Mustafizur Rahman’s slower ball goes for a beamer; Tom Latham collects a four through fine leg

Mustafizur Rahman was one of Bangladesh’s star performers in the T20Is against Australia. Not only did he get wickets, but also bowled at an economy of less than four. In the opening T20I against New Zealand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, the left-arm pacer was the standout bowler for his team. He picked up three wickets and restricted the Black Caps to 60.

But in the second match on Friday, August 3, the Satkhira-born pacer didn’t have the greatest of days. He couldn’t get a wicket and conceded 34 runs in four overs when the Kiwis were chasing 142 to win. Mustafizur also bowled an overhead beamer to Tom Latham when the visitors needed 20 runs off the final over. The bowler went for a slower ball that went wrong.

The ball ended way above Latham’s waist and the batter threw his bat at it. Latham got enough bat for the ball to go to the boundary through fine leg. The five bonus runs reduced the target from 13 off two balls to eight off two balls.

Here’s the video of Mustafizur Rahman’s beamer   

After the game, Mahmudullah, the Tigers’ T20 skipper, talked about the faith he has on Mustafizur to deliver in crunch moments of matches. He also reckoned that the pitch got better for batting under the floodlights. Bangladesh won the game by four runs.

“In T20s, you get these sorts of close games. Happy to get the win, that’s what matters. Mustafizur held his nerve. I had quite a bit of confidence on him to deliver and he did. Mahedi has been bowling well, he’s been giving early breakthroughs.

“The wicket got better under lights. We believe that we are a good team in this format. We are happy to continue this streak (eight wins this calendar year),” Mahmudullah said after the match.

For us it’s about executing our skills, says Latham

Latham scored an unbeaten 49-ball 65 with six fours and one six, but his knock went in vain. The southpaw said that his bowlers need to up their game going deep into the series.

“For us to learn from the first game, I thought we did that. We weren’t quite as good with the ball today but we bowled quite well at the top. A better surface makes for a better game and that was the case.

“For us it’s about executing our skills. 130-140 was a competitive score and we took it deep. I am really proud of the guys the way turned things around,” Latham said.