Seam 9,074 (40) 9,742 (30)
Bowling - Spin 9,867 (10) 10,310 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 11,174 10,559
Overall 165,129 168,680

[grizzlybackere]

The final match of the U-20 One Day Div 2 , Pakistan v Bangladesh, the conditions were windy with an even pitch, slightly favouring the spinners. Bangladesh came up against previous manager MuslimDave. A win for the Tigers would guarantee a promotion to Division 1.

K. Shankar, in his final match as captain won the toss and elected to bat, walking out to the middle to open with S. Johnson. A fairly brisk start from the batting team was interrupted after 4.4 overs when Johnson 7 (9) was trapped LBW by a yorker from S. Masih. T. Sarkar came to the crease and put on a 51 run partnership with Shankar at a decent lick. Sarkar was eventually out for 22 (26), hitting a bat pad off the bowling of K. Habib. 3 more 50 run partnerships followed. Shankar and M. Sarkar putting on 74 (85). Shankar was eventually out for 80 (93), leaving his team in a promising position of 150 - 3, just over the half way mark.

M. Sarker and R. Sen picked up the baton and scored 54 (62), before M. Sarkar was out for 60 (76), with around 12 overs to go, Bangladesh were 204-4. S. Nousher, with Sen provided even more impetus, 56 runs coming off 42 balls before Nousher 30 (25) was out to the bowling of Masih. The Pakistan left arm quick was the pick of their bowlers finishing with 3-55.

Sen contributed to his third important partnership of the innings with B. Pal. Together they put on 19 (14), before Sen was out. Another quick wicket followed, S. Amarnath 0 (2) was out for a duck in the same over, stumped. This left Bangladesh on 279 - 7 with just over 2 overs remaining. Pal, who up until today hadn't contributed any lower order runs in his previous matches, made an important 25* (18) to leave Bangladesh with 295/7. The score looked competitive at least.

Bangladesh got off to the perfect start with the ball, Pal getting S. Ayub caught in the deep after just 2 balls. Pakistan put on 3 decent partnerships, keeping them in the hunt, although the Tigers also picked up fairly regular wickets. A. Shafi 40 (51) and S. Ul-Haq 43 (64) both to fell to a V. Khanolkar/ T. Sarkar combination. A Barlas was clean bowled by Pal after making 22 (28). Pakistan were 168-4 after 33 overs. Only 7 runs behind the comparative rate and well in the game.

What followed swung the game in Bangladesh's favour, 2 further quick wickets for just 10 runs. T. Laghari, Pakistan's top scorer 56 (55) was out to Khanolkar without adding to the score. N. Nath was then out for 6 (10), caught Pal, bowled Khanolkar, who finished with figures of 3-48, capping off an impressive tour. This left Pakistan on 178 - 6, the wickets column firmly in Bangladesh's favour, as well as a run rate requiring over 8.

Pakistan weren't done yet, Akhtar and Habib showed grit and determination to put on a brilliant partnership of 80 (85), unfortunately they weren't able to score at a high enough pace, the Bangladesh spinners (and Pal) applying the squeeze. With the match officially sewn up by the penultimate over, Chawla got in on the act in the 50th, dismissing both Akhtar 40 (40) and Habib 42 (50), both caught behind by Sarkar, giving him 5 catches for the match. Pal finished with figures of 3 -51, which along with his runs bought him the man of the match award.

A great win, ensuring promotion to Division 1 for the next One Day tour, commiserations to Pakistan, who go down a division.

https://www.fromthepavilion.org/comment ... Id=6954274

Pakistan U20 v Bangladesh U20
Batting - Top Order - 9,357, 9,455
Batting - Middle Order - 8,759, 8,044
Batting - Tail - 5,735, 4,632
Bowling - Seam - 8,518 (30), 9,514 (20)
Bowling - Spin - 10,119 (20), 9,974 (30)
Fielding/Keeping - 10,341, 10,566
Overall - 166,487, 164,544

[MOD-wmchamps]

Congrats on promoting and winning the division

[UtopiaRay]

Thanks wmchamps, we'll see you in division 1 next season!

[MOD-wmchamps]

Looking forward to it, also nice result in our friendly today with the tied game.

