Adelaide: India’s star pacer Mohammed Shami on Wednesday said that scoring 180-185 runs on any ground in the T20 format is not easy and added that flow and confidence are important for a player.
Fifties from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, and superb bowling spells by bowlers helped India clinch a 5-run victory over Bangladesh in a rain-curtailed clash of Group 2, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Wednesday.
“The target of 185 was too high on this ground. Scoring 180 or 185 on any ground is a good score. Rain also played a big part in the match. The target Bangladesh got was not easy, making 10 runs in every over is not easy. The ball was wet after the rain, so because of that, the match was also close. But the team’s confidence and skills worked in our favour,” Mohammed Shami said after the match.
“I always keep practising. It is not easy to switch from a white ball to a red ball. Flow and confidence are important for a player. Whenever we think of bowling in the powerplay, we think of hard-length bowling or where more options can be for us. So I am always ready to bowl with the new ball,” said the Indian pacer.
Put to the field first by Bangladesh, India posted 184/6 in their 20 overs. Virat (64*) and KL Rahul (50) posted fifties for India while Suryakumar Yadav also scored a quickfire 30 of 16 balls. Virat and KL had a 67-run stand for the second wicket.
Hasan Mahmud (3/47) and skipper Shakib al Hasan (2/33) took wickets for Bangladesh. Chasing 185, Bangladesh were off to an explosive start. Rain interrupted action when they were at 66/0 in seven overs. The match was restarted with a revised target cut short to 169 runs and overs slimmed down to 16.
This break proved to be vital for Men in Blue as it broke Bangladesh’s rhythm. They started to lose wickets quickly, including Litton Fas for 60 off 27 balls. Though Nurul Hasan (25*) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (21) contributed some useful scores, Bangladesh fell five runs short of the target.
Arshdeep Singh (2/38) and Hardik Pandya (2/28) delivered good spells. Mohammad Shami also took a wicket.
With three wins out of four matches, India are at the top of Group 2 with six points. Bangladesh are in third place with four points.
