Well... what does one say?
I watched the match, loved it... and yet, hated it. A large part of me wanted Bangladesh to win, but I`m an Aussie supporter. Dear oh dear. I don`t think it`s the loss that hurts so much, but rather the nature of it, and the games leading up to it. England have thrashed Bangladesh in the Tests and first ODI... and Australia lose their warm-up games and now this. My Dad was on the computer the whole time the match was on so unfortunately, a lot of things I wanted to say I can`t remember. But one can try.
Gilchrist`s dismissal looked plumb straight away. I was suprised to see hawk-eye and co saying it was going over the stumps. Just the fact that it was Mortaza was enough for me to be delighted.
Hayden looked scratchy through-out.
Ponting... oh Ponting. What the? Looked like a kid in his debut.
Martyn/Clarke scored decently but slowly. As soon as they went on the attack they were out.
Katich and Hussey did extremely well to fix things up. Haha, I think Hussey is still yet to be dismissed in an ODI.
Mortaza was amazing. Superb first spell really made me smile. His second (minus an over) was also fantastic considering he was bowling at the death. A few full-tosses, but no-one will remember them.
Baisya was... indifferent. Some good wicket-taking deliveries but a lot of short-wide tripe. Nazmul looked very one-dimensional, a bit like Watson but slower. Did nothing with the ball other than sometimes landing it in the right area. Aftab and Rafique did their jobs superbly, you couldn`t have asked for much more.
Bangladesh top order was what it needed to be, solid. Some awesome (if you can call them that) defensive shots, and some brilliant drives. They did their job. Omar looks like he would be a decent test player, hence his work against England.
Bashar/
Ashraful lived on the edge. And it worked. They took plenty of chances, and the payed off. Some stunning shots of the spinners and McGrath. Amazing batting, Australia never looked like getting a wicket.
And Aftab (you beauty) and Rafique saw them home. Crazy stuff to watch.
McGrath was below par. Didn`t get enough movement with the ball. Gillespie was the best, and yet nothing amazing. Kasper was steady. Hogg/Clarke got worked over and Hussey was himself.
Overall, a thriller to watch, Bangladesh really looked the better side for the clear majority of the match. Very happy to see Mortaza/Aftab up there, both their fielding was superb. Bangladesh`s batting was solid and inspiring. Hahah, it was frustrating to hear the commentators saying over and over "suprised that Ponting has chosen to bat". Why? He wanted to get his batters in form, post a dominating total that would be too daunting, and hence Bangladesh would implode.
In the end, I believe it came down to this. Australia came into the match trying to get into some form. Bangladesh came to win. That over-confidence by Australia, cost them the game. Bangladesh, with every shot they played, with every ball they bowled, were trying to win the match. Australia, with every shot they played, with every ball they bowled, tried to get into some form, tried to silence their critics.
The `Deshis won with a mature, proffessional performance, and their game plan in both bowling and batting was clearly superior.
In all seriousness, Bracken was needed. He wouldn`t have let things fall apart.
)
)
