Bangladesh bow out of World Twenty20 losing last-over thriller against India by 1 run

Bangladesh have left millions of their fans stunned by contriving to lose in last three balls to India a crunch match that they had in their pocket to crash out of the World Twenty20.

They came within a whisker of pulling off a massive win and end India’s World Cup dreams on Wednesday but a brain freeze suffered by two of their most experienced batsmen saw them lose by just 1 run in the last ball in the Super 10s.

Mushfiqur Rahim (11) and Mahmudullah (18) blew it with two aerial shots in the last two balls before the final delivery.

Mushfiqur hit Hardik Pandya for two fours in succession in the final over that had started with the Tigers requiring 11 runs. They needed just two runs off the last three deliveries for a famous upset.

But he pulled a short one straight down the throat of Shikhar Dhawan at deep midwicket and in the next ball, Mahmudullah slogged a full-toss to Ravindra Jadeja in the same area to help India pull off a heist and stay alive in the tournament.

Bangladesh needed one run to force a tie and take the game to a Super Over, but Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury failed to connect a wide delivery.

The ball went through to the keeper and Mustafizur Rahman tried to scramble for a bye. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had taken off a glove for readiness, ran in with the ball and broke the stumps with the batsman way short.

Bangladesh, opting to field first, had topped up a brilliant bowling effort with smart fielding to restrict India to 146 for 7 on a slow surface.

The pacers kept India on a tight leash from the outset. The spinners then dried up boundaries before a late assault from India took them to the total.

Tamim Iqbal (35) gave Bangladesh a good start but Indian bowlers fought back in the middle overs to reduce Bangladesh to 95 for 5.

Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (2-20) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-22) kept the batsmen in check by bowling in the right areas. Ashwin in particular was very impressive, going past the outside edge a number of times.

But India's fielding looked out of sorts at times as Bangladesh batsmen were given reprieves while being helped by misfields and overthrows.

The match turned here and twisted there before the scale apparently tipped decisively in Bangladesh's favour during the chase.

With three openers in the team, Bangladesh sent Mohammad Mithun Ali to open the innings with Tamim Iqbal but he perished early trying a big shot off Ashwin.

Tamim (35) and Sabbir Rahman (26 off 15 balls) then put on 44 off 32 deliveries to kickstart the chase.

Tamim, who was dropped twice on 6 and 15, came out all guns blazing and kept dancing down the track in search of boundaries.

He speared four boundaries off Indian prodigy Jasprit Bumrah in the sixth over to take Bangladesh to 45-1 in the powerplay.

But Jadeja pulled things back India's way when the opener once again walked down the pitch but was outfoxed with a flat quicker that had him stumped.

Sabbir survived a couple of streaky shots off Bumrah which went for boundaries before chasing a wide one from Suresh Raina down the leg side. He lost his balance and his front foot went off the ground briefly. Dhoni waited for the right moment to whip the bails off in a flash.

Mashrafe (6) promoted himself up ahead of Mahmudullah and pinch-hit a six over long on. But he was castled two overs later by Jadeja.

But Shakib Al Hasan (22) was looking dangerous and launched two sixes in consecutive overs after a reprieve by Ashwin to keep the team in the hunt. But Ashwin made amends snaring the crucial wicket by having the left-hander edge one to first slip.

The team slipped to 95 for 5 in the 13th over as Soumya Sarkar (21) finally walked in at number 7.

He and Mahmudullah added 31 runs for the sixth wicket to tilt the match back in Bangladesh's favour.

But Soumya messed up his bottom-hand grip to send Ashish Nehra's full toss straight to Virat Kohli at long on, setting up a thrilling finale to the match.

Mahmudullah then picked out the gap in the square to score a boundary and bring the equation down to 17 off 12 balls.

Bumrah bowled superbly in the penultimate over by getting his yorkers right and conceding just singles off every ball before the Indians held their nerves as Bangladesh stayed winless in three matches.

India climbed to second in the Group 2 points table with 4 points in three matches behind New Zealand who have already reached the semifinals.

Earlier, captain Mashrafe rose to the occasion and executed the plans well. He got five of his bowlers to bowl one over spells.

Indian batsmen found it difficult to find the middle of the bat, managing just 42 for 1 in the powerplay.

The track offered assistance for the bowlers as offspinner Shuvagata, who was introduced in the second over, produced considerable turn.

After being hammered for two sixes, Mustafizur drew first blood with a slower which Rohit Sharma (18) holed out to Sabbir Rahman at midwicket. Shakib landed another blow in the next over by trapping Shikhar Dhawan (23) in front.

Having bowled a tight first over, Mashrafe came back in the attack and tightened the screws on the batsmen.

Virat Kohli (24) and Suresh Raina (30) steadied the ship with a 50-run stand but the boundaries were still hard to come by.

In-form Kohli, earlier dropped by Al-Amin off his own bowling, creamed a Shuvagata full toss for a six, his first boundary in 23 balls, but fell in the next ball when the allrounder executed a quicker delivery to crash into the stumps.

Looking to force the pace, Dhoni promoted Hardik Pandya ahead of Yuvraj Singh. His decision seemed to have paid off when he cracked back-to-back boundaries off Shakib.

But Pandya fell to Al-Amin when the seamer struck twice in an over. Al-Amin forced Raina, who was trying to break free, to hole out at square leg with short delivery.

Soumya then held on to stunning catch at deep midwicket to see the back of Pandya as India slipped to 117 for 6 in the 17th over.

Dhoni (13) and Jadeja (12) smashed three boundaries in the penultimate over before Mustafizur sent the latter packing in the last.

Mustafizur (3-24) and Al-Amin (2-37) were the pick of the bowlers while Shuvagata , Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah chipped in with a wicket each.

Bangladesh will take on New Zealand in their last match of Group 2 in Kolkata's Eden Gardens on Saturday. 

Brief scores:

India: 146-7 in 20 overs (Rohit 18, Dhawan 23, Kohli 24, Raina 30, Pandya 15, Dhoni 13*, Yuvraj 3, Jadeja 12, Ashwin 5*; Mashrafe 0-22, Shuvagata 1-24, Al-Amin 2-37, Mustafizur 2-34, Shakib 1-23, Mahmudullah 1-3)

Bangladesh: 145-9 in 20 overs (Tamim 35, Mithun 1, Sabbir 26, Shakib 22, Mashrafe 6, Mahmudullah 18, Soumya 21, Mushfiq 11, Shuvagata 0*, Mustafziur 0; Nehra 1-29, Bumrah 0-32, Ashwin 2-20, Jadeja 2-22, Pandya 2-29, Raina 1-9)

Result: India win by 1 run

Man-of-the-Match: Ravinchandran Ashwin (India)