Bangladesh’s Bowling Shines in T20 World Cup Opener
Dallas, June 09, 2024 – Bangladesh’s impressive victory over Sri Lanka in their T20 World Cup 2024 opening match has left head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe beaming with pride. The team’s bowling unit, led by Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad Hossain, showcased their prowess in restricting Sri Lanka to a manageable total of 124/9.
Hathurusinghe praised the bowlers for taking “ownership of the situation and plans,” with Mustafizur’s varied deliveries and Rishad’s leg-spin proving to be the highlights. The head coach was particularly impressed with Rishad’s performance, calling it the “most pleasing thing” to emerge from the game.
“We backed him [Rishad] for a year. We knew that he is going to win games for us,” Hathurusinghe said. “Winning that game was important. It was very satisfying. You know how challenging it is for us to get a legspinner into the team. I don’t blame anybody. It is the culture. We don’t understand the value of a legspinner.”
The Bangladesh batters, however, faced some early struggles, slipping to 28/3 in the powerplay before Towhid Hridoy and Litton Das steadied the innings. Despite a late collapse, Mahmudullah’s steady hand at the end ensured a two-wicket victory for Bangladesh.
Hathurusinghe expressed confidence in Mahmudullah’s ability to deliver in crunch situations, stating, “He is a big match performer. He has done well for us in previous World Cups.”
As Bangladesh prepares for their next match against South Africa in New York, the head coach emphasized the need for the struggling batters to regain their confidence and play to their strengths.
“Some of the batters are short of runs. They train well, but it is the lack of confidence due to lack of runs. The good thing is Litton spent time in the middle to score runs. He played according to the conditions. We are expecting more from them,” Hathurusinghe said.
The beach cricket set at the Chester le Street cricket ground in England will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion as Bangladesh looks to build on their opening-match success and secure a spot in the latter stages of the T20 World Cup.
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