Bangladesh defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 51 runs to get its first victory in the Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament here Friday. Beaten by India by 45 runs in its opening match, Bangladesh suffered a batting blue when a spirited UAE attack confined it to 133-8. However, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah Riyad and Shakib Al Hasan put up combined effort, sharing two wickets each, to dismiss the UAE for 82 in 17.4 overs to complete an easy victory. The win keeps the host alive in the Asia Cup, but it would have liked a more comfortable path to picking up the two points. Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Mithun started off for the host with 46 runs in 5.2 overs before Soumya holed out to mid-on for 21 off 14 balls. The dismissal came soon after he had struck a six over square leg. Bangladesh moved to 74 for 2 in ten overs but Reza and Mustafa had already started to slow them down. The collapse began in the 12th over when Mithun aimlessly took off for a single after the ball had trickled to the wicketkeeper Patil off an inside edge. Mithun ended up on 47 off 41 balls. Mushfiqur Rahim's wave at a short, wide, hit-me ball took the outside edge in the next over before Shakib Al Hasan missed Javed's high full-toss and was clean bowled. Big-hitters Nurul Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza gave catches to long-on and long-off next, before Mahmudullah ran hard, sweetly timed a four and hammered a six in the last over to get his team to a respectable 133. The UAE began the chase on a shaky note, losing opener Mohammad Kallem for an unfortunate duck in the second over, with just a couple of runs on the board. It was followed by a 23-run stand for the second wicket between Rohan Mustafa and Mohammad Shahzad, before Mustafa fell for a mere 18 to Mashrafe Mortaza in the fifth over, followed by Shaiman Anwar a couple of overs later for just a single as the board read 33 for three. The very next over saw the dismissal of Shahzad, dismissed for 12 to Mustafizur Rahman, followed by Swapnil Patil for a duck on the very next ball, bringing Mustafizur on a hat trick, that was denied by Amjad Javed, as the score read 34 for five. Partnerships hardly came as 11 runs later, it was Javed, who fell for three following a rare and unfortunate hit wicket off Mahmudullah in the 11th over. The very next over saw Fahad Tariq dismissed for a duck following a careless attempt to come down the track and being stumped by Mushfiqur Rahim. He was followed by Saqlain Haider in the over next, as he fell for a couple to Mahmudullah, making it 55 for eight. A 16-run stand followed between Mohammad Usman and Ahmed Raza, before Usman was bowled by Taskin in the 16th over for 30. Ahmed Raza was the final man to be dismissed, stumped for five, Mahmudullah was adjudged the Man of the Match. Brief scores: Bangladesh 133 for 8 (Mithun 47, Mahmudullah 36; Naveed 2-12) beat UAE 82 (Usman 30, Mustafizue 2-13; Mashrafe 2-12) by 51 runs. Archrivals India and Pakistan play in the next match of the tournament Saturday. — Agencies
