Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has revealed that his boys were motivated to win the five-match T20 International series against Australia because the two teams rarely played on a regular basis, and that his side had never won a series against the visitors.
Ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman in October-November this year, Bangladesh received a huge boost as they defeated Australia 4-1 in the five-match T20I series which concluded on Monday, with Shakib Al Hasan returning amazing bowling figures of 4/9.
Shakib's four wickets and Mohammad Saifuddin's 3/12 helped Bangladesh decimate Australia for 62 all out -- their lowest T20I score -- on Monday night as the hosts won the match by 60 after they had scored 122/8 in the allotted 20 overs.
"There is always a motivation when you play the bigger teams -- normally those which don't visit our country that often," Shakib said.
"Also, we had a really good series in Zimbabwe and so everyone was pretty motivated to do well in this series as well. We had never won a series against Australia, and so this was our chance. Hence, we wanted to deliver well as a unit, which is what happened," Shakib was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Following his four-wicket haul, Shakib became the second bowler to take 100 T20Is wickets, joining Lasith Malinga on the list. He now has 102 wickets, only five short of the Sri Lankan pace bowler at an average of 20.83 and an economy of just 6.80.
"Any such achievement obviously feels good. This kind of personal achievement inspires you to do well for your side… I am really happy, and I feel I will be able to contribute for many more days and would be striving for that."
On the low scores in the series, Shakib said, "We could have perhaps scored 10 or 15 more runs in every match, since we were in situations where doing it was possible. But the wickets were so difficult [to bat on] that it was always tough for a new batsman [to play]. So it would be unfair to judge someone on the basis of just one series because the conditions were really tough for the batsmen."
Australia started their chase of Bangladesh's 122 for eight wickets on a disastrous note as Dan Christian, who helped them win the fourth match of this series and was promoted to open in the match, failed to fire and fell to left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who also accounted for fellow opener Mitchell Marsh.
Saifuddin then got into the act and sent back Alex Carey and Moises Henriques in quick succession. Shakib removed Mathew Wade and skipper Mahumudullah sent Ben McDermott packing as Australia slumped to 54/6 and never recovered.
Earlier, Bangladesh made a brisk start as Mahedi Hasan and Mohammad Naim raised 42 for the first wicket. But things went downhill after Mahedi was out for 13 as the Australian bowlers led by Nathan Ellis (2/16) and Dan Christian (2/17) applied the brakes and Bangladesh could only crawl to 122 for 8 in their 20 overs. However, their bowlers ensured that there was more than enough as eight Australian batsmen failed to reach double figures.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 122/8 in 20 overs (Mohammad Naim 23, Mahmudullah 19; Nathan Ellis 2/16, Dan Christian 2/17) v Australia 62 in 13.4 overs (Mathew Wade 22; Shakib 4/9, Saifuddin 3/12).
Former Australia Pacer Shaun Tait Appointed Afghanistan Bowling Coach
Former Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait was on Monday appointed the bowling coach of Afghanistan with immediate effect.The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) made the announcement ahead of the ODI series against Pakistan in Hambantota, Sri Lanka next month. It will be the first time that Tait will be in a coaching position in international cricket.
Tait represented Australia in all three formats of the game from 2004 to 2016. The right-arm pacer has scalped five, 62, and 28 wickets in three Tests, 35 ODIs, and 21 T20Is respectively. He played an important role in Australia winning the 2007 Cricket World Cup, taking 23 wickets in 11 games.
After retiring from international cricket in 2017 due to a chronic elbow injury, the 38-year-old ventured into coaching.
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