It’s June 9, 2017, and we are at the Sophie Gardens on an extremely cold evening in Cardiff. New Zealand have the ball in hand and Bangladesh are five wickets down, with Ross Taylor at first slip eagerly lurking to gobble anything and everything that would come his way, but, remarkably, under pressure are not the batting side. All of the 15,000 fans at the venue have, by now, lost their voice having incessantly cheered for 97.1 overs, and yet even that looks unlikely to stop the atmosphere from hitting its crescendo in precisely a ball’s time. “2 runs needed from 17 balls to win” reads the graphic on screen, but a 100 million people back home in Bangladesh know that a couple of more runs here from the bat of young Mosaddek Hossain will mean far, far more than just a victory. 

And in the very first game of the tournament, against hosts and favorites England, the Tigers sent a strong message that they were there to not participate, but win. Having been put into bat, Bangladesh, led by onslaughts from Tamim and Mushfiqur, posted a mammoth 305 on the board, making it clear that England had to ‘beat’ them. Eventually the Three Lions did, with relative ease, but it was evident that this was a Bangladesh side like no other.

Now New Zealand were a team that a lot of countries did not fancy facing, but that simply wasn’t the case with Bangladesh. In fact, Bangladesh loved playing against New Zealand. Prior to the Champions Trophy clash, they’d beaten the Kiwis a week ago in the final of a Tri-Series that also involved Ireland, and, on top of that, they’d also won three of their four previous ODI games versus the Black Caps, dating back to December 2016. So they entered the clash in Cardiff very well knowing that they stood a chance to not just knock out New Zealand, but to potentially qualify for the semi-finals. 

Why it was only a ‘potential’ chance was because Bangladesh, even if they beat New Zealand, needed England to down Australia at Edgbaston the next day to dream of making it to the next round. But if there was one thing that stood out about this bunch, it was that they were a pack that dared to dream. 

Then came a merciless pummeling from Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, who put on a grinding 83-run stand, but Bangladesh got through that phase, too, through unwavering belief and relentlessly persistent bowling. Though he had nothing to show for in the wickets column, skipper Mashrafe Mortaza marshalled his troops to perfection, and eventually, led by young Mosaddek Hossain’s three-fer, the Tigers had managed to restrict the Kiwis to 265, a total significantly lower than what everyone expected and predicted at the half-way stage. 

So heading into the dressing room for the innings break, this free-spirited side brimmed with confidence, knowing that they were potentially 50 overs away from scripting history. 

Luckily for the Tigers, though, at the crease were two batsmen who were there not just to win hearts. Both Shakib and Mahmudullah were non-existent up until then in the tournament, but with over a decade of experience under their belt, they knew this was their opportunity to shine; to not just make a name for themselves, but to potentially start a new chapter in their country’s cricketing history.

At 33/4, Bangladesh teams of the yesteryear would have folded under a 150 and accepted defeat, but not this one. Not the two players who were out in the middle, at least. Shakib and Mahmudullah took no prisoners. 

Turning a blind eye to the scorecard, forgetting the enormity of the occasion, the two veterans batted and batted and batted. That’s literally all they did: bat with freedom. 33/4 soon became 100/4 and though it wasn’t panic stations, the tension in the Kiwi faces was evident; desperation started to kick in. From Neesham to Milne to Santner to Anderson to even bringing himself on for a couple of overs, Williamson tried it all, yet nothing seemed to work. 

The pitch that looked like a minefield 10 overs into Bangladesh’ chase now behaved like Holkar, and in no time Bangladesh went to 158/4 in 32 overs, with Shakib and Mahmudullah adding 125 of those at almost run-a-ball. 

So that brings us to the moment.

264/5, 2 runs needed, 17 balls remaining. Even forgetting the fact that they were at one stage 33/4, a victory here would go down in Bangladesh’s history books, but should Mosaddek knock these two runs off, it could stake a claim to be the country’s best ever performance. This is a team that has been written off, mocked, belittled and humiliated for decades, and yet with one hit, this 21-year-old who is playing only his 17th ODI could make not just the harshest of critics and trolls rise up and applaud, but potentially seal a place for his country in the semi-finals of an ICC competition for the first time in its history. This is it. This is the most important delivery in the history of Bangladesh cricket.

Ban nz from Sassy on Vimeo.