Mithun, Mushfiqur fifties guide Tigers to win in warm-up

Bangladesh got back to winning ways in their warm-up 50-over match against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI, thanks to a 91 from Mohammad Mithun and a 50 from Mushfiqur Rahim to win by five wickets at Colombo on Tuesday.

It was a solid batting display by the Tigers as they chased down a challenging 282 runs with 11 deliveries to spare. 

Almost all the top order and middle order batsmen got starts with captain Tamim Iqbal scoring 37 and Mahmudullah Riyad getting 33 while Sabbir Rahman was not out on 31 and helped chase down the final runs along with Mosaddek Hossain who was not out on 15. 

Mithun had 11 boundaries and one six in his innings, which came off 100 deliveries and he looked good for a century, but he will be happy with a return to form after an indifferent time with the bat in the World Cup and in the tri-series in Ireland before that. 

Mushfiqur’s fifty came off 46 balls and had six boundaries and a six, and his partnership 73-run partnership for the third wicket with Mithun helped lay a solid platform for the chase.

But it was the 96-run partnership between Mithun and Mahmudullah that ensured an easy win would be possible. 

Earlier, after winning the toss, captain Niroshan Dickwella for the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI won the toss and elected to bat first.

A 56 from Shehan Jayasuriya and an 86 not out from Dasun Shanaka off just 63 balls was vital in putting on a competitive score of 282 in the first innings. 

For the Tigers, fast bowler Rubel Hossain (7-0-31-2) and Mustafizur Rahman (7-0-29-1) was impressive while medium-fast bowler Soumya Sarkar also chipped in with two wickets.

Taskin Ahmed, who returned to the squad was expensive going for 57 runs in his eight overs while taking just one wicket. 

The first of the three-match ODI series begins in the same venue on Friday.