LONDON, JUNE 04,
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has set his sights on a memorable 200th one-day international as his side chase a second successive World Cup win in their match against New Zealand on Wednesday.
Shakib was the key man when Bangladesh upset South Africa by 21 runs in their opening match on Sunday.
His composed 75 helped steer Bangladesh to their highest one-day international total of 330 for six before the spinner took 1-50 to restrict South Africa to 309-8.
That wicket (of Aiden Markam), made Shakib only the fifth player behind Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya, South African Jacques Kallis, and Pakistan pair Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq to reach the landmark of 5,000 runs and 250 wickets in ODIs.
The 32-year-old’s next challenge comes at The Oval against a New Zealand side who crushed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their opening match.
Shakib inspired Bangladesh’s five-wicket upset win over the Black Caps in the 2017 Champions Trophy, where he scored the most recent of his seven ODI hundreds.
Have the skill to beat big teams
Bangladesh missed Shakib when a finger injury ruled him out of the ODI series in New Zealand earlier this year, in which they were routed 3-0 by the hosts. The all-rounder hopes that Bangladesh will put up a tougher fight against New Zealand this time.
“Building up to this World Cup, we knew what challenges we might face. We prepared well, so that gave us a lot of confidence and belief. We came to this World Cup wanting to do well,” he said.
“We are up for the challenge but at the same time we are relaxed. We knew we had the skill to beat big teams.”
“I think that we are in a good place, mentally. If we can continue in this manner, we can go a long way in the tournament,” he added.
Milestone moment
Shakib will become only the third Bangladesh player to play 200 or more ODIs, behind skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (210) and Mushfiqur Rahim (206).
“I’m very happy the way I contributed (in the last game). If I do that every time, the stats will take care of themselves,” Shakib said, modestly, about his milestone moment. “I don’t normally look at it (his statistics), but if people are talking about it, I obviously feel happy.”
New Zealand proves they are a well-rounded team
Zealand proved that they are a well-rounded team, more than capable of going a long way in the tournament, in their match against Sri Lanka.
They did not miss pace spearhead Tim Southee and top-order batsman Henry Nicholls, who sat out due to calf and hamstring injury respectively, in their opening game.
Matt Henry, who replaced Southee, took three wickets in Sri Lanka’s all out for 136, while openers Colin Munro and Martin Guptill knocked off the required 137 runs in just 16.1 overs.
The 2015 World Cup runners-up could also call on pace bowler Lockie Ferguson, who took three wickets against Sri Lanka.
“I guess you want to build that momentum early. If we bowl first in the next few games, we can hopefully continue to do that and make it difficult for the guys to score,” Guptill said.
“If we can then come out and play with a bit of freedom, like we did this afternoon with the bat, I think we’ll have a pretty successful tournament.”
