Bangladesh left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed said that all he tried to do in the first twenty20 international against Australia was to bowl dot deliveries and that is what brought him success.
Bangladesh claimed their first-ever T20I over Australia on Tuesday when they beat the Aussies fairly easily by 23 runs. Nasum was the star of the show as he picked up four wickets for 19 runs and went on to win the player of the match award.
After the match, Nasum said that his goal throughout the Aussie innings was to bowl dot deliveries and try to win the match.
“(Mahmudullah) Riyad bhai said before we took the field that we would fight with the total we got (131), bowl dot balls and try to win the match. So I was thinking about bowling dot balls too. And that is what brought me success,” the left-arm spinner from Sylhet said.
Nasum said that everyone in the team was eager for the match and that led to the win.
“Everyone wanted to do something well in the match. And it was this eagerness that led to the win,” he said.
On the other side, Mitchell Marsh was the last hope for Australia in their pursuit of victory but his dismissal to Nasum on 45 was what sealed the fate of the match.
After the match, Marsh said that to chase down a total like Bangladesh’s one, they needed one partnership but could not manage to do it.
“Chasing 130, we only needed one partnership but couldn’t get it going tonight. That’s where the game was lost,” the all-rounder said.
After struggling against spin in the Caribbeans where they lost the five-match T20I series 4-1, the Aussies struggled against spin in Dhaka too. In the 13 overs Bangladesh spinners bowled, Australia could manage only 71 runs and lost six wickets.
Marsh said that they definitely wanted to play spin better but it was difficult in the conditions the match was played.
“Obviously we all wanna get better at playing spin. I think in these conditions, it was tough. Anywhere you play around the world, if you are 3-10, statistics show that it’s always difficult to win games from that position. So, that side we will have to rectify in the game tomorrow,” the younger Marsh brother said.
Bangladesh take on Australia on the second match of the five-match series on Wednesday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
