Will Tigers cash in on lucky break?
"If I get in the zone, I'll go for it."
The stump microphone caught Mahmudullah Riyad saying this to his partner Shakib Al Hasan in Bangla right before taking stance against off-spinner Dhananjaya De Silva to face the final ball of the 16th over in Bangladesh's chase against Sri Lanka in their ICC Men's T20 World Cup match in Dallas yesterday.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The required rate was below five runs per over at the time and the team was already five wickets down, meaning there was no real need to go for an extravagant shot, but Mahmudullah had already made up his mind.
Mahmudullah, however, could not "go for it" at the time but he finally got one "in the zone" in the first ball of the 19th over, when medium pacer Dasun Shanaka dished out a full toss which he dispatched to the stands, his only boundary in the innings, killing off a match which got unnecessary tense owing to some questionable batting.
In the end, Mahmudullah remained 16 not out off 13 balls following a steady 36 off 38 from Liton Das and a bold 20-ball 40 from Towhid Hridoy as Bangladesh got over the line with two wickets in hand in a nervy 125-run chase.
The low-scoring thriller had multiple twists and turns, with Bangladesh faltering in a chase that should've been much more straight-forward, accepted their captain.
"We gave our 120 percent. Last 10-15 days we have been making plans and all the fielders are doing their job. I think they bowled really well, but on a wicket like this we should have won this easily," said skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto after the match.
Sri Lanka had started the match brilliantly, plundering 53 runs in the Powerplay, thanks to Pathum Nissanka's 28-ball 47. But after Mustafizur Rahman, who eventually finished with 3-17, got the batter caught with his trademark cutter, it was all Bangladesh.
The bowlers conceded just 71 runs from the seventh to 20th over at a run-rate touch above five runs per over with leg-spinner Rishad Hossain claiming three wickets, being in with a chance to claim a hat-trick at one point, and injury returnee Taskin Ahmed taking 2-25.
The bowlers had set up the match wonderfully for the Tigers but the batters nearly threw it away multiple times, owing to a mixture of some brilliant bowling from Sri Lanka and sub-par batting.
Even Bangladesh's final runs in the chase came off an overthrow, after Mahmudullah was nearly run out going for a single, which would've seen the Tigers needing two runs with just one wicket in hand in the last over.
Bangladesh's win over Sri Lanka may not have been entirely convincing but it has already put the Tigers in a favourable position in the race to Super 8s.
After the defeat to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka are staring down the barrel, as they now need to win against associates Nepal and the Netherlands by big margins and pray for a few upsets if they are to finish as one of the two top teams in Group D.
Sri Lanka's misery has opened the doors for Bangladesh as a couple of wins over the associates should be sufficient for them to progress. However, if this World Cup has shown anything, it's that the margin between the elites and the full members has shrunk and many associates have the ammunition to pull off surprises.
Nevertheless, in a campaign where not much was expected of them, Bangladesh now have a clear cut path to the next phase following their South Africa fixture as their final two group games will be played in the Caribbean pitches, which are closer to pitches back home.
The Tigers now can dare to dream.
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