Bangladesh battled to the very end to secure a hard-fought three-run victory over a spirited Zimbabwe team in Brisbane on Sunday, October 30, in what was a topsy-turvy match of the 2022 T20 World Cup Super 12 stage. Leading their bowling in the match, and this tournament, was pacer Taskin Ahmed, who bagged three wickets for 19 runs and an economy rate of 4.75.
The match kept with the tradition of this tournament of thrillers, with controversy on the last ball delaying Bangladesh's celebration for a few minutes. Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan stumped Blessing Muzarabani but Nurul 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 Muzarabani on strike, Mosaddek
Hossain, defending 16 in the last over, and five on the last ball, now had to defend four runs, 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.
Sharing his thoughts after the game, Taskin said, "We were nervous in the middle after that last ball (no-ball). I've never seen something like that for the first time."
The right-arm pacer, who was also adjudged as the Player of the Match, went on to say that he is focused on constantly improving himself, and gets great support from bowling coach Allan Donald.
"Just focusing on improving and giving my best. Back home we play on slow wickets, and here we get early movement and help off the track as well. Got a good bunch of fast bowling groups, we support each other and work hard to improve ourselves. We get great support from our bowling coach (Allan Donald) and all the other support staff. We got a good group and hopefully improve more," Ahmed added.
Match recap:
Zimbabwe almost moved to the top of the table (for a brief period) if they managed to beat Bangladesh but it was not meant to be. Opener Najmul Hossain Shanto single-handedly powered Bangladesh to a competitive 150 for 7. And for Zimbabwe, Sean Williams conjured up a magnificent 42-ball 64-run innings to revive the chase. He was dismissed in the 19th over, leaving Zimbabwe to get 16 in the last six balls.
