Yes! What a match that was. There was everything in it- suspense, twist, anti-climax, climax, thrill. It was like a classic Agatha Christie mystery. This match still made it just a little bit easy for India to qualify for the semis. Though it still is a long haul, just a little bit easy.
Batting Below Par
India batted first. Some of the top order got starts, for example Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, but none of them carried on. Hardik Pandya was a surprise at no. 5, but he did his job, that of hitting the ball out of the ground, hitting 15 runs in 7 balls, with three boundaries. The batting was a bit under par. Even Suresh Raina, the top-scorer of the Indian innings, was looking low on confidence and bite. For a change, Virat Kohli did not convert his start into a half century. India still made 146 runs on a different Chinnaswamy wicket, a par score according to Sunil Gavaskar.
The Giant-Killers Brandish Their Weaponry
Then came the Bangladeshi batting. Though opener Mithun was dismissed early by Ashwin, it was his partner that was the real threat. Having a reputation of coming good against India time and again, Tamim Iqbal went about his usual business, hitting the first ball of the innings for four because of a misfield by Jasprit Bumrah. Then sabbir Rahman and Tamim Iqbal stitched a good partnership, almost putting the game into Bangladesh’s hands. And lo and behold! Enter Sir Jadeja! He dismissed Iqbal on a ball that was delivered at such an angle and speed, one could be mistaken that the ball was coming from Lasith Malinga. Nonetheless. Dhoni just peeled the bails off, giving no time to Taim to react. Then came their star for many some millennia, the great Shakib-al-Hasan. Though just fourteen runs later, Sabbir was dismissed off a wide ball by Suresh Raina, coming on for just the one over. Here, though the credit goes to MS Dhoni for his brilliant presence of mind and observation. The moment Sabbir’s feet left the ground, and mind you, this was just for a millisecond, Dhoni touched the bails with the ball in a flash. Here, I think is where India came into the match for the first time. Here too, there were some hiccups. Bumrah dropped a lolly by Indian fielding standards, and was having kind of a hellish day on the field, both with bowling and fielding. Ashwin too, dropped one but this was comparatively difficult. Ashwin also accounted for Shakib now, getting him to edge one at slip. Mashrafe came and went. Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim were at the crease, both good batsmen. They started playing their shots, and it was looking as if India were going to lose a T20 match for the first time against Bangladesh. But it was not to be.
The Over Before The Final Over
Bumrah was given this over. He just stuck to his basics and did what he does best; bowling yorkers. The result being, of the 17 runs required off the last two overs, he gave away just six, thus putting pressure on Bangladesh.
The Final Over
The final over was bowled by Hardik Pandya. Many cricket pundits would have banished this decision and confirmed Dhoni’s removal from captaincy. Still, Pandya was a risky but necessary choice. He had given 20 runs off his first two. And here, was holding the reins of the hopes of 1.32 billion people in his hands. And, he went for 9 runs off his first three balls. 2 runs required off 3 balls. He would have gone for more, had Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah not been over-confident. They mistimed his two wide full tosses, and went straight into the hands of Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja respectively. 2 runs off 1 ball. Two new batsmen at the crease. 1 run and the match would go into the super over. Veteran Ashish Nehra and Ms Dhoni began to talk to Pandya, telling him how to best handle this pressure situation. It was feeling like the climax of an amazing action thriller. Dhoni even removed one of his keeping gloves, in anticipation of collecting and throwing the ball. Keeping all the advice given to him in mind, Pandya bowled one outside the off-stump. The batsmen just edged, it bounced, going to the keeper. The batsmen were a little slow to move. Meanwhile, Dhoni, as soon as he received the ball, sprinted towards the stumps and dislodged two of the stumps along with the bails, thus winning the match for India by a ridiculously close margin of 1 run.
The speciality of this match was that till the last over, everything was in Bangladesh’s control, until the last over changed it all. Overall, what a spectacular match it was!
