Mehidy Hasan Miraz imparts adequate air on the ball to lure a desperate Hashmatullah Shahidi out of his crease. The slightly slower delivery dips on the Afghanistan captain, and the seam grips on the Dharamsala pitch. Shahidi, on 18 off 37, commits himself to the charge. He attempts a hit down the ground but it turns into a fatal hoick. Towhid Hridoy takes the catch at mid-on. Like he often does in home Tests, Mehidy set up the left-hander smartly with a series of dot balls.
It was just the breakthrough Bangladesh needed at that stage. And as Afghanistan fell from 112 for 2 to 158 all out, Mehidy helped himself to two more wickets. At this point, normally, a frontline spinner would take off his boots, pull up a chair, and wait for the batters to finish the simple chase. Mehidy went to bat at No. 3, instead.
Bangladesh know that Shakib Al Hasan is their leading cricketer. He has been the top-ranked allrounder in one format or other for a stretch of time that goes as far back as 2009. He was among the wickets on Saturday too. His class endures but it looks like he's finally got some competition.
Mehidy doesn't think he is the next Shakib. That is actually the source of all his confidence. He doesn't bring himself down by comparing himself to one of the game's greats. He just does his thing. Since his international debut against England in 2016, whenever Mehidy has been asked to step up, he has stepped up. That confidence has now spread into his batting. The only thing is, nobody is sure where he will bat next.
Mehidy, who was Player of the Under-19 World Cup in 2016, struck his first fifty in a senior World Cup match today and took his first Player-of-the-Match award in this tournament. He has produced some great performances since December last year, not least those two great wins over India. Mehidy continued that run of form with the bat and never lost what he had with the ball. It seems as if the more responsibility he has on his shoulders, the better he plays.
Afghanistan, twice now, have borne the brunt of Mehidy's great form. He struck a century, his first in ODIs, as an opener in the Asia Cup. At the World Cup, he hurt them a little with the ball and a little with the bat.
"I have worked really hard on my batting," Mehidy said, after scoring 57 off 73 balls in Bangladesh's six-wicket victory. "I have thought long and hard about it, how I can improve my batting. I prepared myself really well. The team also gave me a lot of opportunities up the order. It is a big deal for me. But we didn't think about the result, we wanted to get the process right. Result comes at the end of the day, so we didn't put focus on that. We didn't want to forget about the main job. We got our result because our bowlers came back into the game superbly."
Mehidy said that any time the team management gives him a batting position higher than his usual No. 8 spot, it is on him to take advantage of it. "Every cricketer has to adjust to different situations and he/she knows that they have to adjust to achieve something big. I have batted at No. 8 for a long time, but there was never a lot of opportunities in that position. At times there isn't enough balls left in the innings.
"I want to give my 100% in every position," he said. "I prepared myself mentally for these adjustments. Every position presents a different situation. I don't think too much about it when the opportunity comes in front of me. If you think simply, it is better to bat anywhere above No. 8. The team gets help if I play well. I face some problems but I don't focus too much about it. I have to perform well for the team, that's the most important thing. This win has made everyone, including the team and the country, very happy."
Through all the added focus he has put into his batting, Mehidy has never allowed his bowling standards to drop. On Saturday when he started poorly, his captain came over and revved him up a bit.
"I gave nine runs in the first over," Mehidy said. "I didn't bowl well. I was nervous. I was cautious in my mind. During the drinks break, Shakib bhai reminded me that there won't be success if I bowl with a negative mindset. I should be very positive. If they hit you, its ok. But they should charge at you, they have to hit your good balls. I prepared myself mentally again, and I thought how I should bowl in good areas. These small things make a lot of difference."
Mehidy was surprised that the Dharamsala pitch aided the Bangladesh spinners and once they saw that was the case, they settled into old rhythms. "When the pacers weren't doing well at the top," he said, "it put the spinners under pressure. Shakib bhai got two wickets, which boosted the team. We started bowling well from both ends. The pacers came back well. We didn't expect such a wicket in Dharamsala, but we found there was turn in our first two or three overs. The ball stopped a bit. We share the pitch information quickly with the captain and the bowlers, how to bowl in this wicket. We had great communication throughout the game."