South Africa succumbed to a second consecutive defeat in the Cricket World Cup 2019 after they fell short off Bangladesh’s total of 330-6 by 21 runs.
Bangladesh registered their highest total in ODI’s and became the first Asian team to win a game in the 2019 edition of the tournament.
Shakib Al Hasan was adjudged as the man-of-the-match for his crucial 75(84) that helped Bangladesh to a massive total. The southpaw followed it up with a 1-50 with the ball while also completing an excellent tumbling catch.
Naturally, the all-rounder was delighted with the win and explained how playing for county outfit Worcestershire helped him.
“I think this is one of our top wins. We have had a few upsets before in World Cup, but this time we want to prove and the start can’t get any better. Before arriving here, we had the belief, we needed this start and we need to build on the momentum.
“I played two years for Worcestershire and I know the conditions here. We played the 2017 Champions trophy and we had a fair idea about how the wickets behave, knew it would be good for batting.
“Our confidence is really good at the moment, the next game here against New Zealand is a big game, they are a strong team and will come hard at us,” he concluded.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza was also delighted with a positive start to his team’s campaign. He credited opener Soumya Sarkar for laying the platform against South Africa with a brisk 42 (30).
“The first match always sets the tone. We have been positive, won in Ireland and the momentum helped us set the tone here. I have to give credit to Soumya for laying the platform. I knew it was a good wicket to bat on and we knew that we had to bowl in the right areas to get wickets..
“A big crowd was behind us, and we are expecting them to come back in our next match in the same way,” Morataza said.
