Zimbabwe's hearts were broken, mended and then broken again after a technicality gifted them a second shot at victory on the final ball of their Super 12 match against Bangladesh in Brisbane on Sunday, October 30. Chasing 16 runs in the final over, They almost reached the target of 151, but the final two balls saw a lot of drama after wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan was adjudged to have caught the ball in front of the wicket before stumping Blessing Muzarabani on the last ball of the match.
Zimbabwe was awarded a no-ball, and another chance to fight for victory, now with four runs needed to cause yet another upset. But it was not meant to be, with Mosaddek Hossain ensuring yet another dead ball as Bangladesh won their second of three matches in the Super 12.
Zimbabwe were never in control of their batting innings but still put up a strong fight in search of a much-needed victory. Their top order only managed to score 20 runs between themselves, before Sean Williams took control of the innings.
The veteran batter scored 64 runs off 42 balls, with eight fours and no sixes to his name. He kept the Chevrons in the game till the very end but was eventually run out by Shakib al Hasan with a brilliant move that changed the tide of the match.
Final over-final ball drama
In the final over, with 16 runs needed for the win, the skipper Shakib chose to bowl Mosaddek Hossain despite the ineptitude of the spinners, and the spinner responded with the wicket of Brad Evans in the second ball. However, they conceded 10 runs in the next two (four leg-byes and a six), with pacer Richard Ngarava displaying his abilities with the bat.
Hossain then stuck in the penultimate ball to send Ngarava back to the pavilion after he was stumped by Nurul.
In the very next ball and with five runs needed for a Zimbabwean win, Mosaddek thought he bagged his third of the match but it was not to be. The Bangladeshi wicketkeeper did stump the batter but he was adjudged to have collected it before the stumps, meaning the last ball was in fact, a no-ball!
The players were back in their dugouts when the decision was made by the third umpire and with Blessing Muzarabani on strike, Mosaddek now had to defend four runs off the last ball, with a free hit to Zimbabwe's advantage as well. But the 26-year-old did well to spin weaves around Muzarabani and got another dot ball to finally confirm a victory for Bangladesh.
Bangla's batting woes continue
Earlier, Bangladesh rode on a maiden half-century in the shortest format for opener Najmul Hossain Shanto as they posted a competitive 150 for 7 against Zimbabwe. Shanto smashed seven fours and one maximum in his 55-ball 71-run knock. He forged a 54-run stand with skipper Shakib Al Hasan (23 off 20) before adding another 36 runs with Afif Hossain (29 off 19).
Opting to bat, Bangladesh were down to 32 for 2 in the powerplay with Muzarabani bagging the wickets of Soumya Sarkar (0) and Litton Das (14 off 12) in his opening spell.
Shanto and Shakib then rebuilt the innings with a 54-run stand that came off 44 balls. But Zimbabwe took a gamble by introducing left-arm spinner Sean Williams into the attack and it paid off as he got rid of Shakib, who top-edged a slog-sweep and was caught by a diving Muzarabani. Shanto, however, continued to dominate as he completed his fifty in the 13th over with a single.
In the last over, Bangladesh lost three wickets.
