Cardiff proved to be the happy hunting ground for Bangladesh once again as they kept their hope to move into the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy alive, crushing New Zealand by five wickets from a dire strait yesterday. Being reduced to 33 for four, in pursuit of 266, Bangladesh seemed to head towards a big defeat in a ground in which they beat the then all conquering Australia 12 years ago to begin their cricket renaissance.
Standing on the brink of being ruled out from the tournament, Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad refused to give up. Both of them brought up fighting centuries to build all time Bangladesh ODI record 224-run partnership and script an unbelievable comeback, gunning down the target in just 47.2 overs.
Bangladesh now wait for the last four-stage, provided England, who have signalled their title intentions by cruising into the semi-final following two convincing outings, beat their archrivals Australia today at Birmingham.
The bowlers did the initial job by restricting New Zealand to 265 for eight, a score that was considered below par given 300 plus scores were chased down by the teams regularly in the tournament.
Shakib smashed a run-a-ball-114, hitting 11 fours and a late-cut six that brought up his seventh ODI century. Mahmudullah was unbeaten on 102 off 107 with eight fours and two sixes.
However, the wicket was two-paced as it assisted the pacers initially to move the ball in both ways. By the blessing of lateral movement, Tim Southee trapped Tamim Iqbal leg-before in the second ball of the innings to shiver the Bangladeshi fans.
Southee at this stage was almost unplayable and delivered two more outstanding deliveries to remove Sabbir Rahman (8) and Soumya Sarkar (3). Mushfiqur also struggled to tick the scoreboard and Adam Milne ended his dismal stay with a 146km delivery that uprooted his wicket.
Mushfiqur’s dismissal brought the team to a position where most of Bangladeshi supporters were thoroughly disappointed and feared an almost certain crushing defeat in the hands of the Kiwis. But two ‘so far out-of-form’ batsmen Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad, who came to the crease, made an astounding turnaround and eventually led the team to victory. The duo appeared unfazed by the seam movement and slowly but confidently built the innings from a dire situation. It was however Mahmudullah who firstly came out from the shell, by smashing Jimmy Nisham consecutive six and four past square leg and deep square leg. And from then, both of the batsmen were unstoppable. By the time when they started charging the bowlers, the pitch became easier to bat on and the Kiwis began getting frustrated.
Shakib Al Hasan, who was behind Mahmudullah in scoring runs, gradually took the anchor role and firstly brought up his century with a late-cut six. He then hit consecutive fours before Trent Boult uprooted his stump to bring an end to the splendid 224-run partnership.
By then, Bangladesh was just nine runs away from the victory. Mahmudullah then brought up his century with a square-leg boundary and repeatedly pointed his bat to the dressing room, probably to show it to the coach who may be considering to drop him from the ODI side.
Mosaddek Hossain Saikat then hit another boundary to seal the match in style. Earlier, Mosaddek who returned to the squad after a match replacing Imrul Kayes, claimed three wickets to spark New Zealand collapse when the Kiwis were seemingly in a position of dominance.
With 203 for four in 40 overs, the Kiwis were set for a final onslaught with the big hitter like Corey Anderson, Jimmy Nisham and Neil Broom were in the line.
Mosaddek helped Bangladesh claw back into the game, snaring the three big hitters in just two overs and shattered Kiwis hope of a big total by stemming the run flow. The pacers did the rest to complement the job of Mosaddek. The extraordinary job of Mosaddek, who ended figures of three for 13 in three overs, meant New Zealand made just 62 runs in the last 10 overs.
Apart from Mosaddek, Bangladesh made another change by bringing fast bowler Taskin Ahmed in the place of off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraj. The change also proved to be a masterstroke. While Mosaddek ruined the hopes of the Kiwis big total, Taskin Ahmed initially made New Zealand disarray with searing pace and a barrage of accurate bouncer and reduced them to 69 for two.
Skipper Kane Williamson and experienced Ross Taylor then brought up all their experience to frustrate Bangladeshi bowlers and at this phase they looked unstoppable.
However, luck was with Bangladesh as Williamson, who looked invincible, was trapped run out in a mix-up with Taylor after scoring 57 off 69 with five boundaries. By then he combined for an 83-run along with Taylor to set up the platform.  Taylor was the highest scorer of the side with 82-ball 63, sending the ball across the rope six times. Apart from Mosaddek’s three, Taskin snapped up two for 43 while Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman picked up one wicket apiece.