Fighting every step of the way after at one stage looking down and completely out of the contest in their first match of the T20 World Cup, Scotland upset Bangladesh by six runs on Sunday at Muscat, Oman with a performance worthy of Braveheart.
Coming on the back of two official warm-up matches against Sri Lanka and Ireland that they also lost, it completed an ignominious hattrick of defeats for the Bangladesh team, on their first assignment overseas following a dominant home season against Australia and New Zealand, where the uniquely unsporting pitches raised eyebrows among various quarters, as to whether they could provide the kind of preparation necessary for an apex event such the ICC’s T20 World Cup.
More than one BCB official had sung the hymn of ‘confidence-building’ at that – the flawed belief that simply getting some wins under your belt can help you stand taller in your following matches. But when the players themselves are well aware of the part played by the dreadful pitches in those wins, any confident posture accruing from those results is likely to be false, at best.
Sunday’s match was only the second T20I between these two teams, and Scotland have now won both. For the first hour or so of the game though, the Tigers did look the part.
Chris Greaves displayed a remarkable performance both with bat and ball. He scored 45 off 28 balls and bagged two wickets conceding 19 runs in three overs. He played a pivotal role for Scotland to upset the Tigers.
To chase down the target of 141 in 20 overs, Bangladesh needed 54 in the last five overs, but they failed to achieve that. The onus was on Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah Riayd, but they couldn’t play their roles well.
Bangladesh’s hope was on Nurul Hasan Sohan as well. He has the ability to play big shots at the death overs. But on Sunday, he was haunted by Bradley Wheal thanks to a wonderful acrobatic catch by Calum MacLeod at the boundary.
Bangladesh failed to have a good start as they lost both the openers inside 18 runs. Soumya Sarkar hit a four early and hinted to manage a big score, but only managed to post 5 while Liton Das also scored 5.
In the third wicket stand, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim added 47 runs off 46 balls.
Mushfiqur was struggling with the bat before this match, but he showed a glimpse of returning to the form with a composed 38 of 36 balls with two sixes and one four. But in the end, his effort went in vain. Shakib fell for 20 off 28 balls. They were looking to steady the ship after losing both openers cheaply, but in doing so, the experienced duo played a lot of dot balls, and failed to rotate the strike effectively as the innings started to stagnate.
Mahedi Hasan kept the hope alive for Bangladesh when they needed 18 off the last three balls. He struck Safyaan Sharif for six off the fourth ball of the last over, and Bangladesh needed 12 more off the last two balls which eventually remainproved beyond them.
Bangladesh ended up on 134/7 in 20 overs with Mushfiqur hitting the highest 38.
For Scotland, Wheal bagged three wickets conceding 24 runsi his four overs while Greaves took two.
Earlier, Bangladesh made a good start after deciding to bowl first on winning the toss as Mohammad Saifuddin removed Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer for a duck in the third over.
Inside the powerplay, Scotland scored 39 losing one wicket. In the last over of the powerplay, Mustafizur Rahman conceded 13 runs with a four and a six.
In the eighth over, Mahedi Hasan struck twice to remove two set batters — Matthew Cross and George Munsey— for 11 and 29 respectively.
Like Mahedi, Shakib also made a double-strike in the 11th over to sent Richie Berrington and Michael Leask back to the dressing room.
T20 World Cup: Tigers brought crashing down to earth by clinical Scots
With these two wickets, Shakib became the highest wicket-taker in T20 Internationals surpassing Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga. Shakib now has 108 scalps to his name, while Malinga has 107.
At the end of the 15th over, Scotland were at 86 for 6. In the last five overs, they added 54 runs which guided them to 140 for 9— a moderate total.
In the 18th and 19th over of the innings, Taskin Ahmed and Saifuddin conceded 15 and 12 respectively.
Chris Greaves was the best batter for Scotland as he posted 45 off 28 balls with four fours and two sixes. In the seventh-wicket partnership, Scotland added 51 with the wonderful batting effort by Mark Watt and Greaves.
For Bangladesh, right-arm spinner Mahedi bagged three wickets conceding 19 runs while Mustafizur and Shakib tow wickets each.
In their second and third match in Round 1, Bangladesh will take on the hosts Oman and Papua New Guinea on October 19 and 21 at the same venue. In the first match of the group, Oman beat Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets.
Brief scores:
Scotland: 140/9 in 20 overs (Chris Greaves 45, George Munsey 29, Mark Watt 22); Mahedi Hasan 3/19, Shakib 2/17, Mustafizur 2/32)
Bangladesh 134/7 in 20 overs (Mushfiqur 38, Mahmudullah 23, Shakib 20); Wheal 3/24, Greaves 2/19
Result: Scotland won by six runs
Source: United News of Bangladesh