‘Felt like I was playing back in Bangladesh’
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan said that the crowd at Florida was a massive factor behind the Tigers’ win in the second T20. Tamim Iqbal carried his fantastic scoring form to the ODIs, showing that his first-ball duck in the prior match was a blip. Shakib Al Hasan himself was instrumental to the Tigers’ getting a good enough total on the board and when the turn came for the bowlers, they managed to restrict West Indies to 159 for nine in 20 0vers.
The presence of the crowd was felt each time a boundary was hit or a wicket fell.
“The crowd support was a massive factor to be honest and we never felt like we played away from home. I felt like I was playing back in Bangladesh,” Shakib said.
Shakib urged the crowd in post-match ceremony to come support them in numbers for the series decider. The crowd erupted with joy, hearing the skipper say that the crowd played a hand in making the cricketers feel at home in foreign soil.
“Thanks to the crowd for supporting us the way they did and hopefully they will support us tomorrow as it is a very important game for us. Hopefully they will come in numbers and support us all the way,” he said.
Tigers had posted 171 on the board thanks to Tamim and Shakib and then the bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals in a pitch which was conducive to power cricket – the one West Indies are good at. Shakib praised the bowlers for their efforts and pointed out that Mustafizur Rahman played a key role despite giving away runs. Mustafizur got two early breakthroughs, removing opener Evin Lewis and dangerous pinch hitter Andre Russell before he came back into the attack at the death to remove top-scorer Rovman Powell.
“I think all the bowlers bowled brilliantly. Fizz went for a few runs but he took some crucial wickets that we needed. Abu Hider bowled brilliantly and all the spinners bowled well. All in all, it was a good team effort from us,” he concluded.
