Towel costs Ireland star the catch of the season as Litton Das escapes with a bizarre six in Bangladesh’s last-over win

Bangladesh sealed a series-levelling win at the Bir Shrestho Flt Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram on Saturday as skipper Liton Das scored a brilliant half-century to help the hosts chase down 171 against Ireland. Das scored 57 runs in 37 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes, helping Bangladesh win by four wickets with two balls to spare. The decisive match will be played on Tuesday at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

But much of Das’s innings was due to sheer luck, which saved him early in his innings. On the fourth ball of the 11th over of Bangladesh’s chase, Ireland thought they had achieved their second breakthrough in the space of five balls when Gareth Delany hit a brilliant shot to deep mid-wicket. Das was batting at 34 runs off 24 balls at that time, while Bangladesh had two wickets for 94 runs and if the wickets had not fallen then this innings would probably never have been heroic.

Joshua Little bowled a short ball and Das pulled it over midwicket with his front foot. Deployed in the deep, Delaney kept his eyes on the ball while retreating and caught the ball with his right hand. Knowing that he was close to the boundary and losing momentum, he deftly threw the ball back into the air.

Delaney fell to the ground, regained his balance and proceeded to complete one of the catches of the season. But the towel came in between.

The TV umpire reviewed the effort and ruled a six after noticing that the towel hidden behind Delaney’s back at the time of the catch had hit the boundary cushion. Since the towel counted as part of his equipment, the decision went in the batsman’s favor – and Das largely escaped the scare.

Earlier in the match, with the help of wicketkeeper-batsman Lorcan Tucker’s inning of 42 runs in 32 balls, Ireland scored 170 runs for six wickets at the end of 20 overs. Mahedi Hasan was the best bowler for Bangladesh, taking three wickets in the space of just 18 balls in the middle order.

In reply, Pervez Hossain Emon helped Das put together a 40-run partnership for the second wicket, before the captain fought back single-handedly to level the series.