Dramatic last over defeat sees Tigers whitewashed

Bangladesh lost the third and final Twenty20 international of the three-match series against Pakistan by five overs in a dramatic last over where Mahmudullah almost earned his redemption from the horrors of Bengaluru in 2016.

With only eight runs to get from the last six after debutant Shohidul Islam completed a compact 19th over, giving away only seven runs, Mahmudullah started with a dot and picked up the wicket of Sarfaraz Ahmed in the next delivery.

Haider Ali, who was the set batsman, also departed in the next ball while trying to clear the boundary, and Najmul Hossain took a fumbling catch in the long-on, which made the equation more complex.

Iftikhar Ahmed was the new man in, and he hit the first ball he faced for a six and got out in the next ball by getting caught at backward point.

It all came down to the last ball, and Pakistan needed two from the final delivery with Mohammad Nawaz on strike.

Mahmudullah bowled one from behind the stumps as Nawaz looked prepared, but he showed sign of withdrawal at the last moment and moved out from his stance, and the ball hit the timber.

The ground erupted into a celebration, but the players and umpire had a talk in the middle, and umpire Tanvir Ahmed declared the delivery dead, leading to Mahmudullah having to deliver one more ball to end the over and the match.

He bowled the last one once again, and Nawaz hit a four through extra cover to seal the game in favour of Pakistan, which could also end in the other way if the umpire counted the dead ball as a legal one.

It was solely the umpire’s discretion to call it a dead ball or not, Shorifuddla Ibne Shahid, an international umpire, said.

“In such cases, it is solely the umpire’s call. He has the authority to call it a dead ball or not. In such cases, many things happen, but before playing the ball, many things can happen. It might appear differently on TV, but it was up to the umpire to take the final call,” he told the reporters.

Even Mahmudullah said that he respects the umpire’s decision.

“I just asked the umpire that he moved at the last moment. That’s why I asked if it was a fair delivery or not. It was solely umpire’s call, and we respect the decision,” the captain told the media.

Earlier on the day, Mahmudullah won the toss for the third time in this series and elected to bat first, and Bangladesh managed 124-7 in 20 overs.

Mohammad Naim played a sloth inning of 47 runs from 50 balls, Shamim Hossain added 22 runs off 23 balls, and Afif Hossain scored 20 runs to take Bangladesh to a total that looked insufficient but turned out to be a fighting total.

Pakistan also chased slowly as Mohammad Rizwan (40) and Babar Azam (19) were cautious. Haider Ali (45) played the anchor role, but it all went down to the wire due to some tight bowling from the Tigers.

Mahmudullah salvaged Khulna Titans a couple of times in the Bangladesh Premier League with his off-spin in the last over, and he almost repeated that on Monday against Pakistan, but unfortunately, it was not his day and Bangladesh failed to earn a consolation win.