Despite a last-minute scare, Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by three runs on Sunday at the ongoing T20 World Cup in Brisbane. A no-ball came to the fore at the last moment, which could have cost the Tigers the match.
But Mosaddek Hossain, who bowled the last over, held his nerve well, and delivered a dot that earned Bangladesh a win - second at the T20 World Cup 2022, reports UNB.
After the match, Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, said that Mosaddek told him he is "strong enough" to manage a dot in the last ball.
The no-ball was not Mosaddek's fault at all. It was Nurul Hasan, the wicketkeeper, who grabbed the last ball of the 20th over from in front of the stump - a clear violation of the cricketing rule.
A wicketkeeper is bound to grab the ball from behind the stump. If a keeper violates this rule, the delivery is a no-ball, and this is exactly what happened in today's match in Brisbane.
Zimbabwe needed 16 runs off the last over to seal the game. Mosaddek conceded one run off the first ball and scalped the wicket of Brad Evans on the second ball. The third and fourth deliveries were hit for four and six respectively by Richard Ngarava. Zimbabwe got close to sealing the match.
But off the fifth ball, Nurul did a wonderful job when Ngarava stepped up aiming a big shot and missed the ball. Nurul grabbed the ball and shattered his stumps in the blink of an eye.
At this point, Shakib warned Nurul about grabbing the ball from in front of the stumps. The TV replays showed that he grabbed the ball nearly from in front of the stumps. Shakib said he warned Nurul so that he doesn't repeat it on the next delivery.
Nurul, however, forgot the pointer in the last ball (which was actually the sixth delivery) and grabbed the ball from in front of the stumps when Blessing Muzarabani missed it. Bangladesh broke into celebration before the umpires declared the sixth delivery a no-ball!
At that point, Zimbabwe's target came down to four runs off a single delivery. Bangladesh were on the verge of an unexpected defeat. A bad delivery from Mosaddek or a good shot from Muzarabani could have written the story of the match in a different way.
Mosaddek held his nerve well, very well. He delivered a full-ish delivery. Nurul, this time, picked it from behind the stumps and that's it!
Bangladesh won the match by three runs in the midst of chaos and drama.
It was the first time when Bangladesh took on their familiar foe Zimbabwe in a World Cup encounter and they managed to win.
Ahead of all-important matches against subcontinental opponents Pakistan and India, this will surely boost the confidence of Shakib and his troops.0
