Unit after tight win, Bangladesh captain Nazmul Hossain credited his bowling unit for holding their nerve in the middle overs against Sri Lanka to help them get their ICC T20 World Cup campaign off to the right start in Dallas on Saturday.
Bangladesh opted to field and looked like they were on the verge of paying for it after the Powerplay when Sri Lanka made 53 for two and looked set to post a challenging total before their bowling unit regrouped to restrict them to 124-9. , three wickets courtesy of Rishad Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.
“I didn’t have any doubts when they did well (in Powplay) because I always had faith (in my bowling unit) and the game was such that one or two wickets could help us come back. Our bowlers have been performing in the last two series. I am very proud of them. I was confident and that’s what they did,” Nazmul told reporters after their win.
“I think we didn’t get off to a good start but afterwards the way everyone stayed calm, they showed good character. We know the batting wasn’t good but on a wicket like this and in a pressure game like that things happen and it was very important. They tried a lot for the match. But at the end of the day we got two points and that’s why I feel good,” he said.
Nazmul also admitted that it has been the most stressful unit after tight win match of his career so far due to the rivalry created between these two teams. “You can say that and I felt that way (under pressure) and even from the last two days we all knew. Personally I felt that I have not played such a high pressure match before but we can win the game. We all knew how this match was for us. important,” he said.
Najmul praises bowling unit after tight win
Though the batting unit didn’t click once again, Nazmul refused to point fingers and insisted that the set batter must bat for a longer period to help the team cross the finish line. “I don’t thinkweneed to worry too much (about the batting) and I will say that because it was a pressure match and at the end of the day we want to win and if we talk about results we got two.
Point allthe batsmen know that we Didn’t bat well but not everyone can bat well every day like Hridoy Bhai finished the game and after a while Liton started well and so there are some good things andwhat I hope is the match for us Should win as I don’t think all seven batsmen in unit after tight win the team will play well every day,” said Nazmul.
Acknowledging that the win will boost their confidence, Nazmul played chatter unit after tight win around the wicket for their next match against South Africa in New York. “We watched the game between Sri Lanka and South Africa on TV about the New York wicket.
The whole team sat together and watched the game because we didn’t practice that day. We planned how we were going to play and there was India-Pakistan.” The matchunit after tight win on the 9th will give us another opportunity to see the wicket so we have some idea of the pitch and we have to bat and bowl according to the wicket we are prepared to play on,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Thushara, who took 4-18, insisted they were 20 runs short. “The pitch was tough and it was tough for the batsmen. We were just 20 runs short. If we could have scored those 20 extra runs, unit after tight win we would have won the match.
But we did our best for 120 runs as we wanted. To win this unit after tight win match somehow We played till the last ball that we can win this match,” said Nuan adding that his stint with Mumbai Indians in the recently concluded IPL helped him keep calm under pressure.