Mehrab's all-round show seals crushing win

Bangladeshis 305 for 4 (Mehrab 132*, Ashraful 80) beat Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI 185 (McDermott 61, Kapali 3-22, Mehrab 3-31 ) by 120 runs
Scorecard

An all-round performance from Mehrab Hossain Jnr, which included an attacking unbeaten 132 and a three-wicket haul, helped the Bangladeshis to a comprehensive 120-run victory against Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI at the Gardens Oval. Bangladesh's batting effort was backed by solid partnerships and that helped in compiling an imposing 305, which proved way out of reach for the home side.

Bangladesh lost Junaid Siddique early, before Tamim Iqbal and Mehrab added 84 for the second wicket. Tamim hit eight fours and a six before falling to the left-arm spin of Mark Hatton for 57. Mohammad Ashraful joined Mehrab and the pair went on the attack, both scoring at over a run-a-ball. The pair crafted a match-winning stand of 158, before Ashraful fell to Trent Kelly, the right-arm seamer. His 80 came off 77 balls with ten fours and a six. Mehrab carried on till the 50th over, scoring 82 runs in boundaries alone.

Northern Territory in their reply failed to carve out substantial partnerships and had lost half their side with the score on 85. The only resistance came in the form of an 86-run stand for the sixth wicket between Stuart Johnstone and Shane McDermott but it was a little too late. McDermott counterattacked in his 61 which came off 48 balls but found little support from the rest. Mehrab, bowling his left-arm spinners, picked up 3 for 31 and Alok Kapali backed him up with another three wickets to bundle out Northern Territory in the 39th over.

The victory should come as a relief to Bangladesh after an unsatisfactory showing in the four warm-up games against Australian Institute of Sports. Bangladesh head to the first ODI against Australia on Saturday with two wins under their belt.