Letters
7 years ago

Victory extraordinaire

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IT was a must win situation for both New Zealand and Bangladesh. But suddenly all seemed lost when Bangladesh had lost their top order by the 12th over and looked thrown out of the tournament. But that was as far as New Zealand's success went. For the umpteenth time, Shakib confirmed his status as the ace all-rounder in the world with an absorbing hundred at almost run-a-ball. He was closely followed by Mahmudullah who hit another hundred. Together they put up a stand that went past the 178-run Tamim Iqbal-Mushfiqur Rahim stand against Pakistan in 2015. It was Shakib's seventh ODI hundred, and by the time his stumps were unsettled, Bangladesh were just nine runs short of victory. 
Tim Southee and Boult bowled brilliantly to give New Zealand a dream start with the ball after their last 10 overs with the bat produced a difficult spell. Boult produced plenty of late movement while Southee made the inroads - he removed Tamim, Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar in his first three overs.
Tamim was trapped lbw in the first over, while Sabbir nicked a late outswinger with the score on 10. Soumya was undone by another delivery that skidded in sharply. It was Mushfiqur's birthday when he got hit on the fingers and was also dropped by Ross Taylor at slip on four, before Adam Milne's thunderbolt blew out his middle stump in the 12th over.
All seemed lost at this point. But Shakib and Mahmudullah had other ideas. Neither knows defensive cricket too well, and they duly launched a counterattack in the 13th over. Mahmudullah batted at No. 6 again, on Friday, but his task was like nothing he might have expected. Chasing 266, Bangladesh had slipped to 33 for 4 in 11.4 overs, and were struggling to score or survive against the pace and swing of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Adam Milne. It was a situation that called for a calm head and the ability to play the ball late. Mahmudullah possessed both and brought out some audacious shots, blasting Neesham over midwicket for a big six and following up with a dinky pull next ball. Not long after, he ramped Corey Anderson.
Shakib brought up his fifty and the century partnership in the 29th over with one of his singles to the third man. Mahmudullah reached his fifty in the 31st over before lifting Kane Williamson over long-on for a six. There was a brief lull after the equation was down to 70 off the last 10 overs, but Shakib and Mahmudullah produced some deft cricket to bring the asking rate down to below a run a ball and the first-ever pair to have a 200-run partnership in an ODI.
The winning moment came when Mosaddek Hossain, Bangladesh's hero with the ball, flashed a boundary through third man off Milne. 
Navil Adnan
Dhanmondi, Dhaka

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