Tamim heaps praises on teammates after thumping win over Ireland
Bangladesh One-Day International (ODI) captain Tamim Iqbal was all praises for his teammates after their record 183-run victory over Ireland in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
This was the Tigers biggest ever victory in an ODI in terms of runs and with the win, they also went 1-0 up in the series, reports news agency BSS.
Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy and Mushfiqur Rahim were instrumental in the victory.
Shakib and Towhid put up 135-run for the fourth wicket to lay a solid platform. After Shakib’s departure on 93, Towhid added another 80 runs off 49 balls with Mushfiq for the fifth wicket stand, a partnership that helped Bangladesh reach their highest ever ODI total of 338-8.
The bowlers then skittled Ireland for 155 in 30.5 overs.
“The way we batted was exceptional. Wasn’t the easiest wicket to bat for the first 20 overs. But Shakib was brilliant, Towhid was also impressive. Mushfiq’s innings made the difference, shout out to him,” Tamim said after the match.
“The bowlers also bowled very well under lights. The first 20-25 overs wasn’t that easy to bat on, it was on the slower side. It is good for us to play on sporting tracks and we will do better.”
Pacer Ebadot Hossain was Bangladesh’s most successful bowler, claiming 4-45 for his career-best effort in ODI format.
The 1st ODI was in a way a match of redemption for Mushfiq as after hitting a quickfire 44 with the bat, he took a sharp catch as the wicketkeeper and was overall sharp behind the stumps.
“He (Mushfiq) has been doing this for the last 17 years. People forget that there will be ups and downs, but he has been amazing. The way Ebadot bowled was very special to see. Special mention to Nasum too, he doesn’t play too many ODIs, but when he does, he bowls really well.”
Debutant Towhid was adjudged the player of the match for his fearless 92, the highest score on ODI debut for a Bangladeshi.
“A little bit hurt (on missing out on a century on debut), but I am happy, very good for me from the beginning. I felt good when I batted with Shakib, he inspired me. I was a bit confident. I just tried to execute my plans and it worked,” Towhid said.
Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie held their batting responsible for the crushing defeat.
“We were not too disappointed at the halfway stage as the wicket was good and the best time was to bat under lights. But we kept losing wickets and didn’t get any partnerships,” Balbirnie said.
“We were a bit out of sync but don’t want to use that as an excuse, Bangladesh have been playing a lot of cricket and continued from there. We want to compete and beat teams like these on a regular basis. But the batting was not up to standard.”