Great Britain Combined Universities defeated Bangladesh’s University of Liberal Arts by nine wickets
Bangladesh were back fresh from their thrashing of hosts Sri Lanka, on the first day of the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals. They took on Great Britain, who had also beaten the hosts.
Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat. Anjum Ahmed and Hassan Uzzaman opened the batting but had their work cut out by the clinical Great Britain attack of Simon Watkins and skipper, Robert Woolley. Their tidy lines put the Bangladeshi’s on the back foot, not allowing them any boundaries or easy singles.
Great Britain’s James Lomard tore through the Bangladeshi middle order to capture four wickets while Mike Barnard finished with two. Only three batsmen were able to reach double figures and the final tally stood at 105/9.
Great Britain’s chase started shakily after a run-out in the first over, but Syed Fuaad and Luke Blackaby steadied the ship with some aggressive batting. They milked the bowling and regularly found the gaps – Blackaby, being the more attacking of the pair.
Together, they put on a 100-run partnership and chased down the total of 106 in just 14.1 overs – Blackaby top-scoring with 55 and Fuuad getting 44 – and losing only a wicket. James Lomas was adjudged ‘Man of the Match’ for his brilliant 4/18. Bangladesh’s bowling was not up to the mark on the day, and Great Britain proved their class and announced themselves as strong contenders for the semi finals.
