Houdini act from Afif-Miraz hands new ray of hope

Afif Hossain had just hit Gulbadin Naib for a four over mid-wicket to take Bangladesh home from a situation from which a win looked irretrievable.

But you could take a look at the 22-year-old and say that did not happen. The young left-hander was nonchalant as if he had just hit the winning runs and nothing else. As if he had not just scored the best 93 runs of his ODI career.

His partner Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored an unbeaten 81, though was not eager on hiding any emotions. He fist-bumped the air and came into hug Afif. And they deserved the celebration and the smile that crowned them both as they were walking off the field.

They had just pulled out a Houdini act for Bangladesh, a situation from where even their skipper did not believe they could win.

Bangladesh looked down and out. 45-6, in any form of cricket, is a start you never want.

Fazalhaq Farooqi had just run riot with the new ball. He dismissed Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Yasir Ali Chowdhury. And what was left was Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad, who both threw their wickets away.

From there on, Afif and Miraz put together an unbeaten stand of 174 runs, the highest for Bangladesh for the seventh wicket, and took Bangladesh to a 1-0 lead with seven balls in hand.

Bangladesh skipper Tamim said in the post-match presentation that he was not expecting a win at 45-6.

“Honestly, I did not believe we could win after 45/6. But I’m very proud and happy for the two for their incredible innings,” he said.

Tamim cannot be blamed. Afif had only played seven ODIs before Wednesday. In those, he did not have a fifty. Miraz had one but also an average of 15.

And what was even more hopeless for the Tigers was that this partnership was their last straw of hope. Afif and Miraz had no margin of error, as all three to follow them were as shabby as they come with the bat.

From there on, they showed immense composure as they picked which bowler to attack and which to see off. They ensured they did not take any risks against the much talked about Afghan spin trio, tagged along with singles and inch by inch, moved closer to the target.

Despite all the odds against them, the two never looked under pressure. From Afif’s nonchalant flick over square leg early on to Miraz’s cut shots that ended on boundary cushions, both looked in control throughout.

After the match, Miraz, the player of the match, said that he was confident about the chase.

“To be honest, I was confident. I told Afif that if we can stay, we can win. The belief is very important. He batted brilliantly. His batting gave me confidence,” Miraz said in the post-match presentation.

Afif said that their primary goal was to not give away wickets, and take the game deep.

“We believed that we could win if we did not give away wickets. We planned to not give away wickets and play for as long as possible. In the middle, we did not talk about winning. We just said that we will try to take it as deep as possible,” Afif said in the post-match press conference.

Bangladesh’s youngsters have often been criticised for their lack of consistency, But with Afif and Mehidy pulling out a miracle, there may just be a new hope.