Bangladesh in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 WT20 2012 - Tigers ‘caged’ for good? - Part 2 - Opinion
Continued from Part 1...
New Zealand’s innings against the Bangladeshis was a prime example of minnow bashing, which may have been entertaining for the big crowd at Pallekele, but was worth breaking a tear over, if one happened to be a Bangladesh cricket fan. What was worse was
that Bangladesh lost by a huge margin and did not appear competitive for even one stage of that game, where they had to settle for a mediocre score in response to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s 191 for 3 in twenty overs
That defeat at the hands of New Zealand, meant that Bangladesh had to play out of their skins in order for them to beat the pre-tournament favourites, Pakistan, and qualify for the Super Eights. They drew a lot of heart by smashing a powerful Pakistani attack
at that venue, by posting 175 for 6, and exposing the loopholes of an attack that has also been off color recently. Yet similar to other minnow sides, Bangladesh fell away miserably in defense of such a score, by possibly coming up with the worst bowling performance
in the tournament.
There were times in the recent past, where Bangladesh could win games after posting respectable totals, but Thursday night’s encounter against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 witnessed the most hapless bowling from a team that had to win the game on all accounts. Poor line and
lengths from the Bangladeshi pace men, and terrible bowling from the spinners had contributed to the ‘blitzkrieg’ that was on display by the Pakistan batsmen. Players like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Nazir-c64248 for example, who have been horribly out of touch, managed to sting themselves
back into action, partly because of the terrible line and lengths that were bowled by the Bangladeshi spinners and pacers. The end result was a thumping win for Pakistan by 8 wickets, which also meant that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 succumbed to yet another defeat.
In cricket, good teams tend to cherish the big occasion, whenever a knock out scenario comes about, which tends to bring out the best from any outfit. One can think of a mediocre side like New Zealand, which elevates its game whenever it comes into a global
tournament and plays a big match such as a quarterfinal or a semi final for that matter. In light of this, Bangladesh had a realistic chance of securing a place in the Super Eight stage by beating Pakistan by at least 36 runs. Their chances were boosted significantly
after the total they posted, and for the first half of the encounter, it seemed as if all the talks of being a minnow were just blasphemous statements out of the blue from Bangladeshi critics. When the Tigers took the field however, there was a complete lack
of intent in their mission to overhaul Pakistan, where rank half trackers were being bowled and bludgeoned by the blood thirsty Pakistan batsmen. Pakistan couldn’t have been more overwhelmed by a prospect as mouthwatering as peppering bowlers which lacked
venom and bite, and they were treated to net practice on Tuesday night.
That result also meant that Bangladesh lost yet another T20 encounter, and continued with their poor run of form in international tournaments. In previous times, one could excuse the Tigers for being in a rebuilding phase and learning the art of the game.
This exit however, hints at a team that has tasted considerable amount of international cricket, yet failed to build upon its past success. This fact makes the Bangladesh cricket team’s performance inexcusable to say the least.
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