Fortune favoured, performance did not

Bangladesh needed a miracle, and some more to turn their dimming rays of hope to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing T20 World Cup into a reality.

And that miracle happened in Adelaide before their game against Pakistan as Netherlands beat South Africa by 13 runs, knocking the Proteas out of the World Cup.

That meant the game between Bangladesh and Pakistan turned into a virtual quarter-final as the winner would be granted a berth in the semis.

For Bangladesh, it would mean history as they had never won three games in a T20 World Cup, let alone reaching the semis. The opportunity was served for them on a silver platter.

With all the history in sight and all the incredible milestones awaiting, Bangladesh produced a lacklustre performance in all three departments to lose by five wickets and ensure that their World Cup journey did not proceed beyond the Super 12 stage.

Batting first, Bangladesh had a slowish but solid start as their first 10 overs produced 70 runs, with the loss of Liton Das’ wicket.

Najmul Hossain Shanto reached his second fifty of the tournament, and similarly to the first, this also came sluggishly as he scored 54 off 48 deliveries.

But once again, Bangladesh’s susceptible middle-order fell prey to the opposition bowlers and collapsed, which resulted in Bangladesh scoring only 57 in their final 10 overs.

After Soumya Sarkar (20 off 17 balls) was gone, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan came into the crease and was adjudged LBW in his very first delivery, which has created a hot talking point since then.

Shakib immediately reviewed, and the replays showed that there was a clear gap between his bat and the ground when the ball was very near to the bat, and ultraedge also showed a spike. But third umpire Langton Rusere still opined that the bat hit the ground, creating the noise, and thus went on to reinstate the on-field umpire’s call.

From there on, both Mosaddek Hossain and Nurul Hasan Sohan failed, and Afif Hossain’s unbeaten 24 off 20 could only help them reach 127-8 in their 20 overs.

Defending such a low total, Bangladesh needed to be impressive on the field. But that went out of the window when wicketkeeper Nurul dropped a regulation catch of Mohammad Rizwan in the very first over of the innings from Taskin Ahmed.

Following that, Bangladesh were poor throughout the innings as they continuously misfielded and failed to take half chances, which are necessary when there is rarely a margin for error.

After the match, half-centurion Najmul said they fell short in batting, adding that they all wanted to win.

“The par score on this wicket is 140-150. I understood that I needed to finish well. I could not, which left me frustrated. If the batters could do well later, then it could have been a competitive match,” Najmul said in the post-match press conference on Sunday.

He added, “We thought this was an opportunity for us. We planned accordingly. There was a chance and we played according to that.

“We all wanted to win. We tried to take the opportunity. Everyone gave their all.”

Bangladesh seemingly lost momentum after the questionable umpiring decision that saw Shakib dismissed but Najmul said that did not ruin their concentration despite all of them thinking it was not out.

“We did not lose our concentration. But to me, to all of us, it looked like not out. We were certain that it was not out. But the decision is the umpire’s. But I don’t think that ruined our concentration. We did not play well in the middle overs and at the end,” he said.

While Najmul’s opinion on the decision remained contrary to the decision on the pitch, he said that there was no point talking about it more.

“There is no point discussing the decision. It’s not in our hands. It’s the decision of the umpires and the match referee. It doesn’t matter how much we discuss it. We did not talk much about it in the dressing room either. Because there’s no point in doing it,” he said.

While that decision might or might not have been the turning point of the game, the truth is that Bangladesh produced a sorry performance when they had a shot at history in their own hands.

Bangladesh had everything ready for pandemonium, but all they could muster was packing their bags and coming home.