Tigers cornered on field while fans off it
As England removed Bangladesh batters one after another yesterday, the Bangladesh fans present at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association stadium in Dharamshala were on the receiving end of added misery.
"Harega bhai harega, Bangladesh harega (Bangladesh will lose)," chanted the local spectators while the Bangladesh fans absorbed the taunts in silence.
Earlier, after being sent to bat, the two English openers Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan started off with all guns blazing, courtesy of some ordinary bowling from the Tigers. The pair added 115 runs and the enthusiastic Bangladeshi fans slowly began to prepare for what was to follow.
However, they erupted in joy when Shakib finally gave the breakthrough for the Tigers, removing Bairstow (52 off 59 balls) with a brilliant armer, which went on to hit the timber.
The noise began to amplify in favour of Bangladesh but it did not last long as Malan, who went on to strike his fifth ODI ton, and Joe Root combined to punish the Tigers bowlers. The duo added 151 runs in no time for the second wicket.
A small section of the English supporters' group, 'Barmy Army', had taken control over by then and found their voices reinforced by local supporters.
It appeared the Bangladesh fans were helplessly cornered. The last ten overs of the innings, however, neutralised managed to pull the momentum back in Tigers' favour as seven wickets fell for 68 runs in last 63 balls.
Despite Bangladesh's late comeback, England's scorecard read 365 for nine in 50 overs -- the highest total in the venue.
"Look we know England are a very strong but we expected our team to give them a tough fight at least. But the way the England batters treated our bowlers, and how our batters failed yet again, it was embarrassing to some extent especially when the opposition supporters started to mock your team," Mamunur Rashid, a businessman in Bangladesh, told The Daily Star yesterday.
In reply to a mammoth 365-run target, Bangladesh top-order collapsed like a house of cards, reeling at 49 for four at one point, leading to some of the dejected Tigers supporters leaving the ground.
After Liton's lone battle -- of 76 from 66 balls, laced with seven fours and two sixes -- eventually came to a halt, a handful number of Bangladeshi fans were still waiting for a miracle. However, the Tigers were eventually bundled out for 227 runs in 48.2 overs and faced a crushing 137-run defeat.
A few optimistic Bangladeshi supporters still want to keep their faith on the Tigers.
"It's not the end of the world to be honest. Such bad days can happen in cricket, and don't forget that we played against the World champions. I strongly believe Bangladesh will bounce back brilliantly in the next game. We are with our Tigers," said Jalal Ahmed, a Bangladesh fan.
Bangladesh will now travel to Chennai to play their third match against New Zealand on Friday.