A late order collapse, which saw the last five Irish wickets fall for just 18 runs, ensured that Bangladesh clinched the series with an 84 run win in Mirpur. Ireland capitulated to 162 all out in 38.3 overs, chasing Bangladesh's 246 for 8.

 

Ireland had been in with an outside chance of victory, having reached 144 for 5, needing 103 from 16.3 overs, with both Andre Botha and Alex Cusack well set.

 

The dismissal of Botha, who smashed a Reza full toss straight back to the grateful bowler, sparked the downfall. He had made 34 from 36 balls, and had added 52 in 10.3 overs with the ever dependable Alex Cusack.

 

That was the start of four wickets in 12 balls, as Johnston (1), Cusack (24), and Thompson (0), fell in quick succession. Opening bowler Farhad Reza was the destroyer-in-chief, finishing with Man of the Match figures of 5 for 42.

 

Their fate was sealed when Dave Langford-Smith (4) was caught by Ghosh off left arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who again troubled all the Irish batsmen to finish with figures of 3-27. Kyle McCallan (11*) was left stranded as the Irish committed the cardinal one-day sin of leaving nearly 12 overs unused.

 

It had all started so brightly for Ireland  in their pursuit of the Bangladesh total, as William Porterfield and Reinhardt Strydom added 42 in the opening 10 overs, helped by a flurry of boundaries. Indeed after scoring just 10 boundaries in the whole of their 50 overs in the first game, the Irish had scored 14 by the end of the 14th over. The game-plan was obviously to attack the bowlers who had kept such a tight grip on the scoring two days ago.

 

Strydom survied two reprieves, dropped by Ashraful at mid-off on 5, Reza the unlucky bowler. The Bangladesh skipper then nearly atoned for his error, when his throw found Strydom out of his crease but narrowly missed.

 

The introduction of spin into the game had an immediate effect, with Strydom (15) harshly adjudged lbw to Razzak's second delivery.

 

42 for 1 quickly became 47 for 3, as Eoin Morgan departed for just 4, brilliantly caught by Nafees  at cover while attempting to hit Reza over the top. The next delivery saw Porterfield cut Reza straight to Ahmed at point to leave Ireland in deep trouble. The Gloucestershire left hander had been more positive than usual, striking 5 fours in his 33 ball score of 25.

 

Kevin O'Brien hit a breezy 21, including 3 fours in a Reza over, after denying the strike bowler his hat-trick. He perished attempting to hit the frugal Shakib Al Hasan (2-16 from 7) over midwicket, giving Mahmudullah the simplest of opportunities. Niall O'Brien (18) again looked assured, but fell to Shakib Al Hasan when a big innings was needed.

 

Earlier the hosts posted a formidable 246 for 8 in their 50 overs, thanks to half centuries from Shahriar Nafees (60) and Aftab Ahmed (61).

 

Nafees and Tamin Iqbal (46) shared an opening stand of 94, before Iqbal was caught on the midwicket boundary by Kevin O' Brien off Kyle McCallan.

 

Nafees was then run out by Dave Langford-Smith with the score on 135, but Mohammad Ashraful (38) shared in a 64 run partnership with Ahmed in just 8.4 overs, to put Ireland on the defensive. Ahmed holed out to Trent Johnston on the deep midwicket boundary  off Greg Thompson with the score on 199.

 

Dave Langford-Smith (3-43) took late wickets as Bangladesh tried to accelerate further in the closing stages. Mashrafe Mortaza hit 26 from just 16 balls as Bangladesh closed on 246 for 8, which was more than enough to ensure a second win in the series.