Cricket World Cup 2019: Mashrafe Mortaza hails Bangladesh's 'best ever ODI side' after Australia show

Sport360 staff 23:27 20/06/2019
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  • Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza.

    Defending champions Australia rode on David Warner’s century to beat a resilient Bangladesh side and climb to the top of the 2019 Cricket World Cup table. Tasked to chase a mammoth total of 382, Mashrafe Mortaza’s side could manage just 333, despite putting on an inspiring show.

    This defeat complicates the qualification scenario for Bangladesh but Mortaza was happy with his team’s performance, calling it their ‘best ODI side ever’.

    “I think we conceded 40-50 runs more, otherwise it could have been different. Mushfiqur (Rahim), Shakib (Al Hasan), Tamim (Iqbal) batted very well. (Mahmudullah) Riyad was very good towards the end.

    “That’s the best ODI side we ever had. To be honest, we were positive from the first ball. After Soumya got out, Tamim and Shakib kept going but 381 was too much to get,” he concluded.

    Meanwhile, Warner equaled Adam Gilchrist’s tally of 16 ODI hundreds, leaving him just two short of Mark Waugh and 13 short of Ricky Ponting. The southpaw was glad to achieve the feat but maintained that the two points mattered more.

    “It’s a great achievement [equalling Adam Gilchrist’s hundred tally], but it’s more about two points and moving forward,” he said.

    “You have to respect the new ball. You have to adapt to the conditions. It (the wicket) was a tad slow. But it was a grind for the bowlers, wasn’t easy to get wickets.”

    Aussie skipper Aaron Finch explained his team selection after numerous changes in the playing XI were forced over the past 2-3 games due to an injury to Marcus Stoinis.

    A bad day in the office for Finch and Australia.

    A bad day in the office for Finch and Australia.

    The all-rounder returned to the team after sitting out against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

    “A couple of changes were forced, when you lose your all-rounder. So just toying with ideas but also relying on the surface. If it’s a dry wicket, we might have two spinners,” he explained.

    “Our fielding was very sloppy, early on it was a bit slippery but no excuses. We are not thinking about the semi-finals as of now.”

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