Battling Zimbabwe fall short as Bangladesh win in chaotic final-over finish
Zimbabwe wound up at the less than desirable finish of a last over thriller this time around as their semifinal hopes were marked by Bangladesh on Sunday (October 30) in Brisbane. The last over saw show like never seen before as a nervy Bangladesh outfit needed to get back to the field after assuming they had closed out the game in their favour. At last, their victory was confirmed after Mosaddek Hossain bowled a dot ball and his side enrolled a 3-run win.
For what reason did they need to return?
To give some unique circumstance, Zimbabwe required 16 from the last six deliveries. They brought just a single run from the initial two balls and lost a wicket too that appeared to completely shift the balance towards Bangladesh. However, Richard Ngarava came out swinging and found some luck with the first ball racing to the boundary after hitting his pads. And the following ball was sent into the stands to stun the bowling camp as the equation came down to 5 off 2. In another bend, Ngarava ventured down the track and was out stumped forcing Blessing Muzarabani to strike a boundary off the last ball to keep away from a loss. While he missed the ball, the wicketkeeper had him stumped to finish off the success. Or at least that's what he and the rest of the people in the stadium believed. While the players shook hands and went back to their dressing rooms the on-field umpires checked with the third umpire and understood the ball was gathered before the stumps and hence the last ball was declared a no-ball. The players were then compelled to get back to the field, giving Zimbabwe another life saver. Be that as it may, sadly, Muzarabani missed again as Zimbabwe finally caved in.
What happened before in the chase?
Taskin Ahmed was in his components again with the new ball as he eliminated the openers right off the bat in the chase of 151. Milton Shumba then miscued one off Mustafizur before the key man Sikandar Raza mistimed a pull in the same over to depart for a duck. Zimbabwe lost four wickets in the powerplay to stammer in the chase and required couple of players to stand up. They found a legend as Sean Williams as he kept Zimbabwe above afloat. At the opposite end, Zimbabwe lost Regis Chakabva however his wicket came as a surprisingly good development. Ryan Burl injected some much-needed momentum into the innings and Zimbabwe required 56 from the last five overs. While Taskin and Mustafizur brought the condition down to 40 off 18, Zimbabwe were back in the chase after Williams jump started with a flurry of boundaries enroute a fighting half-century. An immediate hit from captain Shakib Al Hasan constrained the game into a last over spine chiller which the Asian side fixed in the most unlikeliest style.
Shanto stands tall
Bangladesh didn't make the best of starts either with the new ball. Muzarabani hit with the new ball as Soumya Sarkar edged an away going delivery through to the 'keeper. While Litton Das made a brilliant beginning to his innings with three boundaries, Muzarabani struck again as the batsman failed in his attempt to scoop a delivery and wound up getting a top edge. Najmul Shanto then, at that point, combined efforts with captain Shakib to revive Bangladesh. Shanto battled at first yet figured out how to bat deep into the innings to assist Bangladesh with posting a battling total.
How was the finish?
While Shakib fell at a critical point, Shanto managed to bring up his fifty off 45 deliveries. In any case, understanding the need to speed up, he took on the Zimbabwean attack to add a few vital runs towards the end. But the bowling side fought back again right at the death. Raza and Ngarava took upon the mantle of finishing things out at the death as they surrendered only 30 runs in the last four overs to hold Bangladesh to 150/7.
What's next?
Zimbabwe's hopes have been dented and now they have games against Netherlands and India left in the round. They need to win both and hope for favourable results. Bangladesh on the other hand have two wins from three games but the remaining two matches are against India and Pakistan.
Match Summary
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