Bangladesh defeat Goliath

Bangladesh has achieved its greatest ever victory by beating Australia by five wickets early this morning our time.

The country’s 150 million-strong population were glued to their televisions as Aftab Ahmed lofted a slower ball from Jason Gillespie for six off the second ball in the final over, allowing Bangladesh to reach the Australian total of 5/249 off fifty overs.

Bangladeshi’s stormed from their balcony onto Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens to clamber over Ahmed and pinch hitter Mohammad Rafique (who scored a vital 9 off 11 balls), celebrating what will be considered as the upset of this new century of cricket.

Meanwhile Australians both watching at the ground and at home were left dumbfounded at the result. The loss not only has Australia at the bottom of the NatWest table but also leaves England licking its lips for their match against the world champions at Bristol later tonight.

Ranked last in the one-day international standings, Bangladesh pulled off the memorable win thanks to some sensible batting, driven largely by young talent Mohammad Ashraful.

Ashraful stood up to the pressure that Ricky Ponting and co placed on him and scored his debut century. Ashraful’s nail biting 100 off 101 balls was also the second ODI ton scored for the cricket nation.

After he chipped a single to achieve the milestone, it was a wonderful sight to see the 20-year-old fall on his hands and knees to kiss the pitch in delight.

As the game wore on Ashraful’s risk-free batting allowed other batsmen such as Captain Habibul Bashar (47 off 82 balls) and Ahmed to play their natural game of hitting boundaries, breaking down the total as each over passed. Though to think that Ashraful was merely bunting balls down to mid on would be a grave insult towards his nack for hitting boundaries, the middle order batsmen thumping 11 fours for his century.

The last 10 overs of Bangladesh’s innings showed the tenacity of this young team, which is bolstered from many players elevated from Under 17 and 19 squads to the big time. Bangladesh crept up on Australia’s total, as their third half-century came off just 43 balls while only 40 more were required for the Tigers to reach the 200 milestone.

The crowd chanted ‘Bangladesh’ in support as Gillespie threw one almighty gauntlet at his opponents. The speedster initiated a run out and dismissed Ashraful a ball after he reached his century to make Bangladesh extremely nervous.

Gillespie’s efforts and Ponting moving all his men onto the boundary (and into the crowd had the rules allowed) were still not enough to stop Bangladesh achieve a fairytale victory.

Gillespie’s figures of 2/41 off nine overs and some batting form produced by Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke were the only positives for Australia in this match. These individual acts would be a cold comfort for Ponting, who had no answers as his bowlers and fielders lacked discipline.

Apart from Gillespie, the bowlers could not stop their opponents, even though Australia looked like it had control in the early stages of Bangladesh’s run chase. Like they did against England, the Tigers looked done and dusted when they were 3/72 at the end of the 20th over.

Against an in-form Ashraful, bowlers such as Glenn McGrath (0/43 off 10), Michael Kasprowicz (1/40 off 10) and an expensive Brad Hogg (1/52 off 10) worked hard but could not produce the magic for Australia.

Electing to bat first so they can build an unreachable total, the Australians bats fell early to a pitch that became more predictable as the day wore on. Ponting and deputy Adam Gilchrist both had starts to the summer they would probably like to forget. In the second ball of the innings, Gilchrist’s legs were trapped protecting the ball hitting the stumps, the wicketkeeper going out for a big fat duck. Ponting was also dismissed for his stagnant footwork, but managed to make one more run than his wicketkeeper.

Australian fans must have wondered how bowlers, which were pummeled into submission days earlier by England’s openers, dismissed two of the world’s best batsmen to have their team reeling at 2/9 after five overs.

Enter Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke, who both contributed half centuries and helped get their sides run chase back on track. The run rates of both batsmen were not great, yet Martyn’s 77 off 138 balls and Clarke’s 54 off 100 showed that they are timing the ball well for the upcoming Test series.

Bangladesh’s early success was due to the developing pace attack of Mashrafe Mortaza (1/33 off 10), Nazmul Hossain (1/65 off 10, making up for his impotence against England by snaring a wicket here) and Tapash Baisya, who claimed the best figures of 3/69 off 10 overs. Mortaza and Hossain cleaned up the opening pair, but it was Baisya with his sling shot medium pace that Martyn and Clarke came unstuck on.

Using their horrendous tour of England, the Tigers motivated themselves to play competitive cricket against the world’s best. And for the first time this morning Bangladesh not only competed with the best, they beat them.

Full scorecard available here.

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