One hattrick, two venues

Midfielder Shanti Mardi scored a hattrick while Munki Akter added one as Bangladesh cruised to a 4-1 victory over Bhutan in their SAFF U-20 Women's Championship fixture inside the Bashundhara Residential Area on Tuesday, consolidating the top-spot in the four-team competition with a third win in three matches.

However, the round-robin fixture might not be most remembered for Shanti's first hat-trick in international age-level football, instead for the fact that her last two goals came more than three hours after the first, and on a different kind of surface and at an entirely different venue altogether. Yes, you've read it right.

When Shanti had put Bangladesh ahead with a seventh-minute left-footed strike, smashing home a rebound, it seemed like business as usual at the Bashundhara Kings Arena, where Bangladesh have been enjoying a bit of a goalfest. Despite the heavy rain accompanied with thunderstorm, the match kicked off on schedule but as the half progressed, it became clear that natural play was anything but possible on this heavy pitch, and the risk of injuries to players became a major worry.

Groundstaff trying to get the pitch back to playing conditions following heavy rain. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

It took the match commissioner and his team till the end of the first half to decide the pitch wasn't good enough for football to continue, and preparations were made to make the ground playable with groundstaff trying to pull the water out of the puddles on various parts of the pitch.

But more than an hour's tireless effort came to nothing, eventually forcing the match officials to relocate the second-half to the nearby Bashundhara Sports Ground.

Lengthy halts in play due to extreme weather conditions are not uncommon in world football. In fact, the Federation Cup final between Abahani and Bashundhara Kings were held over a week's gap due to bad light owing to heavy rain in Mymensing in April this year.

However, whether there is any instance of an international fixture, albeit an age-group one, played on two venues, could be a topic of research.

Shanti Mardi celebrates her second goal, at the practice venue of Bashundhara Kings Arena. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Meanwhile, the match did resume three hours after it had been halted, with Bhutan equalising through Sangay Wangmo eight minutes after restart. However, Shanti restored Bangladesh's lead by placing home a corner kick four minutes later before second-half substitute Munki Akter scored a brilliant goal with a solo effort on 75 minutes, taking the ball at least 30 yards before beating the keeper with an expert finish.

Shanti, who was one of only two players – the other being midfielder Bonna Akter – from the starting XI that played in the 3-2 win against Nepal on Sunday, wrapped up the victory by completing her hattrick with a powerful shot from inside the box in the 79th minute.