Feature

Mahmudullah's meme time

From falling trousers to dropped catches and lost balls, plays of the day from the ODI between New Zealand and Bangladesh

Mohammad Isam
Mohammad Isam
24-May-2017
File photo - Mosaddek Hossain had a chance to dismiss Tom Latham in the 15th over but missed a caught-and-bowled chance  •  Sportsfile via Getty Images

File photo - Mosaddek Hossain had a chance to dismiss Tom Latham in the 15th over but missed a caught-and-bowled chance  •  Sportsfile via Getty Images

The gif moment
In New Zealand's final overs, Matt Henry edged Mustafizur Rahman to third man where Mahmudullah made a tough stop, but suffered a wardrobe malfunction - his trousers slipped as he dived. It was a situation similar to the ones players Lou Vincent, Neil McKenzie and Michael Vaughan had found themselves in. While McKenzie and Vaughan couldn't stop the ball and managed to quickly pull up their pants, Mahmudullah's quandary was similar to Vincent's.
Unlike the former New Zealand batsman who didn't mind throwing back the ball with his trousers down, Mahmudullah ensured he was properly attired before throwing the ball back to the keeper. In the age of the Internet, however, it didn't take long for meme makers to put together clips and a three-second gif.
The belated revenge
Nasir Hossain was at square-leg when he dropped Tom Latham in the first over of the match. Thirty overs later, he bowled Latham through the legs with a delivery that went straight with the arm. It was his second wicket in the spell, having removed Neil Broom in the previous over. Latham's 84, however, made Nasir's payback look rather dry.
The incorrect choice
Latham's second life in this game came in the 15th over when he couldn't keep an on-drive down. The bowler Mosaddek Hossain only had to avoid non-striker Neil Broom to complete a simple caught-and-bowled chance. However, Mosaddek didn't go full tilt at it and didn't even bump into Broom, but appealed instead for obstruction of the field by the non-striker. Replays showed, however, that Broom was at no fault and was simply returning to his crease.
The small contribution
Mushfiqur Rahim's wicketkeeping has improved by a significant margin since he gave up the gloves in Test cricket earlier this year. As Rubel Hossain kept hammering in his yorkers, the New Zealand batsmen tried to get bat to ball as many times as possible. Every time it took an outside and inside edge, Mushfiqur tried hard to stop the ball and, on most occasions, he was successful. In a fielding performance that was marked by four dropped catches, Mushfiqur's neat keeping was an encouraging sign.
The lost ball
The batsman who loses a ball after just one delivery isn't really popular at any level, be it gully, club, first-class or international. So when Tamim Iqbal slammed Jeetan Patel out of the Clontarf ground off the first ball of the Bangladesh chase, he may not have won himself many fans among the organisers. A new ball had to be summoned quickly, while someone went looking for the first one. Incidentally, Tamim is only the third batsman in the last 15 years to have hit a six off the first ball of an ODI innings. One advantage for the bowler in this case, however, was that the change in ball quality was negligible. To his credit, Patel dismissed Soumya Sarkar just two balls later.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84