Cricket international spurs community game

Couple Asuma and David Bainbridge-Zafar were in different camps when it came to whom to support...
Couple Asuma and David Bainbridge-Zafar were in different camps when it came to whom to support in the Dunedin City Council versus Dunedin Bangladesh Community cricket match yesterday. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
Dunedin's Bangladesh community redeemed their sporting honour yesterday.

After a horror day at the University Oval for their national team on Saturday, members of the local Bangladesh community faced off against a Dunedin City Council team in a friendly cricket clash.

And a rematch is already being discussed, with potential for it to become an annual event.

Event organiser and council property services group manager David Bainbridge-Zafar said the match was held to celebrate the Bangladesh-New Zealand game.

He was confident his team would win, but his wife, Asuma Bainbridge-Zafar, said she was firmly supporting the Dunedin Bangladesh Community (or DBC, as they called themselves).

"He won last time, so I need to support them to balance it out," she said.

The friendly match was the second such game. The first was held in February 2019 when the two national sides last played in New Zealand.

The council team won the original game, and its victory was engraved on a small trophy.

This time, however, the DBC secured a comfortable win, earning its spot on the trophy.

Mr Bainbridge-Zafar said the game was played in good fun, and they kept the event friendly.

Members of the council team included transport engineers, finance workers, and staff from the IT department.

Bangladesh community team member and University of Otago Associate Prof Azam Ali said the game was a real community event and everyone who attended was very enthusiastic.

The game brought out a wide variety of people from the Bangladeshi community, he said.

A selection of Bangladeshi food was available for to buy during the match, including gulab jamun, jhal muri, and samosas.

The event was so successful that discussions about creating an annual game had already begun, Prof Ali said.

wyatt.ryder@odt.co.nz

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