Brave Bangladesh Turns Around to Reach Tri-Nation Final

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 13 January 2009. The Tigers pulled off the most sensational comeback in its history of international cricket. 

The situation had three daunting difficulties.

One: After losing to Zimbabwe through a hapless batting display (as I predicted) in the opening match of the tournament, Bangladesh faced the prospect of elimination, for its next match was against favorites Sri Lanka. So, Bangladesh would first of all need to win. The odds were pretty heavy against them. In the previous 24 matches against Sri Lanka, they won only once.

This time, the bowlers, especially Mashrafee Mortaza and debutant Rubel Hossain, did a great job to restrict Sri Lanka's score to 147. Mortaza was on fire in the initial few overs and Rubel frightened the Sri Lankan tail enders to capitulate toward the end of the innings.

Two: Not only would they need to beat Sri Lanka, they would have to do it in an emphatic fashion to potentially collect a bonus point. Otherwise Zimbabwe would probably go on a better run margin.

This meant that Bangladesh would have to overtake Sri Lanka's total in ten fewer overs than they had. And that too against the world's best spin duo: Mutthiah Muralitharan and Ajanta Mendis.

Three: Bangladesh met with disaster as they started the chase, losing three top wickets in Bangladesh's typical suicidal fashion with only 11 runs on board.

I was about to turn off the broadcast.

Enter Shakib Al-Hasan. With captain Mohammad Ashraful playing a perfect supporting role, Shakib launched into a spectacular counter-attack against Sri Lanka's bowling without taking a single risk.

The left-hander slammed the fours and sixes while the right-hander Ashraful took the singles - the perfect mix in a partnership, and a rare sight for those who follow Bangladesh cricket.

And they paced the innings perfectly too, so when there was 47 runs to score in 45 balls, I started thinking they can probably make the unthinkable happen.

They did. With an emphatic six off Mendis, Bangladesh sealed victory with 11 overs to spare. 

Aggressive field set-up, hostile bowling, committed fielding, mature captaincy, and a spectacular middle-order batting rescue act—the plot was unbeatable. This match had it all: the anxieties, the frustrations, the shoutings, the battles, the bravery, the lingering hopes, and the edge-of-the-seat thrill rides.

And it's the best comeback performance that Bangladesh had ever staged. All eyes on the final now.