A little right in all the wrongs (18 May 1999)

18 May 1999

A little right in all the wrongs

Iresh Zaker

It's a little past lunchtime at Chelmsford. Bangladesh are all out for 116. New Zealand, in reply, are at 31 for the loss of Nathan Astle and Craig Mcmillan. Not much has gone right for our boys today. And they have not been a friend to their fortunes either.

Much of Bangladesh's collapse has been self-inflicted, as the top batsmen have gotten out playing one ridiculous shot after another. There has been one Bangladeshi performer, though, that has not faltered. And that is the one in the stands.

In a tournament that has generally lacked colour, both in the crowd and atmosphere, yesterday's game has been a welcome respite. The Bangladesh crowd has drummed up quite a carnival. They have been vociferous yet polite. They have cheered every run with great heart and have not let repeated batting failure choke their roar.

The Bangladeshi contingent has comprised most of the crowd and there is proud waving of the glorious green and red everywhere the cameras turn. One wonders how long it is going to be before the excitement of the crowd acts as positive energy rather than nerve strainer for the players. Bangladeshis are weary of repeated instances where we provide the colour and they take the prize.

Among the players, Hasibul Hossain has been the prime performer. There was nothing peaceful about Shanto's performance with the willow. He batted with fresh belligerence, hitting a marvelous straight six off a Chris Harris floater among other enterprising ventures. He could be forgiven for feeling a little hard done by after being given out off a no-ball.

Hasibul also bowled well before the lunch break, conceding only two from his four overs and would consider himself a touch unlucky that three miscued shots fell excruciatingly short of the fielders.

Post lunch, the Royal Bengal paceman has taken the wicket of Macmillan and generally bowled with great heart. His aggression is something other players should be infected with.

Other than that and a trying effort from Manjurul, one can only hope for more of the bright Bengali sun on rest of today's game and the following matches of the tournament.

Source :: The Daily Star