Most of the cricketers and cricket pundits in Bangladesh believes that the country has truly made them a force to reckon with when they beat Australia in Cardiff, a victory that was considered as the biggest upset of the cricket history.
While Bangladesh was a minnow of cricket, Australia during that period was invincible after conquering the whole world with absolute dominance and force. But Bangladesh brought them down to the ground in one of the most famous upset to let the world know the Tigers are coming.
Today, the 18 June, marked the one and half decade of Bangladesh’s Cardiff heroics. Bangladesh won that match by five wickets, thanks to a brilliant century of country’s cricket’s first poster boy Mohammad Ashraful. While Ashraful anchored the chase of 250 runs, in excellent fashion, Mohammad Aftab gave the finishing touch with a towering six off Jason Gillespie.
But it all started with a magnificent spell from Mashrafe Bin Mortaza in a juicy pitch-his first spell accounted the wicket of dangerman Adam Gilchrist and read astonishingly 6-2-5-1.
“Obviously the early wicket didn’t tell us that we would win the game, but I remember that I bowled 6-2-5-1 in my first spell. Our bowlers used the moisture very well in the first ten overs,” Mashrafe said, recalling the memory of that great victory.
From the other end, Tapash Baisya swung the ball enough to keep Ponting and Matthew Hayden in check.
“You don’t really plan against batsmen of Ponting’s class. I just wanted to bowl quick on the stumps and let the wicket do the rest. I got excited seeing Mashrafe take the early wicket. I also wanted one. It was a close call but hitting him outside off stump,” Tapash Baisya said.
After the bowlers’ good job, it was all down to the batsman and Ashraful led the way.
“I was down on morale. I hadn’t done well in the Test series against England. I got out for a first-ball duck in the first ODI. This was my 50th match. I was telling Shahriar Nafees in the dressing room that I hadn’t achieved anything so far. He told me to look at it as my first match,” Ashraful said.
Bangladesh struggled against the best bowling attack of that time that included the likes of Glenn McGrath, Gillespie and compnay in pursuit of 250 and soon was made to 72-3. But Ashraful remained unfazed by what was happening around him.
He seemed to be in his zone and dispatched all the world’s best bowlers with utmost ease.
“As soon as Sumon bhai [Habibul Bashar] arrived at the crease, I told him we must win this game. He told me to keep batting and that we’ll see what happens in the end. I was taking calculated risks at least once every over. Whatever I was trying was coming off in almost every over,” Ashraful added.
Ashraful however couldn’t finish the match despite making a beautiful century. Bangladesh needed eight runs to win in the last over, which was delivered by Jason Gillespie and Aftab was the batsman.
By watching Gillespie’s field setting, Aftab sensed a slower is coming and he prepared to bash it.
“I made a bit of room on the off side and I went for the shot. Mashallah, I timed it well. From the moment I struck it, I knew it was going for six. It hit the sweet part [of the bat]. I may have fallen over if he had bowled a yorker (laughs). It was a Kookaburra bat with a Matrix sticker. It was Enam’s [Enamul Haque Jr] bat. I don’t know where it went. I can’t find it now,” Aftab said.BSS
