New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson heaped praise upon Rubel Hossain after his hat-trick and 6-26 sealed a 43-run win for Bangladesh in the first One-Day International at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday. Needing 124 off 78 balls after rain reduced New Zealand’s target to 206 in 33 overs, Anderson hit some lusty blows to shift the game the visitors’ way before Rubel turned the tables with his hat-trick.
Rubel bowled Anderson to stop his onslaught and then claimed the wickets of Brendon McCullum and James Neesham to complete the hat-trick and effectively take New Zealand out of the contest.
‘I guess you can’t take anything away from Rubel,’ Anderson said after the match.
‘He bowled really well. Hat-tricks don’t come around that often, and neither do five-fors.’
‘I think he bowled smartly. We were out there bowling cross-seamers and slower balls, and he did the exact same thing, and you saw a couple popped off the pitch and batters got caught coming off the splice,’ he said.
Rubel’s hat-trick, the third by a Bangladeshi in ODIs, also stemmed the flow of runs, making it harder for the lower-order batsmen of New Zealand, said Anderson.
‘I think we made the run-rate come down a little bit. I was thinking as I was walking over that I probably didn’t need to play the shot I did but cricket’s a funny game,’ said Anderson, who made 46 off 31 balls with three fours and four sixes.
‘You can get bowled one ball and hit the next one for six. It’s just one of those things.’
‘We thought we were going well, and obviously that hat-trick just put us a long way behind the eight-ball.’
-With New Age input