The Bangla Tigers or the underdogs of World Cricket, has been overshadowed since their 1st time appearance in 1999 ICC World Cup. But in last few years the team has reformed itself, presenting a much worthier competition. Such a match took place when Bangladesh took on the defending champions Australia in the current ICC World Cup. From the very start of this year’s World Cup, Bangladesh has been steadily going forward and let their game do all the talking. However, Australia did survive the scare, but the contest put forth and the ‘never give up’ attitude of Bangladeshi players with a zeal to shed the ‘underdog’ tag, was indeed sensational.
Australia got off to a slow start with the bat after winning the toss and Bangladeshi bowlers were continuously attacking the Aussies with their variations. However, no wickets fell until 20 overs, by which point both openers were looking dangerous and Soumya Sarkar manages a breakthrough as captain Aaron Finch (53 out; 51b; 5X4, 2X6) falls prey to his spells. Ushman Khawaja (89 out; 72b; 10X4) along with David Warner (166 out; 147b; 14X4, 5X6) did all the damage they could. While Warner started slow and only paced up his chase later in the innings showering 166 runs from just 147 balls; Khawaja started with some strong hits, and with that, they boosted the total past the 300 mark and again, Soumya Sarkar puts a stop to Warner’s further damage. Glenn Maxwell (32 run out; 10b; 2X4, 3X6) also gave his usual blitzkrieg cameo to add more in little time before Rubel Hossein takes the perfect opportunity to direct hit and get Maxwell back to the dugout. With Stoinis and Khawaja at crease Soumya strikes again and dismisses a dangerous Khawaja. With contributions from 2 more batsmen, Australia registered 381 runs on board with the loss of 5-wickets.
In the second innings, Bangladesh gave another tremendous performance with the bat often scaring the Aussies, similar to what they did in their previous match against the Windies. Openers, Tamim Iqbal (62 out; 74b; 6X4) and Soumya Sarkar (10 out; 8b; 2X4) went on with a good start, with Soumya accelerating the run rate just when in a mix-up between the batsmen’s, Aaron Finch strikes the wicket as Soumya was well off the crease. Keeping in mind the heroics of previous match, the star player Shakib-Al-Hasan (41 out; 41b; 4X4) was send to take control of the situation but with singles the run rate leapt up. After Shakib’s departure without any heroics this time, Mushtafiqur Rahim became the hope Bangladesh needed in a match against the dominant Aussies. Rahim got a little helping hand when Mahmudullah partnered with him to put 127 runs on board, after which under the crumbling pressure of run rate, Mahmudullah (69 out; 50b; 5X4, 3X6) hits the ball by Nathan Coulter-Nile to the fielder and the celebrations for Australia weren’t over as Nathan strikes in the next ball dismissing Sabbir Rahman to regain dominance for Aussies. Mushtafiqur Rahim (102 not out; 97b; 9X4, 1X6) went on to bat till the end contributing his 1st World Cup century & Bangladesh’s highest total at this format but fell short in the chase by 48 runs. Bangladesh players coming out and taking the center stage and lead their team has been a rare scenario but this team has been putting forth not just their best but an inspiration for the coming generations as well which makes the game all the more important.
