Ashrafull Marks to Bangladesh

A sleep backlog stretching over the entire week caught up with me last night as I started feeling sleepy at 10 p.m. Within minutes, I was deep in slumberland. A while later though, my mobile started ringing. I think I let it ring for a few minutes before picking up to see which deathwish-ridden #$#%$#$% was rousing me from my sleep. The display informed me it was Rajk, noted Coincidentist and Cricket Fanatic, who was trying to call me. I hoped for his own physical well being that it wasn't the Coincidentist (what's that? that's the topic for another blog) in him calling me. It wasn't. It was the Cricket Fanatic who informed me that Bangladesh needed 32 runs to win from 4 overs with 6 wickets in hand. Oh yes, the opposition was Australia.

Understandably, my first reaction was to dismiss the call as a part of my dream. But a painful self-pinch later, I realised that he was serious. Bangladesh was on the verge of beating Australia in a one day international! I switched on the TV, searched for ESPN, and sure enough, they needed 23 off 17 balls, though the man who got them this far, Mohammad Ashraful, had been dismissed caught on the boundary. Fromn there on two guys named Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Rafique cool-headedly guided their team to a victory with four balls to spare. And the guys who bowled the 3.2 overs conceding 32 runs were not some rookies. They were Mcgrath and Gillespie.

Yes, Bangladesh had beaten Australia!!