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Battling Zimbabwe fall short as Bangladesh win in chaotic final-over finish
Mosaddek Hossain held his nerve, twice in the space of one legal delivery in a chaotic finish, for Bangladesh to earn a three-run win against Zimbabwe, whose semi-final hopes have now been dented.Zimbabwe needed 16 from the final over, and after Mosaddek got rid of Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava got a leg-bye four and slammed a huge six over fine-leg to give them a chance. With five required in two balls, Mosaddek had a charging Ngarava stumped, bringing Blessing Muzarabani to middle, and he had to hit the ball to the boundary. But Mosaddek beat his big swing and he was stumped off the last ball.Or so everyone thought. But wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan had collected the ball in front of the stumps, which became a no-ball, and a free hit.
The players had left the ground, the broadcasters had started setting up for the presentation ceremony, but they had to go out and the players had to come back for one more tilt. But Muzarabani missed the last-last ball too, and the show was over.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan’s gamble of using his fast bowlers – Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud – in the 16th, 17th and 18th overs paid off, only just. They combined to concede 30 runs, Shakib himself bowled well in the penultimate over, giving away ten runs and pulling off a sensational run-out, of top-scorer Sean Williams, and Mosaddek had just about enough to defend. He did well, keeping Ryan Burl off strike completely. Though Burl might rue not being a bit more aggressive earlier, his unbeaten 27 off 25 balls a somewhat dour effort in the circumstances.
In the first half, too, Zimbabwe fell short. Muzarabani bowled just two overs and picked up two wickets, and the catching was poor.
Najmul Hossain Shanto took advantage with his maiden T20I fifty, and his first T20 half-century in 25 innings. His 71 got Bangladesh to a fighting 150 for 7 before Taskin and Mustafizur blew away Zimbabwe’s top order in the powerplay.Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman picked up two wickets each in the powerplay
Taskin, Mustafizur have a ball
Taskin gave Bangladesh early breakthroughs for the third game in a row. Wessly Madhevere played a poor shot to a wide short ball, and was caught at deep third by Mustafizur, who nearly spilled the chance with a reverse cup around his chest. In his next over, Taskin tested Craig Ervine with a slightly wide one again, with the Zimbabwe captain nicked to Nurul.
Mustafizur, under fire before the tournament, then gave Bangladesh further cause for joy. In his first over – the last one in the powerplay – he had Milton Shumba caught at mid-off, where Shakib took a sharp catch. The bigger blow came three balls later when Sikandar Raza, the big man for Zimbabwe, top-edged a pull. Afif Hossain took the catch, and the celebrations proved how big the moment was for Bangladesh. Zimbabwe were 35 for 4 in the powerplay and very much on the back foot.
Williams takes it deep
After Raza’s dismissal, it was down to the three frontline batters left – Williams, Regis Chakabva and Burl – with Williams the main man.Williams kept things ticking over in his own way, nurdling, pushing and prodding the ball around for ones and twos. He added 34 runs for the fifth wicket with Chakabva, who made 15 off 19 balls. After the returning Taskin removed Chakabva, Bangladesh had an immediate chance when Burl top-edged to deep fine-leg, but Mahmud dropped the sitter. Burl was on four, and the ball went over for his first six.
Zimbabwe, however, couldn’t quite get the acceleration going, and that hurt them in the end. As did their mistakes in the first half.Blessing Muzarabani picked up both the Bangladesh wickets to fall in the powerplay•Getty Images
Muzarabani hurts Bangladesh
Zimbabwe’s tall fast bowlers were always going to be a handful for Bangladesh, especially with the new ball in operation. Muzarabani got cracking in the second over, when he had Soumya Sarkar caught behind for a duck. The delivery wasn’t high pace, but the full length and wide line beat Soumya.
(cricinfo)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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