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Bangladesh brutalised

Northants (279-5) bt Bangladesh (235) by 44 runs

Bangladesh's disappointment at not being able to face a resting Devon Malcolm, the kind of pace bowler they rarely meet, deepened when, chasing a target rather than setting, they were badly found out for the first time.

Northamptonshire proved cavalier, even rustic, but benefited from the uninhibited strokeplay they would not have attempted in less carnival-like contexts.

They effectively took the game by hammering 88 runs in an onslaught over the eight final overs. Bangladesh's inexperience, their fielding some 15 years behind the international norm, was brutally exposed by Kevin Curran and Kevin Innes, both unbeaten.

Curren, 40 in September, reached 57 in 39 balls. Innes, the young all-rounder set to assume his one-day mantle, made 42 from 31.

With their two slow left-armers this time unable to dictate terms, Bangladesh found Mal Loye earlier roaring to 62 and David Sales to 50. Minazul Abedin's slow medium proved tightest and may be crucial on pitches further north and west.

Despite three dropped catches, two of them sitters, and an initial barrage which posted 54 in the first 62 balls, Bangladesh were never in it once the openers had fallen to Innes. Khaled Mahmud hit four sixes in his 21-ball 40 but the game, prolonged later by occasional bowlers, had already long gone.