England 142 for 7 (Moeen 41*) beat Afghanistan 127 for 9 (Shafiqullah 35*) by 15 runs
The final margin of victory might not show it, but England survived a major scare against Afghanistan to sustain their World T20 hopes.
At 85 for 7 in the 15th over of the match, England were teetering on the brink of a defeat that would have reverberated around the cricket world.
But, through the calm head of Moeen Ali and the broad shoulders of David Willey, England cast off their shackles in the final overs to set a target that proved sufficient on a tricky surface on which batting was never completely straightforward.
Perhaps Afghanistan can feel a little unfortunate. Replays suggested that Moeen was fortunate to survive a leg before appeal off the bowling of Shapoor Zadran in the 18th over when England were 102 for 7. Moeen was on 20 at the time and, with Willey, went on to plunder 35 from the final two overs of the innings.
That Moeen-Willey partnership was crucial. The pair added 57 from the final 33 deliveries of the innings thrashing Amir Hamza for 25 from his final over. His first three overs had cost just 20.
Until then, it had been hard to be certain which side contained the pros who are extended every advantage and which was the side that gained Associate status less than three years ago. With England's panic-stricken batsmen struggling to adjust to a surface far removed from the Mumbai pitch where they made their highest T20I score a few days ago, they seemed to have no idea what constituted a par total. Indeed, it was a surprise they elected to bat first upon winning the toss.
It wasn't that the ball turned especially far for Afghanistan's four spinners. It was that it skidded through and sometimes gripped just enough to plant seeds of doubt. Conditions were not dissimilar to the UAE and England supporters will need little reminder how their batsmen have fared in Test series there.
While James Vince, in the side due to Alex Hales' back injury, had given England a fluent enough start in reaching 42 for 1 in the sixth over, his loss precipitated a collapse that saw them lose five wickets for 15 runs including a spell of three in four balls.
Mohammad Nabi was the unlikely destroyer. After clinging on to a return catch off the leading edge to dismiss Vince, he saw Eoin Morgan - who is in the middle of another fallow patch of form - inexplicably leave a straight one, first ball, which drifted into his off stump.
While Ben Stokes survived a confident leg before appeal from the hat-trick ball, Joe Root was run-out from the next delivery after over-committing to an optimistic single. Nabi, while initially breaking the stumps with his elbow before taking the throw, had the composure to rip a stump from the ground to defeat Root's despairing attempt to recover his ground.
Suddenly England looked petrified. Ben Stokes, losing his balance and his feet as he tried to pull a long-hop out of the ground, was bowled off a bottom edge, Jos Buttler's drive was brilliantly caught at extra cover and Chris Jordan was caught off the leading edge as he tried to turn one into the leg side. Had Moeen been adjudged leg before, England would have been in deep trouble.
But he was reprieved and he made the most of it. Hamza was slog-swept over mid-wicket for six then driven back over his head for four, before Shapoor was lofted over extra-cover for four more. Meanwhile Willey, good enough to open in T20 in domestic cricket, heaved successive sixes over long on off Hamza.
While probably under par, England's final total of 142 was only 20 under the IPL average on this ground.
If Afghanistan were to get close, they probably required a significant contribution from Mohammad Shahzad in reply. But, in the first over of the chase, his attempted heave into the leg side was beaten by Willey inswing and he was struck on the back leg in front of leg stump.
Jordan, bowling at a sharp pace, had Asghar Stanikzai taken at slip off fencing, and Liam Plunkett proved to have too much pace and bounce for a line-up lacking experience against such qualities. Plunkett, preferred to Reece Topley in the England attack, started his World T20 campaign with a maiden and conceded just 12 from his entire spell.
Nabi was lured into a drive to long-on, Rashid Khan was well caught at extra-cover and by the time Najibullah Zadran was run out by Jordan's direct hit - replays suggested his bat was over the line but in the air - and Samiullah Shenwari carved a filthy ball to cover, it became clear it was not to be Afghanistan's day.
While Shafiqullah's late impetus - he thrashed 35 from 20 balls including a magnificent straight six off Jordan to become the highest contributor from No. 9 in this format of international cricket - came too late to save Afghanistan, it may yet condemn England. They required not just victory here, but a victory that significantly improve their net run-rate. A 15-run win does not really provide it.
They will know this was not a convincing performance. Quite apart from their nervous batting, they donated overthrows, misfields and a drop - Buttler failing to cling on to a chance offered by Nabi off Adil Rashid on four - in the field. England will know that more experienced sides will punish them.
That experience is the key ingredient missing for Afghanistan. While they couldn't quite finish the job, they gave one of the Big Three who have made it so hard for them to gain further opportunities a bloody nose. They've proved they deserve their chance.
It is to be hoped that the ECB management who watched this game squirming with discomfort take up their cause in the board meetings that have a disproportional influence on their future advancement.
