T20 World Cup 2022, Match 28: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe - Talking points and Who Said What?

Match 28 of the Super 12 stage in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 saw the exciting clash between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The Bangla Tigers pulled off a stunning win against the African nation following a last ball drama as the former won the fixture by 3 runs. Bangladesh now stands on the second place in Group 2 following the thrilling win against the Zimbabweans with four points.

Final Ball thriller for Bangladesh

Najmul Shanto’s sensational knock of 71 off just 55 balls handed the side a ray of hope to hold a competitive total as the Bangla Tigers were losing wickets swiftly at the other end during their innings. The Shakib Al Hasan-led side attained a total of 150 in their stipulated 20 overs.

In response, Zimbabwe too gave the rival side a run for their money in the hopes that they could hand another upset following their historic win against Pakistan. The African nation quite literally took the match till the final ball with five runs were required to earn a win. Blessing Muzarabani was to face the final ball and was deemed ‘out’ due to a stumping by the Bangla keeper. What followed was pure drama as Shakib’s side began celebrating, however, the umpires decided to take a review for the wicketkeeper collecting the ball before the stumps that essentially translated to the final ball being played again.

As the players headed back to the pitch for the replay of the final ball, the result was the very same, Bangladesh yet again took the match away, winning the match ‘twice’ in the span of minutes.

Zimbabwe display tough fight

Despite the sun shining on Bangladesh, Zimbabwe who were multiple wickets down right from the start of their batting, displayed sensational skills of fighting back with Sean Williams shifting gears for his side. The African side were on the cusp of registering another win off the final ball but ran out of luck during the re-ball. Moreover, the brief cameo by Williams gave the side hopes to take them till the very end, however, the skipper, Shakib Al Hasan at the other end came to Bangladesh’s rescue and snatched any chances of an ‘upset’.

Player of the Match, Taskin Ahmed said:

We were nervous in the middle after that last ball (no-ball). I've seen something like that for the first time. Just focusing on improving and giving my best. Back home we play on slow wickets, and here we get early movement and help off the track as well. Got a good bunch of fast bowling group, we support each other and working hard to improve ourselves. We get great support from our bowling coach (Alan Donald) and all the other support staff. We got good group and hopefully improve more.