Sports Live: Bangladesh came into the 2011 World Cup on the back of some good performances. They had beaten New Zealand and Zimbabwe at home and had lost only 1 of their last 11 games.

Apart from that they also sealed their first ever away victory when they beat West Indies in both Test and ODI series. When the performance was a reason to be delighted, there was another thing in favour of Bangladesh that they were the co-host of the 2011 World Cup alongside India and Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh won three matches, including their maiden win against England but still couldn’t make the next round, vastly because of their ordinary performances in the rest of the three matches. What would hurt more them despite three victories under the belt was that they hit new low against West Indies and South Africa.

They were shot out for 58 against West Indies, which still remains their lowest score in ODI cricket and 78 against South Africa. And those two performances indeed cost them the quarterfinal stage.

Narail Express Mashrafe shrug off his disappointment to stage a grand come back and led the Tigers in elusive quarterfinal stage in 2015 World Cup. He also became the first captain of the country to lead the side in consecutive two World Cups. Mashrafe’s rise from the ashes is the most enduring story of the country’s cricket also.

However Bangladesh took on India in their first match of the 2011 World Cup, a team whom they beat and led their early exit from the 2007 World Cup thanks to a scintillating bowling performance from Mashrafe. But coming in the 2011 World Cup, India was in mood to take a sweet revenge.

Suliman Benn took four while Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy claimed three apiece to scythe down the Bangladesh at their home of cricket-Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. West Indies won the match by nine wickets, getting to the winning mark in just 12.2 overs.

It was indeed a bad-tempered match. England captain Andrew Strauss had to drag his off-spinner Graeme Swann away from an ugly confrontation with the home side’s captain Shakib Al Hasan, while TV commentator David Lloyd apologised to viewers when a burst of foul language aimed at umpire Daryl Harper was picked up by the stump mike.

Bangladesh raised a prospect of breaking group phase for the successive second time when they beat Netherlands by six wickets. Bangladesh achieved their primary goal of a solid win over Netherlands by bowling visitors out for just 160 runs who had elected to bat and then shed off their target with more than eight overs remaining.

Had they not bowled out below 100 and conceded those two big defeats, Bangladesh certainly could seal the quarterfinal spot in that World Cup. And to be precise, given their performances they were not the team to be bowled out below 100. But still the 2011 event will go down in country’s cricket history as one of the worst World Cup for Bangladesh.

Dhaka, 15 May (campuslive24.com)//MIH