Bangladesh opener hopes his team will put up a better show in its upcoming match against Pakistan
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal reckons his country is trying to make up for lost time as they attempt to make their mark in T20 cricket.
Tamim and his team-mates have only recently started to gain greater exposure to the 20-over game and the left-hander feels that is counting against them when they play the leading nations.
The 59-run defeat to New Zealand on Friday (21 September) highlighted the Bangladeshi shortcomings and now they face the daunting prospect of beating Pakistan in Pallekele on Tuesday (25 September) to give themselves a chance of remaining in the tournament.
“We realise that we were below-par in all departments (against New Zealand) and that’s why we lost,” said Tamim. “I think in Twenty20 cricket Bangladesh are a developing team. We do not have that much experience in this version and therefore at times there will be bad results.
“But now we have started playing T20s more regularly and you will see a definite improvement in a year or two. Hopefully, there will be positive performance in the next match against Pakistan because everyone is making a conscious effort to lift the game.”
Tamim concedes Bangladesh will need to play out of their skins to cause a surprise against Pakistan, who won their opening match against New Zealand on Sunday.
“Yes, they are world-class in all sectors and they have Twenty20 pedigree in abundance,” said Tamim. “However, no team is unbeatable in this format. We have to be at our best and hope that best is good enough on the day.”
Pakistan’s star bowler Saeed Ajaml showed he was in prime form with 4-30 in his team’s opening ICC WT20 game. The off-spinner will undoubtedly pose a significant challenge for his next opponents.
“For a batsman he provides a fascinating challenge and I am really looking forward to facing him,” Tamim concluded.
JAMSHED, AJMAL STAR IN PAKISTAN WIN OVER NEW ZEALAND
Jamshed with the bat and Ajmal with the ball help Pakistan to a 13-run win
Pakistan and New Zealand. Pakistan, a team with fantastic pedigree at the ICC World Twenty20s; New Zealand dependent on one or two key players – usually good for a scrap, but not always a serious contender against the big teams. The two sides played to reputation at the Pallekele International Stadium on Sunday afternoon, where some solid hitting in the first half and disciplined bowling in the second took Pakistan to a 13-run win.
Batting first after winning the toss, Pakistan started brilliantly, with Mohammad Hafeez, the captain, and Imran Nazir having a strong go at the New Zealand bowling, opened by Kyle Mills and Daniel Vettori. The scoring rate hovered between eight and nine an over at this stage, and it remained there till the end of the innings.
Nazir fell, caught and bowled by Tim Southee, for a 16-ball 25, but with Nasir Jamshed walking in to partner Hafeez, things only got worse for New Zealand. The duo put on 76 for the second wicket in eight overs, and it looked like Pakistan might take its total close to 190, or even 200.
But with Hafeez (43 in 38 balls), Kamran Akmal (3 in 3) and Jamshed (56 in 35) falling between the 14th and 16th overs, the innings stuttered. It took a bit of late-order flourish from Umar Akmal (23 in 15) and Shahid Afridi (12 in 6) to keep the scoring rate up and end the 20 overs on a solid 177 for six.
From New Zealand’s point of view, Vettori was the most economical, giving away just 23 from his four overs, while Tim Southee (2 for 31) and Jacob Oram (2 for 44) were the most successful.
Chasing 178 was always going to be tough, whether Brendon McCullum got going or not. In any case, he got his chance only after Rob Nicol and Kane Williamson, the openers, had used up 40 balls to take the score to 53. It was slow going by Twenty20 standards, with Nicol getting his 33 runs in 28 balls and Williamson making 15 from 13.
McCullum was also slow – by his own swashbuckling standards and otherwise – in scoring 32 from 31 balls, and when he was dismissed in the 16th over with the score on 108, the match was heavily stacked in Pakistan’s favour.
Surprisingly, Ross Taylor, the captain, kept himself back, promoting Vettori (18 in 16 balls) and Oram (11 in 7) in the batting order. That decision could have changed the way the match eventually panned out because when Taylor did come in, he slammed 26 in 11 balls. By then though, the asking rate had shot through the roof, and despite some lusty hitting, wickets kept falling and the target remained out of reach.
Saeed Ajmal was again the best of Pakistan’s bowlers, returning figures of 4 for 30 from his four overs, saving his best for the death and keeping things tight just when New Zealand’s lower order threatened to pull off a miracle.
It was not a day of complete despair for New Zealand, though, with its narrow margin of defeat ensuring that it was through to the Super Eights by virtue of its Net Run Rate.
WE MADE IT EASIER FOR INDIA, SAYS BROAD
England captain admits to lapses in the field, but says that loss doesn't change team's plans
Stuart Broad must have been gutted at his team’s implosion against spin in its Group A league clash at the ICC World Twenty20 against India, but England’s captain chose to put a positive spin on proceedings, saying he was glad the abject capitulation came in a game with not much at stake from the tournament’s perspective.
“Any international defeat is really frustrating and especially when you put in a performance like that,” Broad said after England was shot out for 80, its lowest Twenty20 International total, to slump to defeat by 90 runs, its highest margin of defeat. “But it’s a bit easier to take when it doesn’t change what you do. It’s not like tomorrow is going to be a different day and we have to go home. It doesn’t change our destination and future. We will still hop on the bus tomorrow to Kandy.
“We lost early wickets and spinners enjoy bowling to new batsmen. We saw how well we did the other day when we hit straight and hard. Today, to lose the first couple of wickets hitting across the line is disappointing but you learn from your mistakes and certainly it will be in our minds when we come across it like that again. Going straight was a much better option than going across the ball. We made it pretty easy for India in the end by losing regular wickets.”
Broad said England would do well to learn from its mistakes, not just with the bat but also with the ball and in the field. “We have to learn from our mistakes,” he admitted. “There were some pretty clear ones, certainly in the batting line-up. The young guys seem to learn very quickly. It’s something we’ll talk about and move forward on. It will be interesting to see whether the Pallekele wicket offers the same as here. During the SLPL, it seamed around a bit so, we’ll have to adjust to the conditions that way.” England will be based in Pallekele for the Super Eights, beginning on September 27.
“We were a little bit sloppy in places with the ball and in the field,” he added. “We gave away a few soft twos in the outfield and we didn’t get our lengths as well which we could have done up front. But this (India’s 170 for 4) is the lowest first-innings score on this ground so far in the tournament, we can’t be too disappointed with that. We thought it was chaseable, the wicket was pretty flat and didn’t have the pace in it like it did the other night. We could have held India to a slightly lower score but we were happy with our performance.”
Broad was guarded in his praise of Harbhajan Singh, who celebrated his return to international cricket with 4 for 12, the best figures by an Indian in T20Is, and the Man of the Match award. “I don’t think the wicket turned much but Harbhajan bowled very nicely, he got his top spinner going well. We knew it was a bit dry at the start but we wanted to try a different balance of our side with the four seamers, and see how that worked in a game that we could afford to lose.”