India Vs Bangladesh played at Bangalore on 23 March 2016

India 146/7 ( S Raina 30, V Kohli 24, S Dhawan 23, Mustafizur Rahman 2/34, Al Amin Hossain 2/37) beat Bangladesh 145/9 ( Tamim Iqbal 35 ,Sabbir Rahman 26 ,Shakib Al Hasan 22 , R Ashwin 2/20 ,R Jadeja 2/ 22 .H Pandey 2/29) by 1 Run.

Player of The Match: R Ashwin

Till the last three balls of the epic 20+20 = 40 overs encounters team tigers were well on course of the first ever historic win in a T20 encounter against favorite India .Two seasoned campaigners Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahamudullah Riyad were rowing the castle to a dream destiny.

But in the nerve wrecking moments of writing the historic script they faltered. Instead of pushing the balls through the gap or dropping and running two singles required both tried playing glory strokes and were caught in the deep. Three wickets fell in the last three balls .Team tigers lost to team India by 1 run. Tigers sunk their own boat after rowing close to the shore.

Winning the toss and electing to field tigers looked very sharp and agile in the field. Mashrafee handled his resources very smartly. All his charges bowled exceeding well to plan. Some very smart catches were taken, fielding was razor sharp. Indian batting was suffocated to a manageable score of 146/7.

Everything advanced according to plan till the last over. Bangladesh required keeping their cool in the nerve wrecking situation. Moments of writing yet another chapter of glory was within the grasp. Two of the coolesttigers Mahdullah Riad and Mushfiqur Rahim were rowing the boat of hope. 11 runs were required from the last 6 balls. Young Pandey was tasked with the responsibility of bowling the important last six balls.

Mahmudullah took a single of the first. Mushfique crafted two boundaries off the next two. Two runs required from the last three. Playing in the gap for singles or playing with soft hands and rotating the strikes were the order of the day. Suddenly they wanted to play glory strokes. First Mushfique then Mahamudullah was consumed in the deep. In efforts of leveling the match for a tie Mustafiz got out on the last ball when Shubhagato failed to connect. India won by 1 run. The boat of hope sunk at the sea of despair. Bangladesh destroyed own castle. At history’s page at every stage tigers could not advance. Tigers got eliminated from the contest.

Mashrafee had a rare luck with the coin. His decision of bowling first on a double paced wicket gripping and turning from the start was ideally exploited by all bowlers. They bowled at right length and at right spot. Free scoring Indian batsmen were shackled .Mashrafee set the field precisely. He was at his best in his own task as well with accurate bowling.

Mustafiz harassed Indian batsmen with his teasing slower cutters. Shakib spun and deceived Indians with tantalizing flights and arm deliveries .Al Amin swung prodigiously. Even Rohit and Kohli struggled. Bangladesh fielded like roaring royal Bengals chasing the prey. Some brilliant catches were taken. The one Soumya took diving to his right and off inches from the ground was of a different planet. At 6/117 at 16.5 overs Indians were looking down and out. It was a day when even helicopter pilot Dhoni was kept in check. They could go as far as 146/7. Raina scored 30 and Virat struggled to run a ball 24 .Indian batting in recent times other than the match against Kiwis did not struggle in putting bat to bowl. Mustafiz and Al Amin grabbed two wickets each. Shakib, Shubhagato and Mahamudullah took a wicket a piece. Gavaskar and others did not spare any words of appreciation for Mashrafee master minding Bangladesh mission majestic.

Bangladesh chase was characterized with flamboyance of Tamim, sparks of Sabbir, brilliance of Shakib. Indian fielding looked ragged .Catches was dropped, overthrows gave away runs. Bangladesh appeared cruising. Ashwin and Jadeja extracted all those were left for booby trapping opponents. Yet tigers were tantalizingly close to target by the start of the last over requiring 11 to win. Two seasoned, tried and tested tigers Mahamudullah and Mushfique were guiding the fort. Mushfique very smartly played two lovey strokes making it two to win off the last three .The jam-packed Bangalore gallery was in silence. But it erupted as both Mushfique and Mahamudullah chose self-destruction route. Instead of milking the bowling they tried blasting out and lost their wickets.

India won the thriller. Another dream of tigers was dashed .The boat capsized reaching the shore. India was let off the hook .Bangladesh got eliminated in a nail biting finish.

Bangladesh definitely lost a golden opportunity .The tigers was looking good till the last three deliveries. They could bury Indian hopes of marching into next round. We are not sure when such opportunity of beating India once again in their soil in a world tournament will come again.

BDST: 1537 HRS, MAR 24, 2016
AKA