Bangladesh v England, Super Eights, Barbados

Bizarre chants and stodgy batting

Plays of the Day by Dileep Premachandran

April 11, 2007

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Andrew Flintoff had another arm ball coming his way and he didn't expect it © Getty Images
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There's a touch of arrogance about Saqibul Hasan that makes him so entertaining to watch. Even with five wickets down, he didn't retreat into a shell, and when Andrew Flintoff pitched one a little too wide, he rocked back and sent the ball soaring over backward point. It cleared the rope by a foot - the shot of a cornered tiger rather than a meek mouse.

Armed and dangerous
In his previous over, Mohammad Rafique had Flintoff in all sorts of trouble with an arm ball. When he produced another, there was no response, just statuesque football and a half-hearted prod that did nothing to keep the ball from the stumps.

Comedy of errors
Habibul Bashar admitted later that he was cursing the loss of another wicket when Shahriar Nafees looped one up towards Michael Vaughan at short midwicket. By the time he heard the shout of "He's dropped it", it was too late, and Vaughan's throw to Paul Nixon - more in frustration than anything, he said later - gave England another wicket. Remember that old adage about keeping your eye on the ball?

Net run-rate? What's that?
With wickets falling and the tail to come, Nixon and Paul Collingwood played out 22 dot balls with just eight runs needed. Given that run-rate might be the clinching factor for a semi-final place, it was almost as perplexing as Graeme Smith's decision to give himself five overs (56 runs) against West Indies.

Sing when you're (barely) winning
No one could complain about the atmosphere though. The English fans were in fine voice, belting out Kumbaya and Rule Britannia, in addition to the usual Barmy Army chants. Father Christmas led the choir for Kumbaya, though the costume probably wasn't such a good idea given the intense heat.

How bizarre
No, we're not talking about the 1996 hit from OMC, but about a group of fans who kept chanting, "India, India" midway through the Bangladesh innings. But even they were eclipsed in the Joke of the Day stakes by another character who was waving a flag that said: East or West, India is the Best. Too much sun perhaps?

Dileep Premachandran is associate editor of Cricinfo

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Dileep Premachandran Associate editor Dileep Premachandran gave up the joys of studying thermodynamics and strength of materials with a view to following in the footsteps of his literary heroes. Instead, he wound up at the Free Press Journal in Mumbai, writing on sport and politics before Gentleman gave him a column called Replay. A move to MyIndia.com followed, where he teamed up with Sambit Bal, and he arrived at ESPNCricinfo after having also worked for Cricket Talk and total-cricket.com. Sunil Gavaskar and Greg Chappell were his early cricketing heroes, though attempts to emulate their silken touch had hideous results. He considers himself obscenely fortunate to have watched live the two greatest comebacks in sporting history - India against invincible Australia at the Eden Gardens in 2001, and Liverpool's inc-RED-ible resurrection in the 2005 Champions' League final. He lives in Bangalore with his wife, who remains astonishingly tolerant of his sporting obsessions.
Related Links
Match home : Match home
Players/Officials: Shakib Al Hasan | Michael Vaughan
Series/Tournaments: ICC World Cup
Tournament Results
Australia v Sri Lanka at Bridgetown - Apr 28, 2007
Australia won by 53 runs (D/L method)
Australia v South Africa at Gros Islet - Apr 25, 2007
Australia won by 7 wickets (with 111 balls remaining)
New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Kingston - Apr 24, 2007
Sri Lanka won by 81 runs
West Indies v England at Bridgetown - Apr 21, 2007
England won by 1 wicket (with 1 ball remaining)
Australia v New Zealand at St George's - Apr 20, 2007
Australia won by 215 runs
More results »
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