The next match against Australia will decide who goes into the semifinals. If this match is not won, all work done till here will go waste. So, India, put your heart into it and let’s win this cup for India again!
Batting Below Par
India batted first. Some of the top order got starts, for example Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, but none of them carried on. Hardik Pandya was a surprise at no. 5, but he did his job, that of hitting the ball out of the ground, hitting 15 runs in 7 balls, with three boundaries. The batting was a bit under par. Even Suresh Raina, the top-scorer of the Indian innings, was looking low on confidence and bite. For a change, Virat Kohli did not convert his start into a half century. India still made 146 runs on a different Chinnaswamy wicket, a par score according to Sunil Gavaskar.
The Giant-Killers Brandish Their Weaponry
Then came the Bangladeshi batting. Though opener Mithun was dismissed early by Ashwin, it was his partner that was the real threat. Having a reputation of coming good against India time and again, Tamim Iqbal went about his usual business, hitting the first ball of the innings for four because of a misfield by Jasprit Bumrah. Then sabbir Rahman and Tamim Iqbal stitched a good partnership, almost putting the game into Bangladesh’s hands. And lo and behold! Enter Sir Jadeja! He dismissed Iqbal on a ball that was delivered at such an angle and speed, one could be mistaken that the ball was coming from Lasith Malinga. Nonetheless. Dhoni just peeled the bails off, giving no time to Taim to react. Then came their star for many some millennia, the great Shakib-al-Hasan. Though just fourteen runs later, Sabbir was dismissed off a wide ball by Suresh Raina, coming on for just the one over. Here, though the credit goes to MS Dhoni for his brilliant presence of mind and observation. The moment Sabbir’s feet left the ground, and mind you, this was just for a millisecond, Dhoni touched the bails with the ball in a flash. Here, I think is where India came into the match for the first time. Here too, there were some hiccups. Bumrah dropped a lolly by Indian fielding standards, and was having kind of a hellish day on the field, both with bowling and fielding. Ashwin too, dropped one but this was comparatively difficult. Ashwin also accounted for Shakib now, getting him to edge one at slip. Mashrafe came and went. Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim were at the crease, both good batsmen. They started playing their shots, and it was looking as if India were going to lose a T20 match for the first time against Bangladesh. But it was not to be.
The Over Before The Final Over
Bumrah was given this over. He just stuck to his basics and did what he does best; bowling yorkers. The result being, of the 17 runs required off the last two overs, he gave away just six, thus putting pressure on Bangladesh.
The Final Over
The final over was bowled by Hardik Pandya. Many cricket pundits would have banished this decision and confirmed Dhoni’s removal from captaincy. Still, Pandya was a risky but necessary choice. He had given 20 runs off his first two. And here, was holding the reins of the hopes of 1.32 billion people in his hands. And, he went for 9 runs off his first three balls. 2 runs required off 3 balls. He would have gone for more, had Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah not been over-confident. They mistimed his two wide full tosses, and went straight into the hands of Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja respectively. 2 runs off 1 ball. Two new batsmen at the crease. 1 run and the match would go into the super over. Veteran Ashish Nehra and Ms Dhoni began to talk to Pandya, telling him how to best handle this pressure situation. It was feeling like the climax of an amazing action thriller. Dhoni even removed one of his keeping gloves, in anticipation of collecting and throwing the ball. Keeping all the advice given to him in mind, Pandya bowled one outside the off-stump. The batsmen just edged, it bounced, going to the keeper. The batsmen were a little slow to move. Meanwhile, Dhoni, as soon as he received the ball, sprinted towards the stumps and dislodged two of the stumps along with the bails, thus winning the match for India by a ridiculously close margin of 1 run.
The speciality of this match was that till the last over, everything was in Bangladesh’s control, until the last over changed it all. Overall, what a spectacular match it was!
The next match against Australia will decide who goes into the semifinals. If this match is not won, all work done till here will go waste. So, India, put your heart into it and let’s win this cup for India again!
No comments:
Post a Comment