Mashrafe's 17th over won it
We have used a lot of adjectives for inspirational Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, especially over the past two years when Bangladesh felled one frontier after another under his stewardship. Still, the experienced pace bowler, whose pace has diminished substantially and who drags his bad legs whenever he takes off from his bowling mark, cannot stop mesmerising his followers and foes. On Wednesday he drew his magic wand when the Tigers needed that to stop a rampant Dutch. His six deliveries in the 17th over at Dharamsala were a bolt from the blue for the Netherlands and a pleasant surprise for those who have been following him for a long time and wait with fingers crossed whenever he comes out to bowl at the death. His opposite number Peter Borren made no secret about the fact that that particular over, which yielded three runs and a wicket, played the biggest part in their defeat.
“He read the wicket very well and used it perfectly. I think that 17th was very crucial and it played a big role in our defeat which was very disappointing for us,” said Borren about his opposite number at the post-match briefing.
Tamim Iqbal, who also appeared at the briefing with his captain, actually was searching for the proper words to describe how important that over was.
“I can't explain how important that over was and the next by Taskin [Ahmed],” said the opening batsman. It was actually not that particular over but the four overs Mashrafe bowled that stood as an example of how a bowler compensates for his lack of pace with experience. He conceded 14 runs in his four overs and took one wicket.
When asked if that was one of his best overs in a long career, Mashrafe looked a bit perturbed. He only said that he was confident of bowling his fourth over after feeling good while bowling his third.
“I thought maybe Al-Amin [Hossain] or some spinner should bowl but then I decided to bowl because I could read the wicket and the batsman more than anybody else at that moment.”
Mashrafe also said that he did not plan to bowl a bouncer with Mushfiqur Rahim standing right behind the wicket.
“The ball kicked. The bowling was short I guess. That over gave me the confidence because I gave one run and I was confident. T20 is all about momentum and I wanted to bowl that over,” said Mashrafe.
Asked if he was relieved, he said: “Yes, obviously. Winning is always a relief, doesn't matter who we're playing against. Good performance by Tamim and the bowlers. Obviously it will help in the next match when we play here.”
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