All-weather Mushy drives Tigers

Bangladesh were faced with an unusual situation in their World Cup match against Afghanistan in Southampton yesterday. Having played five matches on pitches that were mostly true and had good pace, allowing for easy strokeplay, Bangladesh were given conditions much closer to Mirpur than the Ageas Bowl. Yet, when batting, perhaps because of the habits adopted over five matches, Bangladesh’s batsmen found it hard going against the Afghan spinners on a slow wicket, before their most well-rounded batsman Mushfiqur Rahim set them back on the right path.

Instead of Soumya Sarkar, the right-handed Liton Das was sent to open the innings along with Tamim Iqbal, presumably to prevent giving off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman two left-handers to bowl at. Liton was out driving early against Mujeeb, Tamim was bogged down and fell trying to force the pace. Shakib Al Hasan, the form batsman not just for Bangladesh but in the wider tournament, continued his good form with 51, but was a little slow by the lofty standards he has set himself in this edition before being adjudged leg-before off his 68th ball.

When Tamim was out, Bangladesh were on 82 for two after 17 overs and with Afghanistan’s spinners in full flow, there was a danger of the innings stalling. Mushfiqur, the batsman in Bangladesh with the best technique and therefore the one who finds it easiest to adjust when conditions change, took the mantle of keeping the score ticking over. In a stand of 61 off 79 deliveries, Mushfiqur’s share was 32 off 37 when Shakib was out to Mujeeb.

Soumya had given the side fast starts in all of the games so far on true pitches, but having to bat at five because of the change in tactics at the top, failed to transfer his game to a slow pitch in the middle order.

The other aspect making it difficult for the Bangladesh batsmen was that, having played on grounds with much shorter boundaries, boundaries were hard to come by at the big ground in Southampton. There were only 17 fours and one six in the entire innings. Mushfiqur hit the one six but just four boundaries in his 87-ball 83 -- just 27 per cent of his runs in boundaries as compared to the 41 per cent during his 102 against Australia on a much smaller ground.

Through the middle overs, he was the batsman intent on taking the singles and even though Mahmudullah Riyad was suffering from a calf strain, ran hard during a 56-run fifth-wicket stand with the right-hander.

There were not just forceful shots from Mushfiqur -- his all-weather batting came through in scoops played against the Afghan spinners, only yesterday the slowness of the wicket and the size of the boundary prevented them from going for boundaries. There was still the superb reverse sweep late in the innings and an exhibition of his deceptive power when he launched Dawlat Zadran over long on for six.

He was helped by a willing partner in Mosaddek Hossain after Mahmudullah limped off after giving a catch to midwicket at the end of the 43rd over. The two ran the Afghans bedraggled with stolen singles as Bangladesh scored 68 runs in the last 10 overs. Mushfiqur was finally dismissed in the penultimate over, 17 runs short of a second successive century, but as Bangladesh’s all-weather man, he ensured that his innings made a difference on a different wicket.