adminBRISBANE. – Zimbabwe found themselves at the receiving end of a final over thriller this time around as their semi-final hopes were dented by Bangladesh yesterday.
The final over witnessed drama like never seen before as a nervy Bangladesh outfit had to return to the field after assuming they had closed out the game in their favour.
Eventually, their victory was confirmed after Mosaddek Hossain bowled a dot ball and his side registered a 3-run win.
To give some context, Zimbabwe needed 16 from the final six deliveries.
They fetched only one run from the first two balls and lost a wicket as well that appeared to completely shift the balance towards Bangladesh.
However, Richard Ngarava came out swinging and found some luck with the first ball racing to the boundary after hitting his pads.
And the following ball was sent into the stands to stun the bowling camp as the equation came down to 5 off 2.
In another twist, Ngarava stepped down the track and was out stumped forcing Blessing Muzarabani to strike a boundary off the final ball to avoid a defeat.
While he missed the ball, the wicketkeeper had him stumped to close out the win.
Or at least that’s what he and the rest of the people in the stadium believed.
While the players shook hands and went back to their dressing rooms, the on-field umpires checked with the third umpire and realised the ball was collected in front of the stumps and hence the final ball was declared a no-ball.
The players were then forced to return to the field, giving Zimbabwe another lifeline. But unfortunately, Muzarabani missed again as Zimbabwe finally caved in.
Taskin Ahmed was in his elements again with the new ball as he removed the openers early in the chase of 151.
Milton Shumba then miscued one off Mustafizur before the key man Sikandar Raza mistimed a pull in the same over to depart for a duck.
Zimbabwe lost four wickets in the powerplay to stutter in the chase and needed a couple of players to stand up.
They found a hero in the form of Sean Williams as he kept Zimbabwe afloat.
At the other end, Zimbabwe lost Regis Chakabva but his wicket came as a blessing in disguise. Ryan Burl injected some much-needed momentum into the innings and Zimbabwe needed 56 from the final five overs.
While Taskin and Mustafizur brought the equation down to 40 off 18, Zimbabwe were back in the hunt after Williams teed off with a flurry of boundaries en-route a fighting half-century.
A direct hit from skipper Shakib Al Hasan forced the game into a final over thriller which the Asian side sealed in the most unlikely fashion.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 150/7 in 20 overs (Najmul Shanto 71, Afif Hossain 29; Blessing Muzarabani 2/13) beat Zimbabwe147/8 (Sean Williams 64; Taskin Ahmed 3/19, Mustafizur Rahman 2/15) by 3 runs – Cricbuzz
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter