Happy to contribute: Shakib after match-winning knock
Bangladesh lost captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das within powerplay. But then Shakib scored the only half-century of the match. He was unbeaten on 64 runs off 46 balls.
Khan Mutasim Billah LifeEditor
Posted - 2024-06-14T01:25:08+06:00
Updated - 2024-06-14T03:34:37+06:00
Bangladesh star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan feels satisfied to contribute to the team’s win against Netherlands in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Netherlands lost to Bangladesh by 25 runs on Thursday (June 13) at Kingstown, ST Vincent. Earlier, Bangladesh posted 159 on the board. Bangladesh's veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan's brilliant fifty, along with some late blitz from Jaker Ali and Mahmudullah Riyad helped Bangladesh reach this total. In reply, miserly spell from Mustafizur Rahman and a match-turning spell from Rishad Hossain snatched the game away from the Dutch. Netherlands were restricted to 134 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs.
Bangladesh lost captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das within powerplay. But then Shakib scored the only half-century of the match. He was unbeaten on 64 runs off 46 balls. “It was important for someone from top-four to bat through the innings. Happy to contribute. It was a tough pitch at the start, we held our nerve,” Shakib said.
However, Shakib thinks that the total was not a winning one on the pitch but the bowlers did very well to defend the total and also the wind plays a role. Bangladesh bowled really well in the match despite Netherlands fought hard in the chase. When Netherlands were 104/3, Rishad came to bowl the 15th over and took two important wickets of set batter Sybrand Engelbrecht and all-rounder Bas de Leede. After that, Mustafizur carried the momentum by conceding just 4 runs in his 2 overs in the death.
“Was a challenging total, not a winning one, but bowlers chipped in perfectly. Rishad and Fizz took it away from Netherlands. Hardly any international game was played in the last 4-5 years here. So, we didn't know what a good score was and had to keep wickets till 14-15 overs and take it from there. 160 in a WC game is always tricky. Netherlands had their moments, 10 runs an over on this ground in the last 7-8 overs, wind going in one way, made it tough to defend. But credit to bowlers for pulling it off,” Shakib added.
Shakib was seen wearing neck braces before the match in the practice session. So, there raised a concern for injury. However, Shakib clarifies that it was just for batting. “Neck braces was for batting and it did help,” Shakib concluded.