Miracle-man Miraz pulls off mission impossible

It was Shakib Al Hasan’s match. It was maybe Ebadot Hossain’s match. It, in some sense or other, was Liton Das’ match.

Throw that all out. It was Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s match.

Or a heist. But the most appropriate would be a miracle. What Miraz, along with Mustafizur Rahman, did, cannot be better defined as anything but a miracle.

Bangladesh had no hope. The crowd, which had been cheering non-stop throughout the match, was half-empty. The bench looked dejected.

They were 136-9. 51 runs away from a victory that was supposed to be a cakewalk. They were 128-4, and then, almost in the blink of an eye, were left with a quite impossible task.

Suddenly, Miraz hit two sixes and took 14 off the Indian debutant Kuldeep Sen’s over. But yet, it looked too far away. It looked as if the trend of Bangladesh falling short every time they sniffed a win against India would just keep going on.

Miraz tried to keep on attacking. And that, inevitably, saw him sky one. KL Rahul, the Indian wicketkeeper, was under it and that looked like the end.

But Rahul spilt. Miraz and Mustafizur ran two. Next over, Deepak Chahar came to bowl, and Miraz smoked him for three more fours.

Next over, up against Shardul Thakur, it was Mustafizur’s turn. He glanced one to fine leg for four, and by the time the over ended, the runs required came down to single digits for the first time.

The crowd had found their voice. Bangladesh had regained hope. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma suddenly looked out of ideas.

Chahar came back. Miraz cut it to deep third for another four, and they were just one four away.

And then, Chahar overstepped on a delivery that produced a single, meaning Bangladesh only needed one to avoid defeat. If there was a match which was a danger for nails, this was it.

Mustafiz, in the penultimate delivery of that over, brought Bangladesh level. Everybody sighed in relief. They could not lose it anymore.

And in the next ball, Miraz, with all the coolness in the world in his hands, guided the ball past the fielders inside the circle to secure the win. To pull off the heist. To perform a miracle. To ensure that the streak of losing nerve-wreckers came to an end.

Miraz scored 38 off 39 deliveries, hitting four fours and a six. His partner-in-crime, Mustafizur, scored 10 off 11 balls.

After the match, Miraz said that he always had the belief that he can pull the chase off.

“I had the belief that I can pull it off. People may call me mad for it. But I truly believed in it. I did not think for once that we would lose. I was just telling myself that I can do it, I can do it,” the player of the match said in the post-match press conference on Sunday.

Mustafizur must be given due credit too as he aptly saw out crucial deliveries and also hit a vital four.

Miraz said that Mustafiz was encouraging him about the win, and that it helped.

“Mustafiz gave me great support. He was very confident. He continuously told me that he will not get out and told me to not worry about him. I felt really good hearing that. His confidence boosted mine too,” the all-rounder said.

He added that Bangladesh needed such a win to end their streak of losing close ties against India.

“We need to win such a match. We were continuously losing close ties. But we managed to win it. It feels really good,” Miraz said.

Bangladesh captain Liton, in his first-ever ODI as skipper, said he was very nervous in the dying moments of the game.

“Very happy. When I was in the dressing room, I was really nervous, but the way Fizz (Mustafizur) and Miraz batted, I enjoyed it a lot. The bowlers bowled really well at the start. When I and Shakib were batting, we thought we could chase it easily. But when we got out, it got tricky. I had faith in others but I have no words to describe this feeling. Congratulations to Miraz,” the Bangladesh captain said.

In a match that see-sawed in the second half of the game, the first half was comparatively dull.

Shakib pulled the strings as the Indian batting order collapsed, with only Rahul managing some considerable runs (73) as the Indians crumbled for 186.

The left-arm spinner took five, and Ebadot Hossain, even on a pitch that had uneven bounce, proved the need for speed as he bounced out batters to pick up four wickets. The other went to Miraz.

When Bangladesh came on to bat, it seemed like an easy task. Although they lost Najmul Hossain Shanto in the very first ball, it hardly seem to matter as the target did not seem steep.

Liton’s 41, and after Anamul Haque’s dismissal, Shakib’s 29 was showing Bangladesh the path to win. But both returned in quick succession, and then came the hard part.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad, coupled with the memories infamous defeat in Bengaluru, played like it was quite impossible to score runs on the pitch.

Combined, the duo played 80 balls to score 32 runs and then were dismissed in consecutive deliveries. Afif Hossain played a meaningless shot to get out for six, and Ebadot Hossain trotting on his stumps did not help the matter. Hasan Mahmud was gone too.

From there, everything looked impossible. But Miraz and Mustafizur did it. They pulled mission impossible off, and gave Bangladesh the lead.