The Bangladesh national cricket team have come a long way as a unit. In the past, quite often it was seen that one member of the team outshone the others in terms of individual brilliance.
Victory or defeat, a one-man display was always greeted with a bit of circumspection from the fans since individual performances can only take a team so far, though not in the three-match one-day international series against New Zealand at home.
With the exception of Nasir Hossain and Anamul Haque, each and every Bangladesh cricketer has produced the goods that has enabled the home team to take an unassailable 2-0 lead going into the third and final one-dayer on Sunday.
In the second one-day international, which took place on Thursday at the brimful Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, the Tigers rose to the occasion as a team with different individuals coming to the rescue each time.
That is why maybe, even after a solitary fifty from Tamim Iqbal and only one fifty-plus partnership, the Tigers went on to record a 40-run win, their sixth consecutive victory over the Kiwis.
Team performance was the theme of the day at the post-match press conference as Sohag Gazi iterated that the new Bangladesh side were not dependent on any individual.
Rather, the national side thrive on team spirit.
‘Every member of every department is contributing. The team do not rely on any particular individual,’ Sohag told the press conference. ‘We have played two good matches. Now we will try to continue it in the third match as well.
‘Before coming out to defend 247, we were egging on each other. The management was saying that if we gave our collective 100 per cent, anything was possible.
‘The seniors always appreciate the efforts of the junior cricketers and they are always there to guide us youngsters. And when that happens, we can only play well.’
Sohag was lost for words when asked to describe his feelings having made a memorable start to his career.
In the penultimate match of the ODI series, the all-rounder took three wickets that included the important scalp of former New Zealand captain, Ross Taylor.
‘It’s a different feeling winning the series. I can’t express my emotions in words. I’m totally lost for words,’ said Sohag, the man of the match, who showed his all-round ability once again making 26 off from 24 balls with the bat.
‘Of course I will try to keep on improving. And, I will never take pressure upon myself.’
The ODI series will be followed by a one-off Twenty20 international on November 6 at Mirpur.
SCORECARD
Bangladesh innings
Tamim b Anderson 58
Shamsur st Latham b
N McCullum 25
Mominul c N McCullum b Anderson 31
Mushfiq c Latham b Neesham 31
Naeem c Latham b Mills 16
Nasir c B McCullum b Neesham 3
Mahmudullah c&b Anderson 21
Sohag c Devcich b Anderson 26
Mashrafee b Neesham 14
Razzak not out 4
Rubel b Neesham 2
Extras (b5,lb5, wb4, nb2) 16
Total (all out, 49 overs) 247
Fall of wicket: 1-63 (Shamsur), 2-110 (Mominul), 3-136 (Tamim) 4-169 (Mushfiq), 5-171 (Naeem), 6-173 (Nasir), 7-221 (Mahmudullah) 8-240 (Mashrafe) 9-240 (Sohag), 10-247(Rubel).
Bowling
Southee 10 2 45 0
Mills 10 1 47 1
N McCullum 8 0 42 1
Neesham 10 0 53 4
Anderson 9 1 40 4
Eliot 2 0 10 0
New Zealand innings
Devcich c & b Sohag 19
Rutherford b Mashrafee 1
Elliot lbw b Razzak 14
Taylor c Mahmudullah b Sohag 45
Anderson c Mushfiq b
Mashrafee 37
B McCullum lbw b Mominul 14
Latham run out 0
Neesham c Naeem b Sohag 8
N McCullum c Mahmudullah b Mominul 25
Mills not out 27
Southee b Mashrafee 0
Extras (b1 lb 10, wb6) 17
Total (all out, 46.4 overs) 207
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Rutherford) 2-45 (Devcich), 3-45 (Elliot), 4-106 (Anderson), 5-130 (McCullum), 6-131 (Latham), 7-143 (Neesham) 8-157 (Taylor), 9-194 (N. McCullum), 10-207 (Southee)
Bowling
Mashrafee 8.4 0 43 3
Sohag 10 0 34 3
Rubel 9 1 47 0
Razzak 9 0 35 1
Mahmudullah 6 0 24 0
Mominul 4 0 13 2
Toss: Bangladesh
Result: Bangladesh win by 40 runs
Man of the match: Sohag Gazi
Series: Bangladesh 2 -0
-With New Age input
