Published: Mar 09, 2015, 07:26 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 09, 2015, 09:52 PM (IST)
Bangladesh beat England by 15 runs in a nail-biting finish in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Pool A encounter at Adelaide. Bangladesh have therefore qualified to the quarter-finals of the tournament and have knocked England out of it. This surely has to be one of the best days in Bangladesh’s cricket history if not the best. Pramod Ananth lists some of the highlights of the match.
James Anderson’s early strikes: England had won the toss and elected to bowl first and captain Eoin Morgan would have thought that it was the right decision after fast bowler James Anderson removed the openers with just eight ruins on the board in the fourth over.
Soumya Sarkar-Mahmudullah partnership: After losing two quick wickets, Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah came together and stitched a brilliant 86-run stand that gave the Bangladesh innings some stability. Sarkar was eventually dismissed for 40, caught behind off Chris Jordan to bring a budding partnership to an end.
England strike back: After Sarkar was dismissed for 40, Bangladesh’s most highly-regarded player Shakib-al-Hasan was dismissed for just two, which put England back into the match momentarily after they struck twice in a span of nine deliveries. Another wicket at that stage would have put England in command.
Mahmudullah-Mushfiqur Rahim’s record partnership: Mahmudullah walked in when Bangladesh were struggling at eight for two in the fourth over. He and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 141 for the fifth wicket and set an excellent platform from where Bangladesh can get to a huge score. This partnership is also the highest for Bangladesh for any wicket in a World Cup match.
READ: Mahmudullah-Mushfiqur record partnership
Mahmudullah’s record-breaking century: Mahmudullah scored his maiden One-Day International (ODI) of 131 deliveries and he also became the first Bangladesh player to score a century for his nation in a World Cup and thus is now also the highest individual score by a Bangladesh player in a World Cup overtaking Tamim Iqbal’s 95 against Scotland last week.
READ: Mahmudullah becomes first Bangladeshi centurion at World Cup
England get off to a brisk start: England were off to a decent start with Moeen Ali and Ian bell opening the innings. It was speculated that Alex Hales might open the innings, but the team stuck with Bell and Moeen at the top. The opening partnership was worth 43 and it came to an abrupt end when Moeen was run out for 19 off 21.
Ian Bell’s fifty: Ian Bell stood tall at the top and brought up his 34th ODI fifty. He made 63 from 82 deliveries and his wicket in the 27th over opened the floodgates for Bangladesh as they managed to pick up a few more wickets after that to put England in a spot of bother.
Bangladesh pick up three quick wickets: England were reduced from 121 for two to 132 for five n a matter of just over three overs and Bangladesh would have felt that their victory was certain. Skipper Morgan was once again dismissed for a duck to add to his side’s woes.
Jos Buttler- Chris Woakes partnership: Butler and Woakes put on 75 off just 61 deliveries for the seventh wicket at a time when England still needed 113 to win of the final 15 overs of the match. Their partnership not only got England back into the game and gave them a real chance to win it from absolutely nowhere. England’s chances went for a toss after Buttler was dismissed for a 52-ball 65. Woakes on the other end, remained unbeaten on 42.
Bangladesh win after a tense finish: The match went down to the wire and Rubel Hossain was entrusted to bowl the penultimate over of the match. He removed Stuart Broad off the very first delivery and dismissed James Anderson two deliveries later to send Bangladesh to the quarter-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and England packing. The scenes at the end of the match would have made any Bangladesh fan rejoice.
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
