That was a humdinger of a finish the likes of which may not be good for cricket fans with weak hearts, but it was a fantastic advertisement for action-packed T20 with its adrenaline-pumping, tension-riddled climaxes. Maybe, it was Bangladesh’s match to lose. In fact, the team may have gift wrapped the match by botching the finish. When common sense had to rule, bravado took over. When cleverness was called for came bravura with three batsmen believing they had to play Superman.
Never having beaten India in a T20, the Bangladeshis may have got too keen, that too at the very end when all they had to do was walk across the line rather than try to gallop past the winning post. They may have been taught a cruel lesson in what a calm sense of control means, maybe it will come later. But for now the Indians are the heroes who got out of jail in the nick of time. They were the ones who planned and plotted to stay sane at the finish and yet botched it to the extent of giving away two boundary hits when 11 were needed off the last over.
The recovery, with a well planned last ball that was not an attempted Yorker that could have ended up as another full toss, was phenomenal. And then there was the sight of Dhoni running to the stumps like a sprinter on steroids, shrewdness showing in every step as a wayward throw might have meant a Super Over or, even worse, batsmen scrambling a second run as the fielding team fights to get over the confusion. The skipper’s experience showed. He was not to be suckered into an overoptimistic hard lob at the wicket, only to miss it and suffer another agonising hour in the tie-breaker.
In the way the 40th over stretched interminably made way for Hitchcock like suspense. A movie maker would have given his right hand to squeeze out minutes in such a finale. This was once again bad for the nerves and the batting team could complain too, except that the Bangaldeshis did not seem to mind as they were on top after half the over. How foolish then to botch up what would have been a historic maiden triumph over a worldT20 champion attempting to win another title! The realization of the one that got away will haunt them for a long time to come.
The last four line-up is far from settled and Team India is only on its way in a better frame of mind to take on Australia in a virtual quarter-final, although mathematically the possibilities are endless as the Aussies too have to play the mercurial Pakistanis. The Kiwis have left all the madness behind after booking a place in the semis. India should get there even if they played some poor cricket after getting into a dominant batting position against the Bangladeshis by around the 13th over. Their bowling at the death may not have been spot on.
In this format, luck plays an even greater role than cricket, the perfumed harlot, which can entice and then dash hopes, as Roebuck used to describe it. Our hearts are stronger for having watched that thrilling finish. May there be many more before the last ball is bowled in this WorldT20, already memorable for the drama on a warm Bengaluru night.
