‘I’m hoping for upsets’

Three sixes off three successive balls, two of them hooked off bouncers delivered by a genuinely fast bowler. 15 minutes later, the score read 305 for three after 40 overs. Nine balls later, a total of 321 was chased down in just 41.3 overs. The batting team were none of England, India or Australia. In a performance that consummately upended perceptions, Bangladesh beat West Indies by seven wickets playing a style of cricket that has not been associated with the Tigers. The second-highest successful chase in World Cup history brought the Tigers’ campaign roaring back to life at the County Ground in Taunton yesterday in the presence of a delighted, sloganeering crowd of Bangladeshi expatriates.

The style of play may have been a surprise, but the man spearheading the win was not. As Liton Das swivel-pulled the last of a plethora of bouncers to the square leg fence, Shakib Al Hasan crossed over to the striker’s end and, with a fist-pump and a smile, calmly uprooted the stumps much like he had extracted the sting from a stubbornly aggressive West Indies attack over the past three hours. He had to put it back because, as he said later, ‘they do not let you keep the zinc bails’, but there was no going back from the notion that Bangladesh had served further notice of their prowess.

Shakib regained top spot in the 2019 World Cup run charts with his second successive ton -- yesterday’s unbeaten 99-ball 124 following the 121 he struck against England on June 8 -- but more importantly, helped lift Bangladesh to fifth in the 10-team World Cup table. Liton, replacing Mohammad Mithun in the eleven as Bangladesh’s first change of the campaign, marked his World Cup debut by showcasing his destructive elegance to the full. His utter ease against high pace, as illustrated by those three sixes off Shannon Gabriel in the 38th over. The right-hander finished on an unbeaten 94 off 69 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes.

The pair put on an unbroken 189-run fourth-wicket stand in just 22.3 overs after Mushfiqur Rahim was out in the 19th over, nicking down the leg side off Oshane Thomas.

At that point, West Indies may have breathed a sigh of relief because they appeared shell-shocked up to that point as first Soumya Sarkar (29 off 23 balls), then Tamim Iqbal and Shakib kept dispatching their bouncers -- which they would not stop bowling -- with ease. While historically Bangladesh have been uncomfortable against the fast, short ball, they have not looked so in this tournament as they dealt with South Africa, New Zealand and England pacers pretty comfortably. However, they have rarely attacked it with as much authority as they did yesterday.

Tamim was on 16 off 27 when Soumya departed, guiding a bouncer to slip after he had hit the previous one for six over point off Russell, and in Shakib’s company Tamim started attacking more -- cutting and pulling West Indies skipper Jason Holder for four in the 10th over. A forceful back-foot cut through the covers off Gabriel showed that Tamim was regaining some form, but he was unlucky to be dismissed for a 53-ball 48 by a brilliant piece of fielding from Sheldon Cottrell, who fielded a straight drive off his own bowling and threw down the stumps at the striker’s end with a diving Tamim found just short.

But the real show started when most Bangladesh fans would have started despairing -- when Mushfiqur walked back dejectedly with the score on 133 for two. Shakib, who had been unrelenting with his assault on the short balls from West Indies’ all-pace attack, carried on in his vein as West Indies also helped with a predictable line of attack.

“They had two areas -- either full or short,” Shakib said after the match.

When he was not employing the short-arm pulls to the square leg or fine leg fence, he was fetching bouncers from outside off stump to the boundary in front of square on the leg side. He displayed his full complement of cut shots, for which no captain has yet been able to set a field when Shakib is in form, and he has been in this World Cup. When West Indies over-pitched, Shakib pummelled them over the top or along the ground straight back past the bowler. He was lucky when on 55 as a top-edged pull landed safely between Gabriel at fine leg and the backpedalling wicketkeeper Shai Hope.

Liton was an equal partner as, after a watchful initial period, he started to unfurl his wide array of strokes, mixing adventure with the class those who saw his century in the Asia Cup final would be well acquainted with.

Earlier, at the halfway stage, West Indies’ 321 for eight appeared to be a good total, especially after they were 159 for three in the 33rd over. Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, under fire because of his iffy form in the first three matches, had gotten things off on the right foot for Bangladesh with a maiden to start off against Chris Gayle, who was also tied down by Mohammad Saifuddin at the other end before surrendering his wicket to the young pacer. Mashrafe ended his opening spell wicketless, but only having given 24 runs off seven overs.

After a 116-run second-wicket stand between Hope and Evin Lewis, it was Shakib who broke through by getting Lewis caught at long off for 70, and then dismissed Nicholas Pooran in the 33rd over. However, Shimron Hetmyer took advantage of poor bowling from Mustafizur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Mosaddek Hossain to erect a 83-run partnership in just 7.2 overs with Hope. Mustafizur, however, redeemed himself by claiming the wickets of both Hetmyer for a 26-ball 50 and Andre Russell in the 40th over, after which Bangladesh pulled things back.

It later turned out that they did not need to as it deprived Taunton’s Bangladeshi faithful -- of which there will be more after yesterday -- a chance to see some more overs of fine, attacking batting from the Tigers.

So far, Bangladesh have featured in five World Cups with the 1999 edition being the Tigers' first ever appearance at the quadrennial mega event. From being happy to simply participate in a World Cup to having the ambition to knockout whichever opposition they face, Bangladesh have undergone huge changes in mentality over the years and grown as a team. With the 2019 World Cup soon to get underway, the The Daily Star's Nabid Yeasin outlined the highlights of the five editions that the Tigers' have featured in below.

