Shakib Al Hasan and his Bangladesh players hugged, traded high-fives, and shook hands with their Zimbabwe rivals as they walked off the field Sunday to celebrate what they thought was a narrow Super 12 win in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Back-to-back stumpings by wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan on the last two balls from Musaddek Hossain seemed to do the trick, dismissing two of Zimbabwe’s tail-end batters who’d needed five runs off the last two balls for victory.
Cue the tape. The on-field umpires asked for a routine review to confirm the last stumping decision but it stunned the players and the crowd when the words “Not Out” flashed up on a giant stadium screen.
Replays showed Hasan gloved the ball marginally in front of the stumps before whipping off the bails to complete the dismissal of Blessing Muzarabani in what should have been the last ball.
So all the fielders, batters and two umpires had to go back into position for the last delivery to be re-bowled. Except Zimbabwe, now 147-8 in reply to Bangladesh’s total of 150-7, had an adjusted target of four runs instead of five for an unlikely win.
Musaddek held his nerve and didn’t concede a run, with Muzarabina making a swing and a miss, giving Bangladesh just its second ever win in the second round of a T20 World Cup.
The last over, which started with Zimbabwe needing 16 runs off six balls for victory, overshadowed the previous 39 that were mostly controlled by Bangladesh.
Opener Najmul Hossain Shanto, who posted a career-high T20 score of 71 from 55 balls, said his Bangladesh lineup was confident right until the last ball.
“It was a new experience for us,” he said. “Musaddek bowled very well in this pressure situation. Honestly, it was a little bit nervous, but we believed we could do it.”
Shanto combined with his skipper Shakib Al Hasan (23) in a 54-run partnership for the third wicket and 36 with Afif Hossain (29 off 19) for the fourth to bolster Bangladesh’s innings after Muzarabini (2-13) took two early wickets for Zimbabwe.