[UtopiaRay]

We have our last post-tour review of season 60, for the Division 2 OD tour of England. Let's go over the squad and number of games played first:

Batters
Karanveer Shankar - 4 games
Ashok Das - 4 games
Mahir Bashar - 2 games
Shaun Johnson - 4 games
Syed Nousher - 3 games
Roshan Sen - 4 games
Mahendra Sarkar - 4 games

Wicketkeepers
Tanvir Sarkar - 4 games
Shahriar Azam - 1 game

Bowlers
Anil Jilani - 3 games
Bipul Pal - 3 games
Rohan Chawla - 3 games
Saurav Amarnath - 2 games
Vinay Shashtri - 3 games
Shaun Warne - 4 games
Hannan Khadim - 3 games
Vinay Khanolkar - 3 games
Tariq Bashir - 1 game

Before we get in to the results, we have some individual performances I'd like to highlight, starting with Mahendra Sarkar. He had a real breakout tour, scoring 214 runs in 4 innings at at 53.50, which was fantastic after struggling in the first two tours of the season. In his final act as a U20 player, skipper Karanveer Shankar was absolutely imperious, rattling off 272 runs @ 68 from his four appearances as well. His opening partner Shaun Johnson was very good as well, recording 202 runs @ 50.50, and Anil Jilani also made his first half century of his international career, belting 73* off 39 against Kenya.

I have a bit less to talk about when it comes to bowling, but that was a constant for all teams on this tour as we got some tough pitches to bowl on. Specifically we had 3 Hard pitches, and 2 Even pitches. The real standout was young spinner Vinay Khanolkar, nabbing 6 wickets at 17.17 from his 2 appearances (and making a good case to be our premier FS). Bipul Pal was solid with 5 wickets at 34.40 in his 3 games, but that was about it. Khanolkar was one of only 5 bowlers to average under 30 on the tour (and the only one to average below 20), which illustrates how much bat dominated ball.

Game 1 v Kenya - Won by 133 runs

We started the tour in ideal fashion, with a crushing victory against Kenya. We lost the toss and were asked to bat first, and the batters licked their lips at getting first use of a Hard pitch in Hot conditions. We didn't lost a wicket until the 25th over, and despite a middle order wobble we flew to 6/385 in our 50 overs. As mentioned above, Jilani made his explosive cameo here, off the back of a platform laid by Shaun Johnson (83 off 69) and Karanveer Shankar (119 off 112). Rohan Chawla also belted 46 off 31 at the death with Jilani. All in all, a very imposing total, and one that proved to be entirely too much for the Kenyans. Despite skipper Berhanu wa Kibunja's brilliant 123 off 130, the only other Kenyan batter to make a score of note was Feruzi Mac Obuya with 55, as they slumped to 252 all out. Shaun Warne returned figures of 3/42 off his 8.3 overs, fellow spinner Rohan Chawla took 2/31 off his 8 overs, and Vinay Shashtri snared 2/47 from his full allotment. It will come as little surprise than Karanveer Shankar was Man of the Match, followed closely by wa Kibunja and Jilani (who also took 1/54).

Game 2 v Scotland - Won by 3 wickets

Game 2 saw us take on Scotland, in Hot/Even conditions. We once again lost the toss, but this time Scotland chose to bat first. Despite losing colourfully named opener Hamish Fogarty-Spooge for 3 in the 4th over, Scotland cruised to 5/324. Fellow opener Giclrhist Gibson laid the platform with 102 off 119, and nos. 5 and 6 Jesse Ryder (64 off 49) and Colin Henderson (71* off 45) capitalised on it. Our chase started well, being 1/78 after 11.1 overs when Ashok Das fell for 32. Though the run rate decreased from there, we were still comfortable for most of the chase thanks largely to keeper Tanvir Sarkar's 114 off 105 and Mahendra Sarkar's 59 off 61. While the chase got closer than I would have liked, we secured victory with 3 balls to spare, guided home by stand-in skipper Mahir Bashar (34* off 30) and debutant bowler Saurav Amarnath (16* off 14, to go with his 1/46). Tanvir Sarkar was awared man of the match, for both his century and 2 catches & a stumping to go with it. Tanvir had also taken 5 catches against Kenya, and was in red hot form either side of the wickets.

Game 3 vs Ireland - Won by 2 wickets

And so we moved on to the Ireland game, this time in Humid/Hard conditions. Our first game of the tour where bowlers should be able to get some meaningful assistance from conditions, and that proved to be the case. For the first time this tour we won the toss, and elected to bowl first. Ireland started well, with a 79 run opening partnership followed by a 98 run 3rd wicket partnership. With the Irish on 3/181 after 35.4 overs, it looked as though they had a solid platform to launch from. That did not prove to be the case, as a middle order collapse left them on 6/219 in the 43rd overs. Despite a pair of cameos from nos. 7 & 8 Colin McConville and Luke Arrigan, Ireland finished on 7/267. Ruairi McCann top scored with 73 off 70, and Hannan Khadim took 3/52 to go with his 3 catches. For the first time this tour, we got off to a shaky start. Karanveer Shankar mad his only score below 68 all tour, departing for just 5. Johnson and Tanvir Sarkar steadied the innings until SJ fell for 26, where Tanvir was joined by Mahendra Sarkar. Tanvir was the next wicket to fall but 20 overs later with the score reading 3/162 after 30.1 overs, Tanvir having contributed 61 off 77. Mahendra continued on, being the 5th wicket to fall just 5 runs short of a maiden century. From 5/226 after 42 overs, we had a bit of a wobble when Jilani (30 off 32), Bipul Pal (1 off 7) and Vinay Shashtri (4 off 2) all fell in quick succession, but Ashok Das and Hannan Khadim were able to get us home with 2 wickets and 2.2 overs to spare.

