Teams split points after rain allows only 31.1 overs

Heavy rain in Malahide washed out the tri-series' opener between Ireland and Bangladesh after the visitors' innings came to a halt in the 32nd over. Bangladesh were 157 for 4 in 31.1 overs when the weather forced them off, and they did not return. Although the rain relented as the evening progressed, it never entirely stopped. The game was called off at 4.50 pm local time.

In what is their first visit to England and Ireland in seven years, the Bangladesh batsmen, barring Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah, struggled on a green pitch.

Tamim and Mahmudullah led the visitors' recovery with an unbroken 87-run fifth-wicket stand - after they were struggling at 70 for 4 - but it was mainly the Ireland bowlers' inability to take full advantage of pace-friendly conditions that let the visitors off the hook.

Peter Chase was the pick of the bowlers with his three wickets, while Tim Murtagh and left-arm spinner George Dockrell kept Bangladesh in check with tight bowling. Barry McCarthy, Kevin O'Brien and Stuart Thompson however failed to find their rhythm.

Tamim battled hard for his 88-ball 64, finding the boundary eight times, while Mahmudullah scored 43 off 56 balls, bringing to a halt his string of low scores in ODIs since October.

On a pitch that was hard to differentiate from the outfield, Bangladesh started gingerly, losing Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman in the first 3.2 overs. Soumya edged Chase's short ball, which was moving away from his off stump, while Sabbir was struck on his arm first ball before deciding that an ultra-aggressive shot was needed to break the shackles. The attempted slog over midwicket duly ended up in third man's grasp and Chase had struck twice in quick succession.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim then added 38 for the third wicket, but the former drove at and edged a Barry McCarthy good-length delivery to the slip fielder in the 12th over.

Shakib Al Hasan, standing in as captain for the suspended Mashrafe Mortaza, also looked uncomfortable tackling such a pitch. Even as he looked to get his timing right, Chase got him on 14 with a wide delivery.

Like Tamim, Mahmudullah generally played the ball quite late, making sure he used the depth of the crease. Both batsmen left the ball regularly, whenever a delivery's line and length made it risky to drive through off.

But the Ireland bowlers kept feeding them boundary balls and wide deliveries (they bowled 13 in the first 20 overs), which meant that the pressure on the pair wasn't absolute. They figured out how to deal with the green top, but the rain arrived just when they had started to dominate the home bowling attack.