Sports

Victory in Chittagong

Salman Rob
Back from Chittagong

A Classic shot by Tamim.

England versus Bangladesh, a must win game for our Tigers, with 3 runs needed from 7 balls and Mahmudullah Riad on strike, a moment that will always be remembered by the electrifying crowd of the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury (ZAC) Stadium in Chittagong. The stadium chorused cheers, as Riad took the Bangladeshi tigers to victory with six balls in hand.

If you are thinking that Chittagonians are not as crazy about cricket as Dhakaites are, think again! The southern city's crowd is as crazy as it can get and truly amazing.

With a very poor batting performance by the English team, Bangladesh had to chase quite a low total of 225 runs. The way the son of Chittagong, Tamim Iqbal, had started off, it seemed that victory was ours for sure. But after a blistering start with 5 fours and a total of 38 runs, Tamim got out and slowly within 75 runs, Bangladesh was 3 wickets down. Even then, the fans did not lose hope.

Just when everything seemed to settle down, another wicket fell; it was Imrul Kayes, a huge set-back for the team. Bangladesh was 150 runs for 4 wickets. Things started to get worse when Captain Shakib Al Hasan was dismissed. The score -- Bangladesh, 162 runs for 5 wickets. And wickets kept going down till Bangladesh was a 170 runs for 8 wickets. It seemed like it was probably the end of the game, then and there, for Bangladesh. A few people started leaving the stadium but a majority were still inside praying for a miracle to happen. And Shafiul Islam and Mahmudullah Riad were answers to the prayers. Maybe it really was a miracle or maybe the stadium was just lucky for us, what ever it was, a magical inning was shown by the two tail enders. They kept on hitting a series of fours and sixes, slowly and steadily shoving the team towards victory. It was a win that will go down in history of Bangladeshi cricket, a win that shall never be forgotten, and a win that was much needed.

Different ways of cheering.

"The game was insane! I still can't believe we won and I am still in shock!" exclaims Mamun Ahmed, a student of Chittagong Government College (CGC). "The Tigers have shown their strength and dedication today and we must not forget that. It is a tendency of ours to get too emotional after a loss and we should always keep in mind that someone has to win and it does not have to be us all the time. If you are a true supporter, you should stick to that through out, and encourage the team rather than throwing comments that are absurd. We have to let them know that we are there for them. If they fall, we fall with them, when they rise we rise with them!"

Raising the flag high.

For Raisa Shafiquddin a student of North South University (NSU) and Syed, a student of Chittagong Grammar School (CGS), it was a first time experience watching a match at the stadium. Both of them were blown away by the ecstatic atmosphere at the ZAC stadium and had the time of their lives. Syed says, "It is an awesome feeling to watch the Tigers win!"

It was a day to remember and a day of celebrations in Chittagong. Even after staying at the stadium for several hours, the spectators were out on the streets to enjoy the night. The best scene of the night would definitely be the long line, the people made, starting from the stadium to the hotel where the cricketers where staying, just to give them the ovation they deserved. Our next game was against Holland, which the Tigers won, once again. It seems like our heroes got their 'game faces' back on. Let us keep all our fingers crossed and hope that Bangladesh qualifies in the top 8.

Go Tigers!