Game 4 vs England - Lost by 20 runs

And so we came to game 4, against hosts England, in Sunny/Hard conditions. We didn't know at the time, but our run of red-hot form was to come to a temporary halt. Shankar once again lost the toss, and England chose to bat first. Initially it seemed like a poor decision, with England slipping to 2/31 after Shashtri and Jilani removed both openers. From there, however, England turned things around with a 107-run 3rd wicket partnership between Curtis Dehring (run out for 42) and no. 4, the real thorn in our side, Theo Wiese who made a superb 140 off 124. No.6 Joseph Redgrave also hit 52 off 50 and England ended on 6/312. Vinay Shashtri was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2/57, including top-scorer Wiese. Our chase started very strongly, with the 134-run opening partnership only ending when skipper Shankar was caught on 68 off 80 off express quick Denis Macpherson. Fellow opener Shaun Johnson kept going until the start of the 34th over, where was bowled on 86, but this was to be the beginning of the end. As well as our openers had batted, no-one else was able to manage anything more than a cameo, demonstrated by the fact our 3rd highest scorer was Syed Nousher with just 29. Despite being on 4/235 at the start of the 41st over, we threw away a winnable position and were all out for 292. Lindsay Kirtley was the destroyer in chief, demolishing the middle order with 4/53 off his 9.5 overs, supported well by Macpherson and Laurie Oswald-Jacobs picking up 2 wickets apiece.

Game 5 vs Pakistan - Won by 33 runs

Finally, we reach game 5 against Pakistan. As mentioned in the post-game report, a win here guaranteed promotion and made it near impossible to lose our grip on top spot. Karanveer Shankar won his second toss of the tour, and we elected to bat first in Windy/Even conditions. While we lost Shaun Johnson for just 7, Shankar and T. Sarkar were able to stabilise effectively before Tanvir fell for 22. Shankar and Mahendra Sarkar then put on a 74-run partnership before Shankar departed for the last time at U20 level, caught for 80 off 93. Unlike the previous game, there would be no middle order collapse - Mahendra Sarakr made 60, Roshan Sen cracked 57 off 49 and we finished on 7/295. Left arm express quick Shumail Masih took 3/55, joined by the competition's leading wicket taker Muntazir Kirmani, who took 3/73. Pakistan's chase got off to a false start, with Saim Ayub departed off the second ball of the innings to Bipul Pal. Their top order did a good job of preventing any potential collapse - skipper Safeer Ul-Haq made 43, no.3 Abrar Shafi made 40, and keeper Tariq Laghari made a fine 56 off 55. The problem was that even with Laghari going at just above a run a ball, the NRR was steadily getting away from them. Ultimately, it proved to be a bridge too far - despite cameos from all-rounders Waseem Akhtar (40 off 40) and Khadim Habib (42 off 50), Pakistan could only manage 8/262, and lost by 33 runs. The bowling standouts were Bipul Pal (3/51), Vinay Khanolkar (3/48) and Rohan Chawla (2/53). With that win, we both guaranteed promotion and won the tour in one fell swoop. After a pair of indifferent tours to start the season, this was an ideal result leading in to the WC.

Summary

A dramatic improvement. While our bowlers (aside from Khanolkar) weren't destructive, they managed to do enough to make sure our opponents never got away from us, apart from the Warne and Chawla's struggles at the death in the Scotland game. Our batting only failed against England, and was routinely excellent against all other opposition (even against England, we still had a substantial opening partnership). With that, our confidence is buoyed as we go in to the T20 WC, which kicks off on the 24th.

[UtopiaRay]

The regular season is done and dusted, and now we have the biggest event on season 60's calendar - the T20 World Cup. First, let's go through our fixtures:

Tour Details
Hosting Rights Won By India

Fixtures
24th Feb v Kenya - Hot/Even
25th Feb v UAE - Hot/Hard
26th Feb v Australia - Humid/Sticky
27th Feb v USA - Humid/Dry
28th Feb v Bermuda - Sunny/Flat

As you'd expect, a wider range of pitches for a WC. Hot weather should result in some higher scoring fixtures in the first two rounds, and Humid on a Dry track may cause something similar in game 4. Game 5 against Bermuda also looks like it will suit batters on a Flat pitch, with game 3 v Australia as the only group stage match where bowlers (quicks, specficially) will get meaningful assistance. While our T20 tour this season did not go to plan, we've managed to hit a run of form right before the WC which we look to continue in to the tournament.

