2019 Cricket World Cup: Mushfiqur Rahim's blunder aids Black Caps in two-wicket win

Shakib Al Hasan reacts after Mushfiqur Rahim's blunder.

By Niall Anderson in London

A horrendous blunder from Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim has played a major factor in the Black Caps' narrow two-wicket win in their Cricket World Cup clash at The Oval today.

At 61-2 in their chase of 245 for victory, the Black Caps looked in a spot of bother when it seemed like Kane Williamson had been run out in a shocking mix-up with Ross Taylor.

Taylor pushed a delivery from Shakib Al Hasan to mid-on, making the call for a quick single, but Williamson hesitated, and the throw to the opposite end had him well short of his ground. However, as the crowd packed with Bangladeshi fans erupted, Mushfiqur cut a sheepish figure.

Sure enough, he had accidentally knocked the bails off with his elbow before the ball had arrived – a mistake made worse by the fact he had no need to rush, and that the throw may have been a direct hit regardless.

Mushfiqur Rahim, What have you done?

— Arjun Ashok (@arj_90) June 5, 2019

Oh, no! Mushfiqur Rahim has just dropped the World Cup!#CWC19 #CWC2019 #BANvNZ #NZvBAN

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) June 5, 2019

Summed up brilliantly by @Bazmccullum in commentary ...

"Terrible runners between the wickets, these two. Absolutely shocking together." https://t.co/VdXHeTtV6H

— Jason Pine (@pineynz) June 5, 2019

Williamson was eventually dismissed for 40 from 72 balls, but he and Taylor had added an extra 99 runs to their partnership before he departed. Those runs turned out to be crucial as the Black Caps collapsed from 160-2 to 218-7, eventually limping their way to victory with 17 balls to spare.

Mushfiqur, who shone by making 78 in Bangladesh's opening win over South Africa, had a game to forget, being run out for 19 in the first innings.

He could have had company in experiencing that particularly frustrating long walk to the pavillion had he successfully ran out Williamson, but unfortunately for Mushfiqur, his blunder proved to be a pivotal turning point in the Black Caps' win.

Shakib Al Hasan reacts after Mushfiqur Rahim's blunder.

It wasn't the only close call between the wickets for the Black Caps, and Taylor reflected on their good fortune after the game.

"We were very lucky with the first one with Kane, and I think I was in by one centimetre and Jimmy [Neesham] was in by half a centimetre," said Taylor.

"That's part and parcel of cricket, I always do love batting with Kane, but we had a bit of luck today. I don't really read too much into it – you just trust yourselves and get on with it."

However, Taylor played down the importance of Mushfiqur's blunder on the eventual outcome.

"There were a lot of crucial moments – Tom Latham could have come out and had a better chance of having a bit of an innings out there. There's so many 'what if's' – at the end of the day we weren't as clinical as we would have liked, but we got the two points which is what we wanted."