The word ‘ Shanto’ means peaceful, calm and quiet in Bengali. But at the Gabba on Sunday, Najmul Hossain Shanto made some noise with the bat and scored his first T20I half-century, paving the way for Bangladesh’s three-run win against Zimbabwe in a T20 World Cup fixture.
After Bangladesh struggled at 32 for two in the PowerPlay, Shanto fought back with Shakib Al Hasan and added 56 runs for the third wicket to put Bangladesh back on track.
That partnership proved pivotal for the team, and Shanto’s 71 eventually helped the side reach 150 runs. “For me, it was my best innings because this was my first half-century in T20 international cricket, so very special,” Shanto said.
While admitting that the side was perhaps 15-20 runs short, Shanto said that the team was confident of defending the total. “Our bowling department bowled very well. Everyone - Mustafizur (Rahman), Taskin (Ahmed) - bowled really well. The good thing is that everyone supports each other, so we are improving now and only getting better,” he said, adding, “We will try to play some good cricket in the next match…”
“When we win matches, it obviously boosts the morale of the team and going forward, this will certainly help us. We can walk into the coming days, buoying with confidence. We can work on a few aspects of the game and there’s definitely scope for improvement,” Shanto said, adding the team dreams of making it to the semifinal. “We have that dream, but we don’t want to think too far ahead and take one game at a time…”
Bangladesh plays India next in Adelaide on November 2.
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