Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan believes that South Africa top order duo Rilee Rossouw and Quinton de Kock snatched away their Super 12 match with a robust batting in the ICC T20 World Cup in Sydney on Thursday.
Following their opener Temba Bavuma's dismissal for a meager 2, the pair combined for a massive 168 in the second wicket, the highest ever in T20 World Cup history, handing the Tigers their biggest 104 defeat in this format.
‘We couldn’t execute the plan dully that we designed, especially at the beginning of our innings, inside the first six-overs, since the wicket was better and on the previous day what New Zealand did against Australia, South Africa also did the same with us,’ said Shakib in the post-match press conference.
‘We needed to pick-up wickets. If we can’t scalp wickets here that would push us back, however they had wickets in their hand. Moreover the way the pair played that snatched away game,’ he added.
Pursuing a mammoth 206 Bangladesh were bowled out for a sorry 101 as only Liton Das could make a 31 ball-34 while other batsmen failed to go beyond 20, that gave the Tiger skipper a firm belief to refine their batting vastly.
‘We have to improve our batting to a large extent. We have to adapt with the pace and.’
Rilee Rossouw who had been undergoing a severe run-draught until October, smacked a 56-ball 109, the first hundred of this edition of the T20 World Cup that also helped the Proteas to the 2022 edition's highest total.
Shakib thinks he made it happen thanks to his hunger.
‘I think he was very hungry to do well as he came to his side after a long hiatus. Therefore, he has a lot to prove. His celebration demonstrated how he served his country.The way he batted, we must credit him, he didn’t leave any chance for us.’
The Southpaw also acknowledged that their bowling was not that substandard.
‘I don’t think that we ended with a below-par bowling attack. Apart from Rossouw, no one could hit a boundary. So I am not tense about our bowling.’
Amid the blitz from Rossouw and de Kock, Bangladesh bowlers could scalp only five wickets that ruined their plan wholly, also admitted the Tigers captain.
‘If I say about our bowling department, they way we aimed,, couldn’t. In fact, there is no chance of recovery in this situation.We also weren’t prepared.’
