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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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Top shot
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
© Cricinfo
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