Desk Report,
The world has heard the tiger’s roar.
A new dawn has dawned in the cricket sky of Bangladesh at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Bangladesh stunned the world by defeating world champions Australia by 5 wickets yesterday! This unforgettable victory that shattered Australia’s pride came with a flawless century by Mohammad Ashraful.
The world has heard the tiger’s roar.
The team batting first has won all four ODI matches played at the Sophia Gardens before. Why did Ricky Ponting bat first after winning the toss? Eternal Australian arrogance does not seem to be the only reason. Whatever you say, the defeat in the first two matches of the England tour has shaken the world champions so much that Ponting walked on the safe path in the match against Bangladesh as well. But even that did not save him.
The Sophia Gardens wicket gives bowlers what they can in the first hour of the morning, and after that it becomes only for the batsmen. Even after that, it seemed safer for Ponting to bat first, for two reasons. One. Despite losing against Somerset, Australia scored 342 runs in that match. That is why he had more confidence in batting than bowling. Two. In all the upsets in ODI history, no weaker team has won by batting later. If the second reason is in Ponting’s consideration, then it is a matter of great joy for Bangladesh. Australia has won the previous six matches against Bangladesh with such ease that if they had even thought about the possibility of an upset in the seventh match, it would have been a lot. However, Bangladesh answered all the criticism by causing that upset, proving their cricketing prowess. After coming out to bat, it did not take long for questions to arise about Ponting’s decision. Mashrafe and Taposh together made it a dream morning for Bangladesh. Mashrafe got Gilchrist lbw with the second ball, and no runs were yet on the scoreboard! Ponting is also lbw in the sixth over, this time it’s the bowler Tapas. Australia’s desire to dominate with every ball is what sets them apart from other teams, and in the sixth over, Australia’s runs were only 9!
