Bangladesh bury Bengaluru demons in Colombo

"Whatever shots we played, we connected and those went for boundaries." © AFP

The tall chase against Sri Lanka was becoming increasingly eerie for Bangladesh, although their two best bets in Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah were out in the middle. The script was swiftly moving in the direction of their ill-fated 2016 World T20 clash against India in Bengaluru. Back then, Bangladesh needed 11 off the final over, and then 2 off the last three balls, after which, came an unexpected nosedive.

On Saturday (March 10), Rahim pulled out an audacious reverse sweep to score his first boundary, followed by an even more audacious fist-pump celebration. In an innings filled with madness, where he stepped out to the bowler to slap him over cover, and walked away from the stumps to scoop it for four, Rahim hardly did anything wrong. When Mahmudullah departed, there were still 21 needed to win but unlike the Bengaluru fiasco, one of the two senior men stayed till the end to take the team through, thus ending a drought that had extended for far too long.

That was a high-stakes World T20 game, this was a tri-series group stage fixture - and yet the win would've given Bangladesh a sense of liberation.

Desperate times need desperate measures and when a side has been scouring for a win as badly as Bangladesh, being smashed around for 214 doesn't help. In reply, Bangladesh opted for a sudden promotion to the opener's slot for Liton Das, even as Soumya Sarkar had not put a foot wrong at the top. Yet, Tamim Iqbal had his reason for making the shuffle. And a tactical one at that. "We knew that they will come out with the offspinner, that was one of the reasons to promote Liton and that plan worked for us. When you are chasing down 215, you pretty much need to attack everyone, you cannot relax. Whatever shots we played, we connected and those went for boundaries. The opposite can happen on other days, but I am proud today," Tamim said after the five-wicket win.

There have been multiple factors for Bangladesh struggling to find their T20 formula - from their much-discussed middle-over woes to their not-so-penetrative bowling.On Saturday, the latter persisted, but the batting covered up. After leaking 70 runs in the powerplay, they made up for it by bagging 74 themselves. Liton hit as many as five sixes and two fours during that passage of play, and set the stage up for the steep chase. Tamim's contribution at the top cannot be discounted either, for his 29-ball 47 helped Sarkar settle in at the other end, who focused on rotating the strike. Only 48 hours ago, Bangladesh's problems with playing too many dot balls - 55 of them - had surfaced during their loss to India.

Rahim arrived at the crease in the mood for adventurism, earning his first boundary through a brave reverse sweep. In the next two overs, he had hit two more sixes and a four. However, Bangladesh knew that in a demanding chase, a wicket had the potential to turn the tables completely. And against the run of play, the tourists lost Sarkar in the 15th over, with the asking rate still staying north of ten-an-over.

Mahmudullah's arrival though augured well for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh had to deal with a mini-battle within the bigger one - the task to overcome their fears that stemmed from the gut-wrenching loss at Bengaluru. For starters, the skipper had promised to return stronger from his lacklustre seven-ball stay in the previous fixture. And he did.

But with 22 remaining to get off the final 16 balls, Mahmudullah gave Bangladesh the feeling of Deja vu, when he found the mid-wicket fielder with a mistimed hit. Two years ago, he had found the fielder in the same region when Bangladesh were on the doorstep of a memorable win. But the man who had departed just a ball before during that contest was still out there in the middleon Saturday, and seemed intent on not letting a repeat show go on.

The next man in, Sabbir Rahman, fell for a two-ball duck but the former skipper summoned all his experience to take the team over the line, with two balls to spare.

At the start of the tournament, an unhappy Mahmudullah had retorted to a journalist, saying what had happened in Bengaluru was in the past and that life had to move on. Indeed it had to, but a win from a similar situation wouldn't hurt one bit, as he found out on Saturday courtesy Rahim, who scored a masterful 72 off just 35 balls - an innings that had four sixes and five fours.

"This is what you call 10-12 years of experience, he has put all of that to use today. I don't think I can complain about anything today. Had he been dismissed, I could have told him that - 'You should have finished the game.' But he did that too, I am very glad.

"The batsman who had made the mistake in Bengaluru, he didn't repeat ittonight. The way everyone criticised Mushfiqur [Rahim] that day, I believe, he should be praised as much for what he achievedtonight. This is a big step forward and for it to come at a time we needed it as badly, it is very satisfying. This is the best he has batted in a T20I," Tamim said in praise of his teammate.

In the end, Rahim did what the Bangladesh players call the 'snake dance'. He threw punches in the air and celebrated almost in the face of his opponents. He could be spared for that tonight though - he had just ensured his team would chase down the fourth-highest total in T20Is to end a long-lasting dry spell.