Bangla-desh skipper Sakib al Hasan said he always believed that they would win the match against Ireland despite putting only 205 runs on board after batting first at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday.
Bangladesh made the meagre score a winning total after a four-wicket blast by paceman Shafiul Islam helped them dismiss Ireland for 178 runs with five overs left.
‘I always believed in us. What we needed was some regular breakthroughs and we did it,’ said Sakib.
‘It’s not only me, the entire team believed it. In the dressing room a lot of players came to me and said, “Don’t worry we will win the game at least by 30 runs.’
The fate of the match was hanging in the balance until Shafiul bowled his third spell, which was full of surprise.
Shafiul revese-swung the ball in the spell and became an unlikely hero for Bangladesh in a game otherwise dominated by the spinners. The performance effectively ended the nightmare he had against India in the opening match, conceding 69 runs in seven overs.
Sakib understandably showered him with heavy praise.
‘We all knew that he can bowl better and he did exactly that,’ said Sakib.
‘Today [Friday] in the first and second spell, he did not get his rhythm right but I think in the third spell he bowled brilliantly. He bowled in the right place and swung the ball and that made the Irish batsmen pay,’ said Sakib.
Despite the win, Sakib, however, refused to get carried away. The celebration they had after winning the game against an ICC associate member nation raised quite a few eyebrows in the ground.
Sakib said they had their victory lap not to celebrate the win but to show respect to the fans who were their 12th man in this game.
‘It wasn’t really a victory lap,’ said Sakib. We did that for our fans who had put their faith in us and I think they deserved it.
‘They came to support us even when we were practising. I think they gave us an excellent support. I thought it’s our responsibility to show some respect to them,’ said Sakib.
Courtesy of New Age
