TERRIFIC TEEN: Dynamic Bangladeshi opener, Tamim Iqbal, spanking this delivery off New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond through mid-off for four.

By PHILIP SPOONER

THERE IS A SMALL, little Bangladeshi who is about to take the world by storm.

He's Tamim Iqbal, an old-fashioned shotgun left-hander, who gave the New Zealand bowling attack a good lashing at the 3Ws Oval. Tamim says
he's fearless and has one thing in mind when he goes to the crease – runs.

He's just 17 years old, but on Tuesday he looked straight into the face of some grown men and spanked them.

Bold on the field

Reporters rushed to the Internet to get details on him, and at the post-match news conference he was just as bold as he was on the field.

"I was not facing the name. I was facing the ball," responded Tamim to the question, whether or not he feared Shane Bond, one of the fastest men
in the world.

Tamim's contribution was 46 off 48 balls as the Asian Tigers made 230 for eight in reply to New Zealand's 226 all out. The other bright spark was all-rounder Mashrafee Mortaza, the exciting 23-year-old bowling allrounder, who hit three towering sixes to clinch the win.

"I came to the World Cup with my mind made up. I told myself I have to be strong and brave and put. My goal is to play my natural game?" said Tamim who hails from Chittagong.

"I just have to play my natural game and do what I know I can do."

With the victory, the Bangladeshis have now indicated they are no pushovers. Today they meet Scotland at the 3Ws Oval in a match they are expected to dominate.

Positive cricket

Fans will be flocking to the 3Ws Oval today to have another look at the emerging talents.

"We will do one thing, that is play positive cricket," said skipper Habibul Bashar.

"Before we came here for the World Cup nobody gave us a chance. That's fine for people to say, but we are looking at getting to the second round. With Tamim and Mortaza playing so well, this is a great boost for the World Cup. Their contributions were brilliant."

TEAMS

Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Sakib-al-Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafee Mortaza, Tapash Baishya, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Russel, Rajin Saleh, Javed Omar; Dav Whatmore (coach)

Scotland: Craig Wright (captain), John Blain, Dougie Brown, Gavin Hamilton, Majid Haq, Paul Hoffmann, Douglas Lockhart, Ross Lyons, Neil McCallum, Dewald Nel, Navdeep Poonia, Glenn Rogers, Colin Smith, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts; Euan McIntyre (manager), Paul Drinnen (coach)