World Cup 2019: Wickets at regular intervals helped us, says Mortaza

Mortaza also credited the crowd for throwing its weight behind the team, and hoped for further support in the coming matches.

Published : Jun 02, 2019 23:54 IST

Mortaza: "I have to give credit to Soumya for laying the platform [for a big total]."
Mortaza: "I have to give credit to Soumya for laying the platform [for a big total]."
lightbox-info

Mortaza: "I have to give credit to Soumya for laying the platform [for a big total]."

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza expressed happiness over his team's all-round performance which saw it beat South Africa by 21 runs at The Oval in the World Cup on Sunday.

"The batsmen batted really well, especially Soumya (Sarkar) at the start. Mushy (Rahim) batted really well; he plays these kind of innings with high strike-rates, so did Shakib and then Mahmudullah and Mosaddek finished it really well," Mortaza said at the presentation ceremony.

"I have to give credit to Soumya for laying the platform. I knew it was a good wicket to bat on and we knew that we had to bowl in the right areas to get wickets. I kept changing the bowlers and the good thing was that we got wickets at every stage," he added.

Mortaza also credited the crowd for throwing its weight behind the team, and hoped for further support in the coming matches. "A big crowd was behind us, and hopefully we are expecting them to come back in our next match in the same way. We are expecting the same thing, even the people watching us back home are expecting us to win and hopefully we'll do well," Mortaza said.

"The first match always sets the tone. We have been positive, won in Ireland and the momentum helped us set the tone here. After the toss, I had a doubt whether to bat or to bowl first. But it was a used wicket in the last match and we thought that batting first isn't a bad option."

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment