England Under 19 tour of Bangladesh
Wednesday 25th January 2012
Kent's Adam Ball and Daniel Bell-Drummond jetted off to Bangladesh on 12th Jan to participate in the seven-match series of ODIs against the hosts. After three matches, the series stands at 2 – 1 to Bangladesh and the teams travel to Sylhet to contest the next three matches.
1st ODI Bangladesh U19’s v England U19’s, 21st Jan 2012.
The ODI between Bangladesh U19’s and England U19’s ended in victory for the home team by 44 runs. The match was the first of seven ODI’s being played between the teams in Bangladesh over the next three weeks.
Having won the toss England U19’s chose to field and Shozair Ali (Warwickshire) and Craig Overton (Somerset)) started the innings very well and were unlucky not to take any wickets. Aneesh Kapil (Worcestershire) replaced Ali and by restricting the batsmen scoring, dismissed the openers. Sam Wood (Nottinghamshire) joined Kapil with a controlled spell of spin bowling taking 3 wickets and keeping the scoring rate down.
Bangladesh U19’s were 124 – 4 in the 33rd over and a free flowing partnership of 114 for the 5th wicket took the hosts to a substantial total.
The England U19’s having shown control were punished during the batting ‘Powerplay’ to give the Bangladeshi batsmen some momentum. A spirited spell by Ali prevented the total becoming even more prohibitive.
Winning totals on the ground in Chittagong are between 215 and 225, the 266 by Bangladesh presented a stern challenge for the England U19’s batsmen.
The reply started positively with Wood and Ben Foakes (Essex) taking advantage of the Bangladesh opening bowlers. However wickets fell regularly and there was no partnership above 48 runs, the major contributors were Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent) with 55 and Aneesh Kapil with 43. On the negative side there were too many ‘soft’ dismissals, but on the positive side all the batsmen showed signs of improvement playing against the home team’s spin bowlers in their home conditions
Daniel said that he “found it tough mentally but was pleased to come through it and spend valuable time at the crease. It was a big improvement by the team compared to the recent practice match and we matched them in a lot of areas but just fell short when required”
2nd ODI Bangladesh U19’s v England U19’s. 23rd Jan. Chittagong
Daniel Bell-Drummond scored an impressive 92 to earn him the Man of the Match award but it wasn’t enough to prevent a second defeat for the England Under 19’s.
Making only one change from the first ODI, Gavin Griffiths (Lancashire) replacing Craig Overton (Somerset) who was sitting an ‘A’ level examination, the visitors won the toss and elected to field expecting more pace from an unusual looking green Chittagong pitch.
Captain Adam Ball was the pick of the pace bowlers bowling accurately over and round the wicket to restrict the Bangladeshi batsmen. Bowling support for him came from spinners Sam Wood (Nottinghamshire) and Rammy Singh (Durham) both of whom took 3 wickets each.
The Bangladeshi total of 256 for 9 was in reach as Wood, Ben Foakes (Essex) and Sam Kelsall (Nottinghamshire) supported Bell-Drummond, but the regular loss of wickets saw the required scoring rate rise to over 10 runs per over needed from the last 10 overs.
Spirited late order hitting saw the England Under 19’s fall 19 runs short and two losses in the seven match series.
Aneesh Kapil the Worcestershire all-rounder, was still being positive despite the defeat: “Even though we came up short today we still have the confidence to go out there and win the series. All the players have shown signs of adapting to local conditions and we need to remain resilient to help us bounce back”
3rd ODI Bangladesh U19’s v England U19’s. 24th January. Chittagong
“I think it shows how far we have come since we lost the practice match so badly. We are learning to chase a total in these conditions and the bowling is becoming more solid. Plans are being set and being delivered. Everyone has a much clearer mindset” according to England Under 19’s centurion Ben Foakes (Essex)
Set 253 to win England Under 19’s enjoyed a reasonable start when the first wicket fell bringing Foakes to the crease with the total on 33. He was out having scored 111 off 118 deliveries with the score on 218 and victory in sight. It was a commanding innings punishing all bowlers to all parts of the ground on a pitch which offered spin to the home bowlers.
Earlier in the Bangladeshi innings Captain Adam Ball continued his path to finding some form with 4 wickets and Sam Wood continued his fine bowling picking up another 3 wickets.
Ball and Bell-Drummond spoke to Kent Cricket before the start of the trip about the tour and the upcoming season.