Kingstown [Saint Vincent and the Grenadines], June 14 (ANI): After helping his team register a 25-run victory, Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said his side's total of 159 runs was not a winning total against the Netherlands but hailed the bowlers "chipped in perfectly" for a win.
Rishad Hossain's three-wicket haul and Shakib Al Hasan's unbeaten 64 kept Bangladesh's hope alive of securing a place in Super 8 as Tigers defeated the Netherlands by 25 runs in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 at the Arnos Vale Ground on Thursday.
With Bangladesh's victory, former champions Sri Lanka have become the first team to be eliminated from Group D of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. Bangladesh won two critical points in Group D, strengthening their position in second place on the rankings. Veteran Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Ak Hasan and young leg-spinner Rishad Hossain collaborated on Thursday to keep the team alive in the tournament.
Shakib said that it was important for someone from the batting unit to score big as he hammered an unbeaten 64 from 46 balls to help Bangladesh put up a decent score of 159/5
"It was important for someone from the top four to bat throughout the innings. Happy with the way I contributed with the bat. It wasn't an easy wicket at the start of the innings. We held our nerves, put on a decent total. I won't say it was a winning total, but it was a challenging total. Bowlers chipped in perfectly, especially the Fizz and Rishad. Those two bowlers took the game away from the Netherlands," Shakib Al Hasan said in a post-match presentation.
The all-rounder said that they were not sure what the good score was and talked about keeping wickets in hand. Shakib also hailed the Netherlands' batting but credited Bangladesh bowlers who came back strongly and got breakthroughs.
Rishad Hossain remained composed even after getting hit for a few and picked up three crucial wickets, including the big one of Engelbrecht. Mustafizur Rahman was simply sensational with the ball and the bowlers conceded just 12 runs in his entire spell, bagging one wicket.
"Hardly any international game has been played in the last 4-5 years, so we didn't know what's a good score. That's why we had to keep our wickets in hand and see where we are at maybe 14-15th over and then decide how far we can go. It was a decent total, we put the runs on the board. 160 in a WC game is always tricky and that proved. They had their moments, at the 12th over, they were 80 or 90 for three. Ten runs an over in this wicket, wind going one way, it wasn't easy for us to restrict them. Credit should go to all the bowlers the way they bowled, they held their nerves," he added.
In their last group match, Bangladesh will take on Nepal at the Arnos Vale Ground on Monday. (ANI)