1999: The entire nation's dreams came true when Aminul Islam stepped onto the County Ground in Chelmsford for the coin toss alongside Stephen Fleming of New Zealand in what was Bangladesh's maiden World Cup match. Given that Bangladesh were happy to just participate in the tournament, the two wins they secured not only provided a huge confidence boost but also pushed forward the country's cricketing journey. In that edition, Bangladesh registered their first ever World Cup win against Scotland, who have never been considered as a powerhouse of the sport. The Tigers then shocked the world when they convincingly defeated a full strength Pakistan by 62 runs to end their campaign on a high note. It was also Bangladesh's first win against a Test playing nation, which made things easier when the side requested Test status later on.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Ashraful led the Tigers’ victory over India in Trinidad in 2007 Photo: star file

2003: Till date, the 2003 World Cup remains to be the Tigers' most abysmal campaign. So much so in fact that even the players who were a part of the squad fail to recall any good memories of that edition. Perhaps though the words of Habibul Bashar, for whom it was the first time featuring at the World Cup, provides a glimpse of how much the Tiger's suffered. "Whenever I think about that World Cup, I can only recall bad memories," said Bashar, who is currently a national selector. While the big margin defeats against Sri Lanka (10 wickets), South Africa (10 wickets) and New Zealand (seven wickets) could somehow be acceptable given Bangladesh's strength at the time, the 60-run defeat against Canada and the 32-run loss against Kenya showed that changes needed to be made to the team.

While Rubel Hossain spearheaderd their 2015 victory over England in Adelaide. Photo: star file

2007: It could be said that the 'fearless' version of the Tigers first appeared when Habibul Bashar led Bangladesh to a five-wicket win over India at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad. According to players and experts alike, the Tigers' displayed their best ever cricket at the 2007 edition. In that match, Bangladesh became a team that no longer relied on the opposition's mistakes but rather created their own chances when an 18-year-old Tamim Iqbal went down the track to hit Zaheer Khan -- one of the most feared and experienced pacers at the time -- for a huge six over midwicket. To knock India out in the group stage and make their way to the Super Eight for the first time, following a victory over the mighty South Africa by 67 runs no less, Bangladesh had turned into a force to be reckoned with.

2011: With Bangladesh co-hosting the tournament, the 2011 World Cup was expected to see the Tigers create some memories they could cherish for a long time. However, it was not to be as the they ended up making some memories they would really rather forget. Bangladesh were bundled out for 58 -- their lowest ever total in a World Cup -- against West Indies and capitulated for 78 runs -- their second lowest at the tournament -- against South Africa soon after. Although the Tigers did secure a two-wicket victory over England, the feat could not mask all the disappointments of that edition of the World Cup.

2015: When Rubel Hossain knocked the stumps off England right-arm quick James Anderson at the Adelaide Oval, Bangladesh had not only just registered a 15-run victory but also knocked the Three Lions out of the tournament as they marched towards their first ever quarterfinal in the World Cup. Result-wise, that edition of the World Cup remains to be the best one for the Tigers so far. Bangladesh had started that edition by defeating Afghanistan, who were playing in their first World Cup, by a whopping 105 runs. However, while a 109-run defeat against India in the quarterfinal was not what fans expected after such a brilliant tournament, Bangladesh had to remain content with such an end.

The gloomy weather yesterday in Cardiff, where it rained heavily until late afternoon, did no favours to Bangladesh ahead of today's World Cup match against World Cup favourites and hosts England.

Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun and Mosaddek Hossain were all restricted to indoor practice while the rest of the team opted to take a break from practice because they could not train outdoors. For a team that places great importance on momentum, it was not the ideal preparation for perhaps the toughest examination of their campaign, especially as they are coming off a loss against New Zealand in their last match.

The defeat threw light on the less-than-ideal form of some important players, and skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza included himself and star opener Tamim Iqbal in that category. Mashrafe has conceded 81 runs from 11 wicketless overs in the two matches so far, while Tamim has scored just 40 runs from 67 balls after getting starts against both South Africa and New Zealand -- uncharacteristic for a player who has been known for cashing in on good starts for the past four years.

"We are in the middle of the tournament now, so it is not as if we can change a lot through practice," Mashrafe told reporters yesterday. "But for some players, practice sessions are very important. If you talk about me, then obviously today practice was very important to top up certain things that are not happening for me on the field. Tamim is feeling the same. In that regard, I think we have been a little unlucky. For some of us the practice session was important, to get used to the wind, not being able to do which may not be a positive sign for us. But you can't do anything about the weather; we have to try to keep our confidence levels high."

Mushfiqur is one of those in form, but he has been a target of criticism for letting off Kane Williamson in the two-wicket loss against New Zealand, when he disturbed the bails with his elbow and negated a sure run-out at a crucial juncture.

"I think Mushfiqur is completely okay, and there is no reason not to be normal," said Mashrafe when asked about Mushfiqur's state after a social media barrage against the keeper. "And of course, there will be criticism surrounding those who are working. It is easy to do that. The team is supporting each other. It is normal, the people who are talking about it are the ones not able to take it normally."