India 146/7 (20/20 ov)
Bangladesh 145/9 (20/20 ov)
India won by 1 run
How did it come to this?
After 39.3 overs of a pulsating contest in Bangalore, Bangladesh seemed to have a first ever T20I victory against India in their grasp. Two runs needed of three balls, with Mushfiqur Rahim on strike. The game should have been done and dusted, and India were staring at an early exit in the World Twenty20 at their own backyard.
However, Bangladesh proceeded to remarkably offer India a way back into the game, with Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah both being caught in the leg-side boundary off Hardik Pandya. Two needed off one, and suddenly, it was Bangladesh feeling the heat.
Pandya ran in for the final delivery, bowled outside Shuvagata Hom's reach, and MS Dhoni, who had earlier pulled off an outrageous stumping to dismiss the dangerous Sabbir Rahman, ran in 15 yards with one glove and ran out Mustafizur Rahman, who had only just walked into the cauldron.
The one-run win keeps India in their hunt for a place in the last four, with a match against Australia coming up. Bangladesh were heartbroken, having done all the hard work, but falling short by a few inches, quite literally.
Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled a superb third over after a poor start with the ball, gave away just six frantic singles in the penultimate over, leaving Pandya to defend the 11 runs, which he did only just.
Mushfiqur blasted the second ball for a boundary through the covers after Mahmudullah took a single off the first ball. Mushfiqur then got a second four off his bat handle while attempting a scoop, but he was caught at midwicket off the next ball, with Bangladesh needing two to win off the last two balls. Mahmudullah, who changed ends, fell in similar fashion, betraying his coolness under pressure, but Ravindra Jadeja still had to do extremely well to hold on to the catch.
The rest of the Bangladesh innings was just as frantic. Bumrah mis-fielded off the first ball and conceded a four; Tamim Iqbal, the batsman who hit the shot, had his eye on the ball and bumped into Ashish Nehra. Tamim needed medical attention and in the same over, he was dropped by Nehra off his own bowling.
Mohammad Mithun holed out at long-on in the third over before Tamim got another life in the next, this time seeing Bumrah drop a sitter at short fine-leg. Sabbir crashed Ashwin soon after, and Tamim took four boundaries off Bumrah, whose line and lengths went awry. Tamim eventually was stumped for 35 in the eighth over. Sabbir, who added couple of more boundaries, was smartly stumped by Dhoni for 26 off 15 balls.
Mashrafe Mortaza promoted himself to No. 5 and started off with a huge six over long-off but the gamble lasted just five balls. There was more madness to come - Shakib was dropped by Ashwin in the deep cover boundary on 8, and he made the most of the reprieve, nailing two sixes on the leg-side. Ashwin had the last laugh, though, getting him caught at slip in his last over. Shakib's 22 off 15 balls was crucial but so too was his dismissal as he got out at a time when he was timing the ball very well.
Mashrafe seemed to have risen out of his distress over Taskin Ahmed's suspension by bowling a superb four-over spell in which he did not concede a single four or a six for the first time in his career. His captaincy, to use sweepers on both sides of the wicket from the start and bowling changes, was also spot-on. He was backed wholeheartedly by Shakib's four strong overs, while Mustafizur and Al-Amin Hossain took two wickets each.
India could not get off to a good start after their openers were spooked by Shuvagata Hom's initial turn. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had to settle for singles before they struck a six each in the sixth over. Mustafizur had Rohit skying a flick which was caught at midwicket, in the same over. Shakib then trapped Dhawan, who was looking to sweep in the next over, meaning India had two new batsmen having to get settled on a tricky surface.
One of those batsmen was Virat Kohli, fresh off a fine match-winning knock against Pakistan on another tricky surface. Here, though, he stuttered through his run-a-ball 24, during which Al-Amin dropped a difficult caught- and-bowled chance in the 11th over. Suresh Raina, who top-scored with 30 off 23 balls, broke a boundary drought that lasted five overs, with a couple of sixes off Al-Amin in the same over.
Kohli got his first six in the 14th over but Hom kept his nerve by bowling the next one full and on the stumps. Kohli missed, and Bangladesh were back in the game by getting India's main man and breaking the 50-run third wicket stand.
Pandya blasted 15 off seven balls before he was brilliantly caught in the square-leg boundary by a fully diving Soumya Sarkar. Al-Amin also accounted for Raina in the same over, ensuring India's slog overs did not go to plan. The hosts managed only 34 runs in the last five overs, with 3.2 of them going without a boundary.
In the Asia Cup final, Dhoni had blasted 20 off the penultimate over to all but seal India's win. India's captain was not as explosive with the bat here, but his 13 crucial runs, cunning stumpings and cool run-out with one glove on, made the difference between the two teams.
The night will be remembered in Bangalore for a very, very long time.
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