T20 World Cup: The final delivery no-ball drama from Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe that left everyone baffled

Oct 30, 2022 - 14:30

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T20 World Cup: The final delivery no-ball drama from Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe that left everyone baffled

Another game, another no-ball drama.

Except unlike the India-Pakistan encounter at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, it wasn’t a contentious waist-high delivery that was at the centre of another comedy of errors involving the laws of the game.

Instead, it was the wicketkeeper who was at the heart of the incident that transpired after the last delivery of the Bangladesh-Zimbabwe match in Brisbane was bowled and both teams had left the ground.

The final over of Zimbabwe’s chase of the 151-run target was quite the topsy-turvy affair. Needing 16 to win off the last six deliveries with a set Ryan Burl at the crease, the Chevrons got off to a poor start in the final over with new batter Brad Evans holing out to the man at deep midwicket in the second delivery.

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Off-spinner Mosaddek Hossain was wayward in the next two balls — conceding four leg byes off the third before getting smashed for a six by Richard Ngrava off the fourth. Mosaddek did well to put the ball out of Ngrava’s reach and get him stumped off the fifth, and followed a similar plan for Blessing Muzarabani in the last ball, which ended as a dot as the tail-ender swung his bat in vain.

The players had already made their way back towards the pavilion and were shaking hands in post-match formalities when the third umpire decided to have a second look at the final delivery. And the discovery of wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan collecting the ball in front of the stumps led to the giant screen at the Gabba flashing the words ‘No Ball’.

The Bangladeshi players looked both baffled and stunned when the on-field umpires signalled for them to head back to the centre. Muzarabani, who had faced the last delivery in vain, had another shot at sealing another memorable win for the Chevrons, three days after their thrilling one-run win in the ‘Bean Derby’. The equation had then come down to four off the last ball.

Mosaddek however, held his nerve just when the game appeared to be slipping out of his team’s grasp, and unfortunately for Craig Ervine and Co, there was to be no Lagaan-like twist this time around as Muzarabani missed yet again, leading to frustrated celebrations from the keeper behind him and a collective sigh of relief from the rest of the Bangladeshi players on the field as they confirmed a three-run win and jumped to the second spot in Group 2.

There were plenty of interesting reactions to the incident on Cricket Twitter, some of which are listed below: