Tigers suffer heartbreaking defeat in rain-curtailed match

NEWS DESK

It was another case of ‘so close yet so far’ as Bangladesh suffered a heartbreaking five-run defeat to India as per DLS method in their fourth game of the T20 World Cup today (Nov 2, 2022)at the Adelaide Oval in Australia.

Liton Das put Bangladesh on top, raising the hope of an ‘upset’, what Shakib Al Hasan talked about the other day but a rain break put a brake and Bangladesh lost the momentum.

The victory also ruined their prospect of moving to the semifinal but still there are some ifs and buts. Bangladesh need to beat Pakistan in their last match and should get a favour from other teams if they want to make it the last four.

After being asked to bat first under the overcast condition, India managed to put up 184-6, a score that looked daunting enough. Unbelievably, Bangladesh came close, courtesy to a majestic innings from Liton Das, who put the India bowlers on sword and helped Bangladesh reach 66 for no loss in just seven overs.

Bangladesh looked utterly favourite to make an ‘upset’ from that point but then the rain arrived with Shakib Al Hasan and his side being ahead of 17 runs as per DLS (Duckworth Lewis System). It meant, if the rain continued and the game was washed out, Bangladesh would have won it by 17 runs.

But lady luck didn’t favour Bangladesh. The rain stopped and the revised target for Bangladesh was set 151 in 16 overs, meaning Bangladesh needed 85 runs from nine overs.

Liton started positively, however a direct hit of KL Rahul from the midwicket broke the stump and with that broke the heart of Bangladesh. Liton was in such a form on this day that even his mishit continued to go for boundary. He was dismissed for 60 off 27, an innings designed by seven fours and three sixes. Liton’shalf-century came off just 21 balls, which was second fastest by Bangladeshi batter behind a 20-ball-fifty by Ashraful.

His dismissal gave the Indian bowlers a mental edge as they were charged up to a such uncanny degree that they came up with spirited bowling show, forcing Bangladesh to loss six wickets for 40 runs in just five overs. Pressurized by the asking run rate, Bangladeshi batters also went for big shot but lacked intelligence which sank them.

However drama unfolded when Nurul Hasan Sohan and Taskin Ahmed resisted. Their never-say-die attitude took the game to the last over but simply they couldn’t seal it as India bowlers held the nerve in the death overs to script Bangladesh’s downfall. The Tigers eventually were restricted to 145-6 in 16 overs.

Sohan was not out on 25 off 14 while Taskin was on 12.

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul earlier hit half-centuries as India got a reasonable score to defend.

Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed came up with fire as India made a shaky start after being asked to bat first in overcast condition. However a number of dropped catches dented Bangladesh’s hope to tie India down in small total.

Kohli hit his third half-century in the tournament and remained unbeaten on 64 off 44, smashing eight fours and one six. KL Rahul was dismissed after playing 32 ball-50, studded with three fours and four sixes.

But Suryakumar Yadav justified the tag of the No.1 one T20 batter of the world, playing a 16 ball-30 runs knock, which was immensely impactful in helping India to pace the innings in the middle overs.

Hasan Mahmud dropped Rohit Sharma in Taskin’s second over but he made it up, dismissing the India captain for 2 in just next over.

Rahul and Kohli then shared 67-run for the second wicket to drive the innings and gave India some breathing space after Taskin’s fiery four overs spell at a stretch. The partnership was broken once Shakib Al Hasan struck to get rid of Rahul.

The run rate was bit slower side for India at this phase but Suryakumar Yadav, popularly called as SKY made it up with whirlwind batting. He took Bangladesh bowlers in disdain to accelerate the innings which ensured India would end up with good total on the board.

Shakib again struck to break this partnership, undoing Yadav with an arm ball that rattled the stump.

Bangladesh then kept taking wickets at regular intervals but Kohli broke the shackle in the death overs to help the side go past 180 runs mark. He was ably aided by Ravichandran Ashwin who made 13 not out, hitting one six and one four.

Taskin though went wicket-less, he checked the flamboyance of Indian batters, finishing with 4-0-15-0. Hasan Mahmud ended with his career-best 3-47 while Shakib took 2-33.