Tamim glad to get record victory on a sporting wicket

|| CF DESK ||

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal is pleased to get a record victory on a sporting track against Ireland in the opening ODI of three-match series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Bangladesh set their highest-ever total of 338 as they have their biggest ODI win of all time as they checked off all boxes with bat and ball. Debutant Towhid Hridoy (92 off 85) and Shakib al Hasan (93 0ff 89) were brilliant with the bat, they set up the win.

Irish openers Paul Stirling and Stephen Doheny started well but Ebadot Hossain and Taskin Ahmed got to the party and never gave the visitors a sniff after that. Ireland bowled out for 155 runs.

“We batted exceptionally. It wasn't the best wicket to bat in our first 20 overs. Shakib was brilliant. Mushy's [Mushfiqur Rahim] innings made the difference, shoutout to him. Very pleased with the way we bowled under lights. I think the wicket was great but could have been better in the first 20-25 overs, when it was on the slower side. But these sporting wickets will help us,” Tamim said in the presentation.

Experienced wicket-keeper batter Mushfiqur Rahim played an effective innings (44 off 26) and contributed to five dismissals behind the stumps as the captain didn’t forget to praise him.

“(On Mushfiqur's keeping) He has been doing this for the last 17 years. There will be ups and downs, but I have always backed up his abilities as a keeper. The way Ebadot bowled was very special to see. Special mention to Nasum too, he doesn’t play that much, but when he does, he bowls really well” Tamim added.

Meanwhile, Andy Balbirnie, Ireland captain is eyeing on the second encounter against the home side as he didn’t show excuses for their downfall.

“At the halfway stage, we weren't too disappointed. The wicket was the best to bat on when we started but those 4-5 wickets cost us. We don't want to use lack of experience as an excuse but they did look in rhythm and played very well. But the beauty of it is we will get another chance on Monday. We want to compete but do better than we did today, especially with the bat.” Balbirnie said.