Watch: Bangladesh needed 11 in the last over to beat India in the T20 World Cup 2016 match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. They lost by a run.
Asked to bat, India struggled throughout their innings to post 146-7 as Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza (4-0-22-0) and Shakib Al Hasan (4-0-23-1) completed their quotas while going for under a run a ball. Tamim Iqbal (31), Sabbir Rahman (26), Shakib (22), and Soumya Sarkar (21) kept Bangladesh in the hunt, but India kept striking to stay alive in the contest.
Bangladesh batted deep, which meant they could afford to hold Mushfiqur Rahim back until No.8 for that final onslaught. Bangladesh needed 21 in 13 balls when he arrived, and Mahmudullah immediately hit a four. It took an outstanding 19th over from Jasprit Bumrah – he gave away six singles – to keep Bangladesh at bay.
Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, R Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja had all bowled out. MS Dhoni had to choose between Hardik Pandya (2-0-20-0) and his part-timers – Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma. He backed Pandya to defend 11.
India opted a wide-yorker approach. Pandya stuck to the line, and Dhoni had Jadeja, his best fielder, at deep point. All Mahmudullah could manage was a single. 10 from 5.
But Mushfiqur went one up by taking a step outside off. The attempted wide yorker was not as wide anymore, allowing Mushfiqur to place the ball between cover and deep point to pinpoint precision. 6 from 4.
Pandya continued with his line outside off. Mushfiqur shuffled across again. This time it was not as overpitched, and with the fine leg up, Mushfiqur scooped it elegantly to bisect Dhoni and the fielder. As he watched the ball run towards its inevitable destination, Mushfiqur celebrated mid-pitch. If only he knew. 2 from 3.
The time to defend was over, and Pandya bowled a short-pitched ball. Mushfiqur went for the hook but found Shikhar Dhawan at deep mid-wicket with pinpoint precision. Mushfiqur walked back, but the batters had crossed already, so Shuvagata Hom went to the non-striker’s end. 2 from 2.
Pandya’s attempt to bowl the straight yorker resulted in a low full-toss. Mahmudullah went for what Sunil Gavaskar described on air as “glamour shot”. Jadeja, whose position had been switched as Pandya changed his line, sprinted in from deep mid-wicket to come up with a tumbling catch. Once again the batters had crossed over. 1 from 2.
Pandya had to switch modes yet again, for all he needed to do was to make Hom beat the bat. To prevent the obvious bye, Dhoni took his left glove off, in case he had to throw it. He did not need to. No.10 Mustafizur Rahman had, for some reason, arrived in full batting attire – even the helmet – and predictably failed to beat Dhoni, one of the fastest runners, in a sprint.
India won by a run. Had they not won the match, they would not have made it to the semi-finals, for they would have been tied on points with Australia, who had a superior net run rate (+0.233 to India’s -0.305).
Watch Hardik Pandya’s dramatic last over here:
#OnThisDay in 2016, India pulled off a dramatic one-run win over Bangladesh in a #WT20 group match in Bangalore.
WATCH ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/JGAzfOsrUu
— ICC (@ICC) March 23, 2018