The games for this tour will be played at 4:30am FTP time.

T20 World Cup - Touring Squad

Batters
Shakib Ahmed - Kaiapoi Bogans (U20 Debut)
Aqib Bishwash - Kaiapoi Bogans (U20 Debut)
Shaun Johnson - Ohoka Swamphens (11 Caps)
Syed Nousher - Washington Generals (3 Caps)
Mahendra Sarkar - The Elite (10 Caps)
Raihan Haque - The Dutch Overs (U20 Debut)
Saurav Raina - Silly Mid Oorfs (U20 Debut)

Wicketkeepers
Tanvir Sarkar - Xanadoosra (15 Caps)
Raja Sarkar - Bancroft (U20 Debut)

Allrounders
Anil Jilani - Washington Generals (14 Caps)
Bipul Pal - Glen Fruin (10 Caps)
Atif Shuvo - Aqrabiyah Antlers (U20 Debut)

Bowlers
Vinay Shashtri - Hoarders CC (6 Caps)
Debojit Gavaskar - Pedagogs (U20 Debut)
Rohan Chawla - Indian Tigers (9 Caps)
Hannan Khadim - Bancroft (3 Caps, T20 Debut)
Vinay Khanolkar - North Cunnett CC (6 Caps)
Shaun Warne - The Toronto Cougars (10 Caps)

A settled bowling lineup, but a different batting lineup from the previous tour. We opted for a balanced bowling attack given the wide variety of pitches we'll encounter over the tournament. The batting changes are driven by the senior players from the previous tour moving on from U20 cricket, but we should still have the players to push deep in to the tournament.

[UtopiaRay]

Yesterday we kicked off our T20 World Cup against Kenya, in Hot/Even conditions.

Kenya lost the toss, and new captain Raihan Haque invited them to bat first. After conceding 26 runs in the first 3 overs, Kenya's good start was undermined by 2 wickets in 2 overs - skipper Berhanu wa Kibunja caught behind for 26, and fellow opener Feruzi Mac Obuya was run out in the following overs for 7. The 2 wickets did not seem to deter Kenya, and they accelerated back above 8.5 RPO before Rohan Chawla removed John Joho for 18. At the halfway mark, Kenya were 3/82 and still in a decent position. Star batter Jacob Mwashimba was looking ominous on 26 off 14, partnered by keeper Kirkov Petrovna (4 off 5). Kenya continued at better than 8 RPO until Chawla took his second wicket of the day, nicking off Mwashimba for 41. The next 2 overs brought 26 runs for Kenya as Petrovna finally found some fluency, but it did not last any longer - Petrovna also caught behind of Chawla for 37 off 30. Kenya were 5/140 with 2.5 overs remaining, but no further acceleration was to come - the final 3 overs producing just 12 runs but 3 wickets, the last 2 snared by fellow offie Vinay Khanolkar. Kenya ended on 7/152, where they would have been targeting 180+.

Our innings started quite differently, with debutant Saurav Raina looking comfortable but experienced campaigner Shaun Johnson looking decidedly scratchy. After 7 overs, we were 0/47 and still in touching distance of the RRR of 8.15, but we (Johnson, 16 off 18 at this point, specifically) needed to up the ante in order to stay on track. As it would turn out, that's exactly what happened. 3 overs later we were 0/76, Johnson now 30 off 27 and Raina 45 off 33. The acceleration really ramped up from here, with 50 runs being plundered off the next 4 overs before Johnson finally fell, stumped of spinner Othenio Guppianani for 54 off 43. We were still firmly in command at 1/133 after 15 overs with just 20 runs to go, though Johnson's departure brought a wobble - Tanvir Sarkar departing for 2, and Mahendra Sarkar falling for a golden duck in the following over - but it was only temporary setback. Saurav Raina hit the winning runs in the 18th over, carrying his bat for a chanceless 85* off 52 deliveries, and Shakib Ahmed hit 11* off 4 to help finish the innings off.

We won by 7 wickets, with 14 balls to spare. Some individual highlights - Raina as mentioned above for his match-defining innings, and finger spinners Rohan Chawla (3/24) and Vinay Khanolkar (2/20) were both integral in stopping Kenya from capitalising on their decent start. Tanvir Sarkar might have had a day to forget with the bat, but he managed 4 catches and a stumping.

https://fromthepavilion.org/scorecard.h ... Id=6955823

Match Ratings

Bangladesh U20 Kenya U20
Batting - Top Order 9,842 9,929
Batting - Middle Order 8,488 8,868
Batting - Tail 4,950 4,608
Bowling - Seam 9,686 (8) 8,781 (12)
Bowling - Spin 10,914 (12) 9,977 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 11,494 11,062
Overall 174,771 168,494