Two of the West Indies' three star players, mystery spinner Sunil Narine and batsman Marlon Samuels, made significant contributions as Bangladesh finally stumbled coming into the third match of the five-ODI series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.It was Narine with a four-wicket haul who put the skids under the Tigers, who needed a victory in the match to seal a 3-0 series win. The home team could manage only 227 in 49.1 overs after being put in to bat, with vice-captain Mahmudullah Riyad playing a major part in helping the Tigers achieve the respectable total after slumping to 110 for five by the 23rd over. The total was still not enough as Samuels scored a patient hundred to guide the tourists home in a match they needed to win to keep the series alive.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Mahmudullah identified their below-par score as the main reason behind their not being able to seal a memorable series win, while also ruing the fact that they could not make enough early inroads into the West Indian batting.
"I think we were 20 to 25 runs short," said Mahmudullah of the four-wicket defeat. "But the kind of wicket that it was, if we could have taken the wickets earlier and were a little more tight, the result might have been a little different."
Narine, who has become a sensation in the cricketing world of late with his mystery spin, had been kept at bay by the Tigers throughout this tour until this game. Mahmudullah thought that his success was due to him bowling his own version of the carom ball more in the ODIs and the pitch which assisted the Caribbean twirler.
"I think in the Test matches, he didn't use his mystery delivery. In Khulna when he started using it from the first ODI it's been effective," explained the vice-captain. "The pitch was quite good as well. It was gripping and turning. So that helped as well. He bowled well. Hopefully we'll see his videos and find out how to pick him."
It has often been said that for a batsman of his abilities Mahmudullah bats too low down the order, but the man himself was happy with his role. "Whatever the team combination is, I bat accordingly, I have no problems batting down the order or batting where I am right now," he said. "It was my wish to bat till the 50th over but unfortunately I couldn't. But I'll learn from this match and play accordingly in the next matches."
His 58-run sixth wicket partnership with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, while it saved the Tigers' blushes, could have given them a winning platform had Mushfiqur not gotten out in the batting Powerplay overs. "When Mushfiq and I were batting our target was around 230 to 240. But unfortunately we couldn't succeed in the Powerplay. It was our plan to play good cricketing shots then. And hit in the last 10 overs."
Despite the reversal, Mahmudullah did not feel that the Tigers would be under any pressure as they were still 2-1 up in the series. "I believe that we are still confident enough to win the last two games," said Mahmudullah. "I don't think we were in any sort of pressure or will feel anything. We are still positive and will go hard at winning the last two matches."
No comments:
Post a Comment