ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh survive dramatic last over to edge past Zimbabwe by three runs

Bangladesh survived a dramatic final over to pull off a narrow three-run win against Zimbabwe in an ICC T20 World Cup 2022 match, where players left the ground but were called back to complete the contest after officials realised that Nurual Hasan's stumping in the final ball was not clean, in Brisbane on Sunday.

Opener Najmul Hossain Shanto single-handedly propelled Bangladesh to a respectable 150 for 7 with his 55-ball 71-run performance, which featured seven fours and one maximum.

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In response, Zimbabwe lost too many wickets and was in trouble at 35 for 4 in the sixth over. However, Sean Williams sparked the chase with a superb 42-ball 64-run effort. Zimbabwe needed 16 runs in the final six balls after he was removed in the 19th over.

Mosaddek Hossain then bowled the most important over of his career as he dismissed Brad Evans (2) in the second ball, but Richard Ngarava slammed him for a four and a six in the next two balls to keep them in the hunt. 

Ngarava was, however, trapped by Hossain in the following ball as Zimbabwe needed five runs off the final delivery.

The players rejoiced and returned to their dugouts after the new batter Blessing Muzarabani was caught. The Zimbabwean supporters were given hope when the umpires abruptly pronounced it a no-ball because wicketkeeper Hasan had caught the ball in front of the stumps.

However, it was not to be as Hossain showed great nerves and slipped a fullish delivery and Muzarabani couldn't connect yet again. Zimbabwe ended their innings at 147 for 8. 

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It was Bangladesh's second win in the tournament following their 104-run loss to South Africa, while Zimbabwe suffered their first loss in the super 12 stages. 

Bangladesh (4) is now in the second spot in the points table with two more games to go, while Zimbabwe (3) find itself in the fourth position. 

Earlier, pacer Blessing Muzarabani claimed the wickets of Soumya Sarkar (0) and Litton Das (14 off 12) in his opening spell. Shanto, who had hamstring trouble in the initial stage and also survived a run-out scare, forged a 54-run stand with skipper Shakib Al Hasan (23 off 20) before adding another 36 runs with Afif Hossain (29 off 19). 

The duo punished the bowlers whenever they bowled short or too full, and Zimbabwe's fielders also looked sloppy as Bangladesh managed to find the boundaries easily. 

Zimbabwe had an awful day on the field as they were guilty of miss-fielding, missing run-out chances and dropping catches. 

Zimbabwe took a gamble by introducing left-arm spinner Sean Williams into the attack, and it paid off as he got rid of Shakib, who top-edged a slog-sweep and was caught by a diving Muzarabani. 

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Shanto continued to dominate as he completed his maiden fifty in the T20 format in the 13th over with a single. He sent Brad Evans for a leather hunt, clobbering him over long-on for the first six of the innings before picking up two more fours to accumulate 17 runs in the 16th over. 

It was Sikandar Raza who got rid of Shanto, with skipper Craig Ervine taking the catch. 

While Richard Ngarava bowled a tight next over, Afif was dropped by Evans at deep mid-wicket in the 19th over off Sikandar Raza, and the batter made good use of the chance, producing a big slog-sweep for a six as 12 runs came of the over. 

In the last over, Bangladesh lost three wickets. In total, Bangladesh scored 87 runs in the last 10 overs. Defending the total, Taskin Ahmed (3/19) and Mustafizur Rahman (2/15) did most of the damage early on before Hossain picked up two wickets in the final over.

(With inputs from PTI)