Skip to main content

Fantain's Take: BAN Vs NZ

By
Bangladesh Beat New Zealand. Only a handful of people, apart from die-hard fans of Bangladesh, would have anticipated this result. The feeling is just beyond fantastic. This is also a rude wake-up call for New Zealand. A reality check of sorts. Bangladesh was easily the better team on the day that mattered in the first round.
So what happened? A summary. Bangladesh walked in to bat with a target of 266. That is a good number for any team to score. And then, in the very first over, second ball, Tamim was out. For a duck. Bangladesh barely got over the first loss when Rahman was caught. 10/2. Things looked bad. There were good shots hit in between yes, but the loss of early wickets always have an impact on the batsmen that follow. The morale takes a hit. When Soumya Sarkar, who came in with the burden of his nation, was out in the fifth over; I’m sure many began to call it.

But then, it’s not over until the fat lady sings. After the fall of Mushfiqur Rahim, the turn of events was radical. Shakib and Mahmudullah played a steady game. The shots were not just good, they were smashing. Soon, the final ten overs needed 70 runs win. Considering the early losses, Bangladesh were in a very good place indeed. With a double hundred partnership, the duo paved the road to an astonishing victory. By the time Shakib was out for 114, his team needed just 9 runs from 21 balls. It was just a matter of time.
Bangladesh won by five wickets with 16 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh had a good start with four dot balls on the trot. NZ had just one run on the board after the first over. After that delayed start for both the match as well as NZ, the runs on the board increased in leaps and bounds. The bowling was not bad at all. Wickets did fall at regular intervals. The Kiwis finished with a total of 265, with major contributions from Williamson (57) and Ross Taylor (63). The rest of the batting collapsed.

Something they have been consistent about.
Brilliant hundreds from Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah ensured a win for Bangladesh. It does not matter how many tournaments you have won. The team that plays better on the D-day will always win.

Indu 



Reactions:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India-NZ. As it happened.

By
And the series is leveled. Well. We saw the ODI series level. The third and final match was more than a blast. Despite having a ton of runs on the scoreboard, the match and the series could have gone either way. That was the best part of it. Course it was a world of entertainment for all cricket fans. Honestly even a third party not emotionally vested in the two teams could watch and appreciate the demonstration of fine cricket. Now the T20 series is looking the same way. India won the first match and NZ came back strong and hard in the second match. The match deciding the fate of the tournament is on 7th November. Boy are we interested or what. Let’s see what happened in the second match now.

New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat. A supreme not out 58 ball 109 runs by Colin Munro took New Zealand to the path of destruction. I mean look at the strike rate - 187.93. That is a mind blowing number. The other batsmen didn’t do that bad either. Martin Guptil’s 45 runs from 41 deliver…
Post a Comment
Read more

Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans - Post Match Blog.

By
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Ain't it true. Newcomers Sultans thrash Peshawar Zalmi by 7 wickets in PSL 2018 opener sending shockwaves through the league. Being a defending champion did take a toll on Peshawar Zalmi. Not easy walking into a tournament with everyone looking at you assuming you will win.


When the Sultans came in to bat, they had an early upset when they lost the opener for a duck. With a target of 152, it took the experienced Kumara Sangakkara to set the ship on course towards the target. He was calm and composed as he has been throughout his international career. Singles and doubles. And planned boundaries. By the time he was out, caught behind, the team was fairly stable. Shoaib Malik’s captain knock along with Kieron Pollard finished the match in style.
Earlier in the day, Peshawar Zalmi came in to bat. Apart from Mohammad Hafeez’s 59, with twenty-something runs from Dwayne Smith and Darren Sammy; the rest of the batsmen barely contributed. Like I s…
Post a Comment
Read more