Bangladesh's diaspora muscle on display at Saxton Oval as Tigers ride to victory

It did not exactly rain fours and sixes but Bangladeshis supporting their team at Nelson's Saxton Oval kept howling the popular tune from the T20 World Cup.

As Shakib Al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman took Bangladesh towards a facile victory, the crowds shouted "Char Chhakka Hoi Hoi, Ball Goraiya Gelo Koi".

Sabbir and Shakib—and before them Tamim, Mahmudullah Riyad and specially Mushfiqur Rahim—did not let them down.

Fours and sixes did not rain down on the tall-scoring Scots but the Tigers did come up with one when it mattered. Like, Sabbir Rahman’s huge lofted 97-metre six that brought down the asking rate to below six per over.

Mushfiq lofted a huge six over mid-wicket but fell trying to hit another out of the ground just when he and Shakib looked like sitting pretty.

Sabbir appeared not to have scored the winning hit in the last two balls of the 47th over to give senior partner Shakib Al Hasan a chance to score his half century.

The veteran obliged and launched into the first ball of 48th over to smash a boundary to take Bangladesh to victory and end up with a personal 52.

That was a fitting way to answer the prayers of the hundreds gathered to support Bangladesh at Nelson—and millions back home and abroad.

None of the Bangladeshis supporting the team at Nelson appeared without the green-and-red team jersey.

Some kept cheering—almost shouting slogans like many do back home.

The only difference—the slogans were patriotic, not partisan.

"Amar Desh, Tomar Desh, Bangladesh, Bangladesh".

The furious cheering would have surely boosted the morale of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's boys.

They kept their cool despite facing a huge total and chased it down clinically without any rush of blood that has been the bane of Bangladesh's batting.

Nelson's Saxton Oval has a capacity of around 5,000.

Around 3,000 filled up the grounds, mostly Scottish supporters and children accompanied by teachers from local schools.

Bangladeshis numbered a few hundred, but each of them appeared to make up for thousands.

Local hospital nurse Maria was impressed by the vibrancy of Bangladeshis.

"They are so colourful, so lively," she said.

The holiday mood at Saxton Oval was marked by the volunteers going round offering drinking water, even sunscreen lotion to spectators.

But, the Bangladeshis appeared comfortable with the 27 degrees Celsius temperature. They are used to playing and watching cricket in much more heat.

The Bangladeshis who came to see the match were not Nelson residents.

Most had come from Christchurch more than 500 kms away.

But they appeared tireless—like those who supported the team at Australian venues during the previous matches against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

At Christchurch, some Bangladeshis are students but most are construction workers hired by an agency and brought from Singapore after the devastating earthquake that hit the city in 2011.

One such worker 'Shaheen' said they had taken three day's leave to be able to come down to Nelson to support the team for the match.

The son of a senior Bangladesh journalist living in a small town near Christchurch has been in New Zealand for two months.

On Thursday, he was down at Oval like Shaheen to cheer the team to victory.

"I can’t tell you how I feel. I am overtaken by emotions."

The growing confidence of the Bangladesh diaspora has come alive in the 2015 World Cup as never before.

The yellow and black striped Tigers they carry, the green-and-red jerseys they are dressed in, the endless Bangla chatter and banter—all these and more keep alive the spirit of the country and dreams of millions of countrymen, despite the fractious, destructive politics back home.